April 15, 2020

Understanding the City of Oakland’s Soft Story Seismic Retrofit Ordinance

By: Kenneth Tam, David McCormick
In 2009, the City of Oakland passed a mandatory ordinance (No. 12966) requiring owners of certain buildings to undergo structural screening to determine if the building contains a potential “soft story” at its lowest level, typically comprised of large open areas compared to the stories above.
Keywords:Inspection, Ordinance, Retrofit/Upgrade, Seismic Engineering and Retrofit, Soft Story
March 24, 2020

Adjacent Structure Technical and Legal Risks

By: Scott DiFiore, Matthew Johnson, Gregory R. Meeder, James P. Chivilo

Excavation and heavy civil construction in urban environments directly impact abutters and existing adjacent structures. Noise and dust create nuisance concerns, while demolition, excavation and dewatering can cause earth movement and structural...

Keywords:Adjacent Construction, Building Settlement, Condition Assessment, Damage, Demolition, Dynamic/Vibration, Excavation, Excavation Support, Foundation, Geotechnical, Groundwater, Monitoring, Monitoring, Construction, Settlement, Shoring/Temporary Structure
March 20, 2020

Rain Loads: Guide to the Rain Load Provisions of ASCE 7-16

By: Aaron Lewis, Michael O'Rourke

Rain Loads: Guide to the Rain Load Provisions of ASCE 7-16 provides the practicing structural engineer with a detailed description of the rain load provisions of Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other...

Services:Structural Design
Keywords:Roofing
March 6, 2020

Landmark Restoration: Comprehensive Repair of Michigan University Fountain

By: Daniel Clark

In this article, Daniel Clark discusses the university’s desire to address water leakage concerns at the 1940s-vintage fountain, which serves as a prominent landmark on campus. SGH performed condition assessments to investigate these...

Services:Building Enclosure Rehabilitation
Markets:Education - College & Prep
Keywords:Historic, Metal, Preservation Technology , Water Leakage
March 3, 2020

Finding Value in Building Enclosure Commissioning

By: Peter Babaian, Emily Hopps, Brian Rose, Matthew Normandeau

Presented/Published:
American Institute of Architects (AIA), Washington DC Chapter, Washington, DC, 23 January 2017, by Brian Rose
SGH New York 2016 Seminar...

Services:Building Enclosure Design
Keywords:Building Enclosure Commissioning, Energy (Energy Modeling, Energy Audits, Energy Commissioning), LEED Projects
March 3, 2020

Innovating with Materials

By: Matthew Bronski, Glenn Bell
Mankind has innovated with design and construction methods and materials since Homo Habilis laid one flat stone horizontally across two upright stones to build the first dolmen around 2,000,000 BCE. Since then, our progress in building materials innovation over the millennia has been tremendous. A short list of some of the most innovative buildings and structures in history would have a great deal of overlap with a list of the most beautiful and inspirational buildings and structures of all time.
Services:Materials Design
Keywords:Material-Related, Materials Testing for Design
February 27, 2020

2019 NYS Code Requirements of Parking Garage Structures Inspections and Maintenance

By: Robert Antes

All parking garages under the jurisdiction of the New York State Uniform Fire Prevention and Building Code must undergo a periodic condition assessment to help ensure structural integrity and user safety. This is a recent mandate resulting from a...

Keywords:Codes & Standards, Condition Assessment, Parking Structure
February 13, 2020

Combined Kinematic and Inertial Seismic Analysis of Marine Structures

By: Julie Galbraith, Muhammad Naeem, William Bruin

In performance-based seismic design, a marine structure is designed for inertial loading effects associated with the dynamic response of the structure. Some waterfront structures also experience seismically induced kinematic effects, associated...

Markets:Ports & Terminals
Keywords:Marine Engineering, Seismic Analyses
February 13, 2020

Decommissioning of the SR520 Floating Bridge, Seattle, WA

By: Muhammad Naeem, Rune Iversen, Sam Yao
Markets:Bridge
February 13, 2020

Rehabilitation, Safety Improvement, and Life Extension of a Geriatric Concrete Marine Oil Terminal

By: Gayle Johnson, William Bruin, Cheng Lai, John Chun

This paper will describe a $16M rehabilitation program of a 1960’s vintage, reinforced concrete marine oil terminal at the Port of Long Beach intended to enhance the performance and operational life of this critical infrastructure. The...

Services:Structural Rehabilitation
Markets:Oil & Gas, Ports & Terminals
Keywords:Concrete Rehabilitation, Marine Engineering

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