Recent content by drewtheengineer

I appreciate all of your input. I should clarify that there is a residential building over the parking garage and that there shouldn't be any reason for the joists getting wet (barring a pipe leaking). It is located in NJ and not near the coast so I don't think the humidity is so bad that it...

Let's say we have a residential building comprised of a parking garage with a steel bar joist system above. The joists had significant surface rust however no reported penetration/deterioration into the cross section of the members. Without any further preperation (i.e. sand-blasting, priming)...

Stay with me here... The IBC (specifically NY State BC) states under Chapter 17, Special Inspections (1704.3.1) "The basis for welding inspector qualificaion shall be AWS D1.1" I don't have AWS D1.1 but I found an article stating that Qualification and Certification of inspectors are two...

Just one

So I'm at a meeting the other day when the client tells me I need to spec out a "break away bolt" at the firewall bracing connection. First, is there a such thing as a break away bolt and if so, how does it work. The detail is as follows. An 8" cmu firewall fits in between a unit separation...

OK, so here is what I'm thinking (keep in mind I'm a structural engineer and know just enough about electrical to be dangerous). I went and purchased the two-way switch with receiver. I was hoping that the reciever would be a simple switch device that I could modify so when the switch went to...

Anyone know if a remote control 3-way light switch exists? I want to put a remote control switch on a brick wall and I don't want to screw around with running wire to it. I've seen a two-way remote control switch that runs on AAA batteries. Maybe if there is no 3-way remote control switch, is...

Dut to time constraints, I just spoke to them for a few minutes about structural engineering in general and quized them throughout with candy bribes to make sure they were paying attention. I then had a transit and showed them how to use it. By the time we took two measurements my time was up...

jfudo, Thanks. Were you able to get the architects to understand? Did they spec out 20lb bond paper instead of 1/2" gyp on the next project?

Rich, one question. How tall did you require the tower be?

Awesome Idea! That might be perfect. I spent four years designing tall tv broadcast towers so that would fit perfectly into what I will talk about. Thanks Rich

I'm presenting engineering to the 4th graders in my son's cub scouts tonight. I had planned on discussing a little bit about what a structural engineer does. I'm also going to bring in a transit and do some surveying. I would like to have them do some kind of project also. When I was in 7th...

I have existing epoxy anchor bolts embedded in a slab with a dbl wood bearing plate on it. Can anyone recommend or point me in the right direction for a proof load testing procedure for these bolts? Thanks, Drew

Metalguy, Thanks. Is there anything (Code, Text) I could reference to show this? Drew

Thanks Lutfi, and for the record, I wasn't the engineer for the design, they called me in for the repair. How about the second part to my post, justification of stainless steel nails in a galvanized hardware?