Tuffwall provides civil and structural design and analysis for the construction industry. The firm’s principal is a California licensed engineer, experienced in the structural design and analysis of vast diversity of the building structures. The analysis included: dynamic, thermal expansion, static, wind, and seismic loading.
The firm specializes in providing a high quality of technical expertise combined with attention to detail and personal services. For the purpose of expert witness and home inspection, our firm also holds a California building contractor license as well as a C-20 mechanical license.
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For some torrie wilson and candice michelle pictures other kids from herand the little hard dick.
University of Buffalo leads mission to analyze structures in Haiti January 22, 2010
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The powerful aftershock that hit the already devastated city of Port au Prince on Jan. 20 has only intensified Haiti’s need for French-speaking structural engineers who can immediately determine which of the structures left standing may still pose a threat to human safety. One of the first such missions has now begun, led by Andre Filiatrault, PhD, University of Buffalo professor of civil, structural and environmental engineering and director of the Multidisciplinary Center for Earthquake Engineering Research (MCEER), headquartered at UB. Filiatrault is working in partnership with Appropriate Infrastructure Development Group (AIDG), a national organization that helps provide developing countries with affordable renewable energy, sanitation and clean water.
Filiatrault together with a team of 10 architects and engineers from U.S. educational institutions and private engineering firms will embark on a mission to determine which of Haiti’s most critical structures – particularly its hospitals and ports – are safe to enter, and which pose a danger.
The new code, dubbed Calgreen, will take effect next January and requires builders to install plumbing that cuts indoor water use, divert 50 percent of construction waste from landfills to recycling, use low-pollutant paints, carpets and floorings and, in nonresidential buildings, install separate water meters for different uses. It mandates the inspection of energy systems by local officials to ensure that heaters, air conditioners and other mechanical equipment in nonresidential buildings are working efficiently. And it will allow local jurisdictions, such as San Francisco, to retain their stricter existing green building standards, or adopt more stringent versions of the state code if they choose.
“This is (something) no other state in the country has done – integrating green construction practices into the very fabric of the construction code,” said Tom Sheehy, acting secretary of the state Consumer Services Agency and chair of the California Building Standards Commission, which approved the standards. “These are simple, cost-effective green practices. … California should be proud.”
Hi Barry,
Thank you for your hard work and your guidance with my project.
I consider you not just my engineer but my friend.
may the future be even brighter!
Regards
Barry Neal
Barry, I am very happy with my new building plans. You were a pleasure to work with and thank you for letting me participate in the design process. You were so kind and patient when I suggested bad designs and then skillfully lead me to a new vision of what could be. Your design will save me a lot of money and a lot of my time building this structure.
Phil
Summary:
The successful creation of high-performance buildings demands accurate prediction of energy consumption, CO2 emissions, operating costs, and occupant comfort. In this webcast, Dru Crawley, leader of the Department of Commercial Building Initiative of the U.S. Department of Energy, will discuss how his organization is leveraging modern technology to improve building performance. In addition, Noah Eckhouse of Bentley Systems will explore how industry-leading energy design, simulation, and analysis software applications are providing today’s professionals with the necessary tools to effectively optimize the balance of function, comfort, and energy and carbon impact and help building teams sustain our environment. Both presenters will share a number of real-world design scenarios explored and validated, and discuss the realized benefits.
Hi Barry,
Just want to let you know I spoke to Paul Wang tonight…..he raved about you, how creative you are and nice to work with as did Gary.
I’m so pleased to have my impression of you confirmed by people that have already worked with you.
Talk to you tomorrow after we see the what’s going on under the house.
I’m looking forward to working with you.
Sunni
For Engineering Blog see the link below
http://www.nachi.org/forum/f23/whats-wring-picture-bored-holes-floor-joists-16455/
Here is a photo I shot during a Code Inspection this past week.
Are you a Code Official?
What you are seeing are 3″ PVC pipes going through 2×10 sawn lumber joists of the second floor. (30lb live load)
How did you determine that the design was for 30#psf.?
The joist spans are 13′ 6″ and the bores occur in the exact middle of the joists (top to botttom) and in the end 3rd of the joist spans nearest the exterior bearing wall.
2″x10″ joist is good to span 19’1″. Assumming your 30# load and a 10# dead load that you did not mention.
The bored hole sizes were 4 1/2″ in diameter. The outside diameter of 3″ PVC pipe is ~3 1/8″.
Is there anything wrong with this construction? Any Code Violations?
Your question would be answered as yes, and no.
Per R502.8 the maximum hole size could not have been any greater than 3 & 11/64″s, so yes it is in violation. Since it has been reinforced as shown, the IRC does not reflect that and in my opinion, based on the capacity of these floor joist, I would not be worried.
This is only my opinion.
Marcel
New York City’s Department of Buildings will begin tracking their inspectors using GPS technology embedded in the workers company issued cell phones. The tracking systems will take effect on Monday, by monitoring ten inspectors at first and by the end of the month they plan to be monitoring all 379 inspectors.
The GPS systems are being installed because of an incident concerning an inspector named Edward J. Marquette. Marquette filed a false inspection report on a crane. That crane toppled 11 days later killing seven people.
Ever since the 2007 collapse of an interstate highway spanning the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Illinois officials have kept quiet about the deteriorating condition of many bridges here, citing security concerns in an era of terrorist threats.
Now we’re finally getting a peek at what risks may be lurking under or within Illinois bridges. Newly released inspection data reveal some details about what’s specifically wrong with many of the state’s deficient bridges, and thus what rehab work is required to keep them safe. Notably, part of the Congress Parkway bridge over the Chicago River received the lowest possible rating for a span allowed to remain in service.
Some of the news is actually reassuring for a state with a long record of struggling to keep its roads and bridges up to snuff. Illinois Department of Transportation officials told Getting Around that the overall number of bridges with poor marks for upkeep has come down by a small margin in the past year, while there is more money available for repairs from federal stimulus and state sources.
Those overall tallies are updated annually. What’s been kept quiet, until now, are the details.