This app is not a toy; it ’ s a powerful, easy-to-use structural engineering calculator with ambitions to reach the clouds. Image: Courtesy of Iproblue Tech The developer, IProBlue Tech., Fort Lee, N.J., says [steel hd], for the iPad, is based on a database comprising American Institute of Steel Construction manuals. It also has libraries with all the structural-steel profiles available in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. An Android version is on the way. The tools are parametric calculators based on the AISC libraries 13.2, 13.2-SI, 13.1.1, 13.1.1 SI, 13, LRFD 1 through 3, ASD 6 through 9 and
For the U.S., the clear danger from a tsunami lies just offshore in the Pacific seabed where the Cascadia Subduction Zone shows up as a fault stretching about 800 miles, from Vancouver Island to Punta Gorda, Calif. Photo: AP Photo/The Times-Standard, Josh Jackson Half-sunken boats, docks and debris lie tangled Saturday, March 12, 2011, in Crescent City, Calif., after Friday's tsunami in Northern California. Related Links: Nuclear Nightmare Damage Assessments Climb At U.S. Ports and Harbors Seismologists say it has the potential to do almost exactly what happened on March 11 off Japan’s northeastern coast: generate a giant earthquake and
An infrastructure construction software vendor, who specializes in design and analysis applications, is working to have it both ways. As a privately held company, Bentley Systems Inc., Exton, Pa., is not required to file statements with securities regulators, as publicly traded companies must do. But not filing means Bentley misses the PR bang that comes when annual statements are released by its publicly traded competition. So on March 2, Bentley held its first “annual report” conference call with analysts and investors, as well as trade journalists, to proclaim successes, announce new business moves and reiterate some announcements of the preceding
Industry professionals poured out their passion at a conference in Washington, D.C., about the nation’s need to step up efforts to mitigate natural hazards through more resilient design and construction. Earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and wildfires are known natural hazards with risks that vary by location, but speakers at the event agreed that these risks can be mitigated by building in resilience. Codes, land-use planning and insurance programs all should be part of the solution. Photo Courtesy Of The Institute For Business & Home Safety North Carolina insurance institute test center withstood hurricane force winds that blew down a near-twin structure
For owners, the Rubik’s Cube of construction is reducing, repurposing and augmenting design and construction data into accurate and useful facilities models for operations and maintenance. Now, owners, designers, builders, facilities managers and vendors are working together on projects around the country to solve the puzzle. They say they are not only succeeding, but the payoff is significant. “It’s really catching on. Owners are starting to realize the value of it,” says Hyde Griffith, vice president for BIM services at Broaddus & Associates Inc., Austin, Texas. Broaddus is the owner’s rep and project manager for construction and data capture on
You might call it BIM for the masses, or you might call it BIMSight, as its developer does, but the deal is that a 3D modeling software vendor is now distributing a powerful, free viewer that users say rivals the for-a-price alternatives. Tekla BIMsight is available as a 46.6-megabyte download from the company’s website. It will import DWG format files from Autodesk, DGN files created by software from Bentley Systems and Intergraph and the open format IFC files as well. Capabilities include combining models, running clash detection and generating markups and pdfs, all in the service of sharing models and
When construction accidents occur, responders must master anxiety, adrenalin and even panic to ensure crisis plans click into place. Image: Courtesy of Emerge Mobile Tech Image: Courtesy of Emerge Mobile Tech Flintco’s crisis-response tool gets to the heart of what can make an app powerful: It leverages knowledge. Related Links: Crisis App: Steady Guide for Jobsite Emergencies Now, there is an app for all that. Tulsa, Okla.-based Flintco Construction LLC has partnered with an iPhone app developer to create a crisis management tool based on disaster plans Flintco maintains at jobsites in 30 states. The crisis-response protocols now are stored
For Timothy A. Reinhold, senior vice president of research and chief engineer at the Institute for Business and Home Safety’s newly commissioned, $40-million test facility in Chester County, S.C., the hurricane that blew through the lab on Oct. 18 and tore a two-story house to shreds was a joy to behold.
After more than 30 years of research, invention, fieldwork and development, civil engineer Alan P. Jeary finally saw the hardware and software he developed commercialized in 2010.
Industry sources say a search is on for candidates to be the 56th Chief of Engineers of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a presidential nomination requiring Senate confirmation. An Army committee of senior leaders is said to be assembling in secret a short list of candidates. The chief’s post typically carries a four-year appointment. Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp has held the position since May 2007. Marc D. Young, a spokesman at Corps headquarters in Washington, D.C., says the Corps does not participate in the nominating process, which is managed by the Army’s chief of staff. “Usually we
