Poll:Get out of the Code Habit

[fugeeo]

I think you must agree that some engineers can get locked in "the code habit".
While it's productive sometimes, to program, it's not our job.
And it's actually not solving the puzzle, it's making the puzzle more like concrete.

Poll
How many engineers can get out of "the code habit"?
And what is the key to unlocking it?

 

[JoshPlumSE]

Does anyone have any idea what this post means?

 

[fugeeo]

Basically, in design, the mindset gets locked on the Code, and it's like a snake eating a rat.
But we'd much rather get to see the Alligator consuming a man.
Is it worse in ACI than in other codes? I think it is.

Perpetrating Calcs according to the code, rather than grasping the fundamentals and only abiding by the code?
How do you know when you're the rat and the man?

 

[hokie66]

A strange way of making his point, but I get what fugeeo is saying, and agree. There is too much reliance on codes as cookbooks rather than as guides. The codes rarely improve our ability to think like the structure thinks.

 

[phamENG]

I've actually found that ACI is the least likely to cause this. The change made in 14 certainly pushes it more in that direction, but the equations are still not laid out in a "cookbook" fashion that allows quick and easy implementation. I've always had to pause and think through exactly what I'm doing and what I need, and usually rely on other references to do concrete design and look back at the code to make sure my design is at least compliant with the minimum standard (or higher if requested/required by the client). It's just never been as "user friendly."

Steel and wood, on the other hand, are much easier to use without really thinking it through.

 

[humanengr]

If the Building Code (IBC) must be revised every three years, then there is something wrong with the Code.
Canada revises their building code on a five year cycle. If I'm not mistaken, Euro-Codes are revised as / when needed.
They are published in a manner that allows revising what would be sections or Chapters of IBC individually.
We barely have time to become fully familiar with a Code, before the next is issued.
All because the researchers and publishers want to charge $300 per book,
while we subsidize the illegal copies overseas (esp., China, India, Philippines)??

 

[phamENG]

Are the Canadian and Euro codes produced by a private corporation or are they state/governing body sponsored? ICC is a private company (or, rather, group of companies). 3 year code cycle means more revenue and more profits, regardless of whether or not we've seen significant advancement in methodologies or real shortcomings in previous content.

 

[bridgebuster]

I agree, although I don't use ACI 314 that much. I'm thinking more of AASHTO, which I have every copy from 1953 to present. The 53 version was 297 5"x8" pages; the current version is 2000 8 1/2" x 11" pages. Granted much has been learned over the years, you have to ask yourself, what purpose do these constant revisions serve? 8 versions of the LRFD spec in 25 years.