Recent content by vmirat

I've never been a fan of dobies for rebar support. I prefer metal or plastic chairs. I feel like the dobies create too much of a discontinuity in the concrete with increased potential for cracking. Am I being to restrictive?

How do you all determine the Category per ACI 318-14, section 17.3.3?

Can I use Boussinesq to figure the pressure at that depth on the heel? Seems too shallow a depth for that to be accurate.

I have a 4-foot tall retaining wall that has a point load surcharge at the top which is 2 feet from inside face of wall. How do you calculate the vertical pressure on the heel of the retaining wall due to the point surcharge load?

I'm reviewing a foundation design from another engineer. The foundation is a 24" thick pad for support of an antennae tower. The tower feet are anchored to the pad using an anchor bolt assembly composed of four threaded rods bolted to a steel plate and the whole thing embedded into the...

We have an existing sanitary force main that I'm evaluating. The 8" main terminates at a manhole with the crown of the force main at the same elevation as the crown of the 8" gravity line leaving the manhole. This is per City code. I have seen other municipalities require that the crown of...

MASTAN2. It's free.

I have this on my wall... "Engineering is the art of modelling materials we do not wholly understand, into shapes we cannot precisely analyse so as to withstand forces we cannot properly assess, in such a way that the public has no reason to suspect the extent of our ignorance." I've seen...

I decided to go with TIA-222. It has provisions for guy wires. Each wire of the grid will experience a horizontal wind load.

I'm designing a structure to support WWR 4x4-W4xW4 wire grid over a 42'x 85' mechanical yard which has 15' tall solid screen walls on three sides and the building on the fourth side (85-foot dimension). The steel structure to support the wire grid includes moment frames for both directions...

Will the architect allow a steel post in the stud wall? Something like a 3"pipe with a bearing plate on both ends.

My client purchased an aircraft jack test stand. The manufacturer of the test stand provided an installation drawing which shows the two posts embedded in a concrete pad that is 5' thick x 20' x 20' with two mats of #8's at 6" o.c.b.w. located 5 inches from top and bottom. I asked if they...

Human tolerance of sway is subjective. If you've ever been high up on a scissor lift, you know what it's like. To a construction worker with experience working such lifts, it's not a problem. I was once on a single-man lift up 20 feet that was quite wobbly. I couldn't wait to get down! The...

It's not ICC you should petition. You need to work with your local building department. It's up to them what code they adopt and how they adopt it. When the 2000 IBC came out, our regional building department refused to adopt it. They stayed with the UBC until the 2003 IBC came out. If the...

Get the regional building department to answer the question.