You could put in some bracing to take the axial load out. That would save you from moment connection design.
Side note: I usually see the HSS beam located at the bottom flange of the W30 and typically an angle is used. You probably have your reasons for the design. Just wanted to throw that out...
A lot of what you see will depend on the skill of the GPR operator. I have only see and been told by GPR companies that the maximum reliable depth is 10 inches. Scanning down to see the ends of vertical rebar will be quite challenging. Also GPR will not get you information on rebar diameter...
Probably some items to consider when deciding what cell to cut open are which would happen after the scans.... dimensions of the wall and height of the wall to make a judgement on what frequency in plan and elevation would given you a representative sample. Also, stress in the CMU so you can...
Have them cut on the face on a number of the cells at the bottom of the wall to prove there is minimal droppings. If they find some then cut all cells with rebar. Is this partially grouted? Or go straight to check all the cells that have bar. What is your comfort level... at this point they bear...
Am I reading the NCEES website correct... 1,400 dollars in testing fees for an SE assuming you pass all test on the first round. 2,100 dollars if you end up retaking two sections. PE is 400 dollars. *Just to be facetious. Do SE earn 3 times more than a PE or is that ratio just hold for fees...
How are people handling substitution request for deck fastening to open web joists? Is the contractor/third party engineer requesting the substitution responsible for checking strength, stiffness, base material thickness and does this need to be sealed or should the EOR include this re-design...
For tall structures, IEBC has provisions on the height that get triggered. I think the height provisions are for non-structural stuff like egress. That's outside of this discussion.
I consider STAAD more of a general FEM software but has old design codes ie aluminum design code from the 1998 or not integrated very well into the design modules ie no masonry design or you need an external design process. The only design module that is decent is the STAAD to RAM connection...
I dont have the IEBC open but I thought there was a provision about changing the lateral system and about percent increase of the demand to capacity in any element. I think you changes would trigger those provisions.
Ditto as Josh. Definitely worth doing a quick gut check on the members and loads (no equipment) but I don't get heartburn using it for short, small maintenance access platforms.
cec17: I would put "short" and "maintenance" in the description of the platform as well.
EDIT: Looks like I was late...
What FEM software are you using? A few options are offset nodes or extend the slab past the nodes or hand calc the load and apply the load at the nodes as point load (line load if you are fancy and put in dummy beams).
The owner is paying you for your expertise. I would hope that they would value your judgement. Now I will get off my soap box, I would pose the following question if the members do not meet the AISC tolerances for straightness, etc. does it make sense to evaluate them using AISC methods or are...
