Will the Sun Rise Tomorrow? Leveraging What You Know When Investigating Existing Conditions.

Existing conditions of a site are common and stubborn constraints and sources of challenges for construction projects. Unlike new construction, existing conditions cannot be specified. Existing conditions are often difficult to observe and are variable, creating significant uncertainty and risk. Exploration and testing are the standard means of mitigating the uncertainty associated with existing conditions. This …

The Most Expensive Subway or Why Construction Costs so Much in New York

It is not exactly news that construction costs in New York City are exceptionally high, especially for underground infrastructure. However, given New York’s importance to the American economy and the state of its infrastructure, construction costs are a real constraint on future growth. In addition, there are lessons that other cities can learn from New …

What’s Wrong with Commodity Geotechnical Reports

A couple of weeks ago, I was using a geotechnical report to develop a critical parameter for design of a particular foundation system. Like so many geotechnical reports I see, this report had many of the signs of being the product of commodity geotechnical services, as is often practiced when materials testing agencies offer geotechnical …

Delaware Earthquake or Earthquakes Can Happen Anywhere

As reported by the United States Geological Survey and various news organizations, a magnitude 4.1 earthquake occurred outside Dover Delaware on November 30, subjecting much of the mid-Atlantic region to weak to light shaking. Assuming the magnitude is not revised down, it would be tied for the largest magnitude earthquake in Delaware history. No damage …

Should Temporary Structures be Designed with Higher Allowable Stresses?

Traditionally, designers of temporary structures for use in construction had little guidance binding on their designs. Some owners, particularly infrastructure operators, provided standards and guidelines that permitted increased allowable stresses for certain temporary conditions. Sometimes the increased allowable stresses were limited to new materials or were subject to other stipulations. However, this practice came from …

The Lost Art of Foundation Engineering

When I began my career, my first job title was “foundation engineer”. The title was an anachronism, even at the time, but the scope of my work was consistent with the domain of foundation engineer going back to the early 20th century, at least. I was involved in geotechnical subsurface investigation and classification, development of …

Why Does the Construction Industry Love Silos?

Have you ever noticed how much the construction industry seems to love silos? Not the kind of silos that hold grain and other bulk materials, but metaphorical silos within organizations in which subgroups have different asymmetric information and interests and limited points of communication with each other. The resulting “silo mentality” is a result of …

Another Deck Failure…No Injuries, This Time

  I often find a lot of owners want to cut corners when constructing or repairing deck structures (decks, porches, balconies, etc.) by neglecting code requirement or working without permits, among other things. They assume that these structures require less care because they are accessory to and thus less important to the building. The reality is that decks are …

Obtaining Value Using Consultants on A/E/C Projects

Once upon a time, I was retained for a consulting engagement that had me making a hastily-planned out-of-town trip to the client’s office. The client had gathered several engineering and construction practitioners from around the country, along with several of the client’s staff to help them plan a new project. A few of us made brief …

What Nate Silver Can Teach Engineers

Nate’s Silver’s book, The Signal and the Noise (The Penguin Press, New York, 2012) was released in the run-up to the 2012 election. Silver and the FiveThirtyEight.com project were well on their way to accurately predicting most of the electoral college and Senate results and there was a good deal of interest and controversy in the political media regarding …