I tried the retaining wall program - I don't like it.
1) There is no input option for soil pressure coefficients which are predominantly cited in soil reports i.e. ka and kp
2) There is no CMU option
3) For retaining fence walls that have predominantly wind or seismic loading on the exposed stem and very short retaining heights, there doesn't appear to have the option of the wind or seismic acting toward the direction of the retained earth side.
In short, pretty much worthless for my needs.
Also the window doesn't maximize to fill the computer monitor - annoying
I just looked at the steel design specifically beam design -
1) Not enough load cases - there are case when a beam can get wind loading due to reactions of some other component attached to the beam.
2) No skip loading for cantilever(s) only vs simple support span only
3) No continuous beam option
4) No live load reduction
5) Only 2 uniform loads, no ramp (trapezoidal) loading
So this again is not adequate, I already have my own Excel that can do better except my Excel is set up only for ASD which is an issue for some plans checkers.
Whoever is writing this dreck thinks it is unique that it is Windows-programming but it is too primitive and should be offered as freeware until he improves it immensely.
Also what is with the ridiculous 15-day trial period? Should be a month at least.
Thanks for the review. Seemed a little sketchy, just checking.
Retainpro looks like a great deal @$250. I tried it about 8 years ago and seemed really clunky and unintuitive so I stuck with my Daystar.
I am really only looking for retaining wall, concrete column and footing software. Have any suggestions for the last two?
Like Enercalc, RetainPro has problems but is much better than Enercalc. I use it when I have a complex situation my own Excel worksheet can't handle.
Sometimes I really wonder if these software writers are actually practicing engineers. When RetainPro and Enercalc were DOS programs, all the input was basically viewable on the computer monitor, or you just had to scroll down a bit. I can understand why STAAD and such needs many input windows, but for most problems as in Enercalc it is a pain to go to separate windows for the imposed loads etc.
I would encourage you to take a look at ENERCALC's Structural Engineering Library for concrete columns and for footing design. Demo version is available.
I do maybe do a concrete column every few years. Got a job coming up that may require it. I do my footings in Excel as well.
Daystar used to write Mac retaining wall software. I am on a Mac but can run PC stuff under virtualization. Huh, just checked - Daystar writes it now for PC's. I might check it out.
They have a cloud based version that I just checked out. It is free to use but is advertiser supported. It was not very elegant. Their Mac software 15 years ago seemed better, yet not as powerful.
I think it is best to rely on RISA and RAM products, overall.
I do mostly custom homes now so I don't need RISA anymore but I had used RISA 2D Frame since it first came out as DOS program, and it was even better when they changed it to Windows-based.
