tallbridgeguy

Playing around with a computer model and photoshop. I have a long way to go…

The Happy Pontist, (who is always ahead of the curve) posted this comment,

I’ve used strut-and-tie fairly regularly, but generally for specific design problems such as corbels, or in assessment of existing bridges where it is sometimes the only way to prove that something can stand up safely. It wasn’t included in the UK bridge design codes, but is popular in parts of Europe and is in the current Eurocodes.

This got me to thinking about concrete design here in the states. AASHTO has been pushing strut and tie as the future design methodology but they have a lot of engineering inertia to overcome. It is a simple method, IF you develop the proper model. (which is true for the majority of engineering practice.)

I don’t teach Strut and Tie in my concrete class but now I think I have too! So this spring I think I will sneak it in….

It will be two years of blog posts this December! (I need to get a real life…) The quote below sums up the struggle of engineering.

From April 2009,

Check out this online book by Alan Holgate. It was originally published in 1986 but it has since gone out of print. It discusses the roles of engineers in design.

There is an old saying which goes something like this: “An engineer is a man who can do for a dollar what any fool can do for two.”

Its emphasis on ingenuity is praiseworthy, but it has been seen too often as a justification for much that is cheap and nasty in engineering.

It has been taken to mean that engineering is nothing more than the achievement of clearly specified technological objectives for the lowest possible cost in cash.

This view has been reinforced for engineering students by the fact that with a few notable exceptions, text books entitled “Design of Structures” are predominantly concerned with the techniques of computational analysis

Trying to get good output from Google Sketchup.

Update: This is a Kerkythea rendered short. Photomap Fine.

From the Calgary Herald,

With the city announcing its controversial $24.5-million pedestrian span won’t be ready until June — eight months behind schedule — Santiago Calatrava noted his responsibility is for the design and not the construction schedule.

“We are not responsible at all for whatever are the delays,” he said in an interview from his New York office.

Check out some of the comments at the bottom, ouch.

Also a bridge I designed some 15 years ago……double ouch.

And one with piles! The bridge is in a sandy riverbed with lots of scour potential. Sooo lots of friction piles…that’s what they wanted..

www.Hulu.com has a few engineering videos online. (free with a couple of commercials) They are about 15 minutes long and have some good historical images. And all seem to be from the UK?

1) Fritz Leonhardt – The concrete needle

2) The golden gate bridge

3) The Empire State building

Update: Is this site available overseas? I seem to remember you need a “fake” IP to access the US Hulu site. Sorry if it doesn’t work.

This video is one part information, two parts boring. Since I am not a road engineer the information presented may be wrong. Hows that for an endorsement of my own video?

I just wanted to show how a typically divided roadway was laid out and the video got away from me….

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I made a quick, oddly disjointed video about bridge terminology. I’m not sure if this is helpful but as it often happens, I get a little bored and decide the “first take” is fine…

I thought I should discuss the elements of a typical bridge before I start laying one out in sketchup. Then I decided to add flood photos to the end for no apparent reason.

I had a situation yesterday where I needed a good comeback in a meeting. I think I handled it pretty well but I tend to get mad instead of producing a snappy comeback.

The hardest part is being prepared and not being caught off guard. (It is also a fine line between going for the kill and losing your job.)

How about the rest of you, if you are insulted at work how do you handle it?

Wikihow has some pointers.

Saw this on the Happy Pontist. I looked at the entries.

All the designs are cool but can they really be built for $2-4 Million?

I can’t build a 10′ x 450′  standard pedestrian bridge over a river for that price. Some of those concepts look in the neighborhood of $20-30 million…

I guess “X” marks the spot for money. (Or maybe it is a shamrock?)