@ phamENG - I agree that PE can and sometimes does do special inspections, just not the norm in my experience. Especially with steel inspection. I know PE's that are not CWIs that can design the crap out of a weld group but would not know a slag inclusion from a burn-thru.. But some PE's are...
Interesting. I was under the impression that most structural engineers shy away from performing Special Inspections and tests I(especially of items such as steel and concrete) and generally only perform "Structural Observations" due to issues over inspector qualifications for various types of...
My money is on 8x8's coupled with another "are you crazy!" look or comment from owner/contractor.
There are some companies that make glue-lam posts for pole barns with pressure-treated plys below grade and a bit higher-graded lumber that might be worth checking out depending on your area and...
I doubt you are missing something.. Pole barns can be a bit difficult to get local practices/performance to mesh with current code. Wait until you run a check on the posts.. Depending on height, they can be very difficult to get to work (strength or deflection) without really sharpening the...
KootK - agree with you on all points. I think bracing of some sort for the interior bearing case is both more critical than the case proposed above, and less likely than the above case to have a blocking bracing or sheathing solution proposed by most engineers (just due to how common a...
Considering a similar condition of a long-span truss with an interior bearing wall (where sheathing is not possible). Are you thinking trusses need to be blocked for stability (again not considering shear transfer - lets say this bearing wall is not a shear wall). This leads to some...
In STAAD units do not all have to be consistent through the file. It can be one unit for joint coordinates and then another for Member Properties (I think.. Haven't tried this in a while..
Here is your "fix" (I think)
In the Command file - I believe units can be entered before each command For...
This sounds alot like the So. Pine value reduction back in 2013. At the time the design value change (pretty significant reduction) was attributed to a "change in the resource mix" for Southern Pine (i.e. age and specific tree type that is being harvested and lumped into the "Southern Pine"...
I have seen several buildings with significant issues relating to "spread" or horizontal deflection, but these were the exception not the rule. In most cases there was indication of underdesign of the scissor trusses (lack of snow drift consideration or similar) along with a lack of common...
I think you are lucky that this wall failed. Water pressure can be pretty significant, even at only 4' deep. The masonry wall does not appear to have been designed or built properly, but more importantly, if this wall had not failed your exterior walls may well have failed instead, and brought...
I do not remember SE pass rates (overall) being 55%. It seems like it has generally been in the 30's or 40's depending on the year and the test portion. That being said, I agree that there was a huge drop with CBT and that 14% is abysmal.
I have commented previously on this topic, but If the...
I agree that there is some marketing to the fine print, and I am sure there is likely some push-back between the "sales" guys and the "engineering and/or testing" side as to what goes into manuals. I think some of the fine print has to do with the ICC system I alluded to above (testing to an...
For what its worth.. See below from IBC commentary.
I still say letter of the code is non-concurrent. Except for special circumstances or conditions this seems reasonable. However, 5 psf should not be a killer in most cases anyway.
It appears to me the code is pretty explicit that they are non-concurrent based on the snippit above. It may however be a good idea to design for both even if not specifically required by code. Especially in the balloon-framed case mentioned above.
That being said, I think the chances of the...
Based on the wording of that section it sounds like even for walls taller than 42" the 5 psf is a minimum - so non-concurrent as long as "rail" loading controls.
Simpson has been very responsive in the past to my questions (aim them at a "field engineer" for your area). I have been impressed at how much they internally test connectors and fasteners in various applications and they are generally willing to share data with you, even for non-standard...
