Structural engineering design uses a variety of tools, techniques, and technologies to ensure that a structure is strong, safe, durable, and meets the requirements of its intended use. Structural design determines what materials should be used for the construction of a structure in order to reinforce the building’s strength and safety. A structural analysis must also happen during the design phase, long before the materials, tools, and the different heavy equipment needed to build the structure are offloaded onto the site and any construction begins. In this blog, we’re going to look at the t ..read more

Structural engineers today work in a fast-moving international environment. The need to collaborate with multiple other disciplines from the AEC industry, often round the world, has never been greater. Engineers are expected to achieve even greater performance for their buildings, by cutting down on cost and embodied carbon – making the exploration of different design options essential. Finally, engineering companies need to turn around projects as fast as possible to stay competitive, making automation an attractive option. One way structural engineers and engineering companies can stay ahead ..read more

Nowadays, the AEC industry is going through a rapid transformation. It all started with the introduction of AutoCAD back in the 80’s — a software solution that allowed engineers to create detailed designs for construction projects. Recent years saw the development of this concept into something far more complex, practical, and powerful — building information modeling (BIM). This type of software uses 3D modeling and parametric capabilities, along with cloud-based tech, to allow for accurate modeling and advanced collaboration features.   One of the most popular BIM software solutions is R ..read more

What is a Helical Pile?   A helical pile is a deep foundation solution suitable for supporting light and heavy structures. They are engineered to support compressive loads less than 1kN (225 lb) or in excess of 5,000kN (1.125 million lb) – from a small landing to a 32 story tower, helical piles are an option. Another common name for helical piles are “screw piles”. A helical pile consists of a round steel shaft and one or more helical bearing blades which are welded to the shaft. The length, thickness and diameter of a shaft varies based on several factors as will the number, thickness an ..read more

Lateral Bracing & Stability   Some people may think building design is easy. They may think that anyone can build a house or a deck and that they don’t need any engineering background or knowledge. Put a beam here. A post there. Some concrete here. Some nails there. But what if the big bad wolf came and huffed and puffed and tried to blow that structure down? Like I mentioned in our article about loads, there are two main types of lateral loads that can be applied to a structure: wind loads and seismic loads. Many know what structural elements resist vertical loads. That is beams and ..read more

Hey Noah, What Are Load Bearing Walls? As a structural engineer, I seem to be the go-to guy among my friends and family when someone wants to know if a wall in their home is load-bearing or not. When I get that phone call I often think to myself “Do they even know what a load-bearing wall is?”. So first off, I think I should explain what classifies as a load-bearing wall and how they work, and then I can go into explaining some ways I determine if a wall is load-bearing when I am helping out with my friends and family. Some of the reasons someone would ask this question in the first place wo ..read more

What Building Materials are Used in Construction?   There are many types of building materials used in construction such as Concrete, Steel, Wood and Masonry. Each material has different properties such as weight, strength, durability and cost which makes it suitable for certain types of applications. The choice of materials for construction is based on cost and effectiveness to resisting the loads and stresses acting on the structure. As a structural engineer, I work with my clients to decide on the type of materials used in each project depending on the size and use of the building. &nb ..read more

Types of Structural Engineering Projects   As an engineer at one of the top structural engineering firms in Winnipeg, I have had the privilege of working on many different types of projects. The projects range from small to large, simple to complex. All projects I work on allow me to use my problem solving as well as communication skills. The project scope is not always well defined, which means that I have to communicate with the client to determine exactly what they need and to what extent. I enjoy showing up to work knowing that the work I am doing isn’t repetitive and mindless as some ..read more

Beams and columns are two important types of structural elements that play a key role in creating a safe load path to transfer the weight and forces on a structure to the foundations and into the ground. Beams and columns could be built using the same shapes and materials but each serves a different function and is designed differently.   Beams are usually horizontal structural elements that carry loads perpendicular to their longitudinal direction. Think of a balancing beam in gymnastics. It’s a rectangular object 15 feet long and supported at both ends. When a person is walking on the ..read more

WHAT IS STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING?   Structural engineering is a branch of civil engineering that involves the application of the laws of physics, mathematics and empirical knowledge to safely design the ‘bones’ and load bearing elements of man made structures. Modern day structural engineering provides a large and detailed body of knowledge that can accurately predict the performance of different shapes and materials used in structures to resist loads and stresses on structures. The principles of structural engineering were used thousands of years ago when building structures like the pyram ..read more