General Archives - Page 6 of 13 - McNeil Engineering

Pivoting during operational disruption

Operational Disruption Business continuity is only as good as the procedural and strategic implementation set prior to the impending disruption, regardless of the severity. Either that, or the ability of the company to respond and adapt quickly and efficiently.

Across the board, we are seeing businesses and industries alike pivoting and responding to the global crisis that continues to sweep across humanity. The question then becomes, how can we pivot and systematically implement solutions that not only allow for business scalability but one that offers relief aid and immediate assistance to humanity?

We have since seen the manufacturing industry repurpose production immediately to offer materials and supplies to essential businesses being impacted. This seems like an obvious answer during times of global pandemics. What’s less obvious though, is the shift in the engineering and construction sector. Let us dive a bit deeper into the potential solutions and production shifts that we at McNeil Engineering can make to restructure service offerings and offer an immediate benefit to essential workers during this time.

The pandemic impact

While the obvious effects of COVID-19 are felt around the world, fortunately, up until now, the construction and engineering sector have been deemed as essential to continue building and strengthening infrastructural resilience.

The economy has slowed down, but thankfully not completely liquidated. Depending on the length of this impactful disruption will directly relate to the cash flow and pipeline projects of engineering and construction businesses.

The potential long-term impact will be to face a decrease in overall demand on every level. Maintaining safety, internal restructuring, and supply chain optimization will be massively relevant questions to answer in order to remain sustainable and scalable in the future.

The pandemic is nothing, if not uncertain, but the solutions come from proactive adaptation and systematic approaches. McNeil Engineering takes pride in our evolutionary thought process and will continue to do everything we can to assist and repurpose workflow to better suite the great good during these unprecedented times.

How to adapt

Companies, industries, and brands alike will inevitably be defined for some time based on what they did during the crisis in order to innovatively alter the course of not only their personal direction, but the direction on a pandemic scale. How did they treat humanity? That will be the question asked and observed post crisis.

The way we see it, there are a multitude of initiatives that the engineering and landscape architecture industry can take to thrive during uncertainty with or without a continuity plan in place. We want to consider how we can use this time to rethink and restructure work through possible digital adoptions and software advancements.

What do these next steps look like?

Possible delays and project cancellations are inevitable, but how a company pivots production is essential to operational optimization. What do these pivots look like?

Disruption management and crisis response: working closely with municipalities and local governments to assist with emergency considerations pending a county wide shut down.
Operational Workflow: Ensuring that employees and a business’s entire workforce is safe and taken care of during these major shifts is essential to business continuation and functionality.
Supply chain disruptions: We are all aware by now of the transportation, shipment, and sourcing issues prevalent within most all supply chains today. Increasing visibility and responsive engagement will inevitably alleviate pressure on certain suppliers or may even offer alternative suppliers to be contacted and used for product procurement.
Collaboration: The key to long-term success based on current issues will be a company’s ability to collaborate and coordinate with public sectors to develop plans for continued growth implementation.

Business will always be faced with issues that could alter the course of strategy at any given time. The way they individually respond to these issues are what will set them up for future success and continued scalability. McNeil Engineering has always been more than an engineering business. We value humanity and offer our services as more than construction development.

If you are an essential business or local government in need of any of our services, we are here to help. We have the knowledgeable staff necessary for progressive integration and adaptive implementations needed to bridge the infrastructure gap so widespread in our world today. Our experience with 3D printing can aid in personal protective equipment development as the demand for masks and face shields continue to rise daily. Leveraging current techniques to assist in this crisis is important to us as our outreach is extended well past our local community.

Joining together will make us all stronger in the end. If you have any questions or would like to speak with us today, please reach out to one of our team members HERE.

McNeil Engineering’s Very Own Hero

Mike Hoffman McNeil “TEAM – We understand that while our industry is changing, our success and the success of [others] still depends on building strong relationships and working as a cohesive team towards a common goal.”

And today, we aren’t talking about structural engineering projects or consultations. Today, we want to talk about the greater good and progressive evolution of humanity – without sounding too philosophical, or course!

We hear the term work/life balance nonchalantly thrown about on business podcasts and around the water cooler at work. But what exactly does it mean? Is it more time with your family? More time to travel? More time to binge on Netflix originals?

Or is it something more?

Michael Hoffman, McNeil Engineering’s very own Survey Manager, chooses to believe that balancing your work and life goes much deeper than that. He takes leadership seriously and extends his reach to depths most of us are unaware of.

This is what true leadership is. Asking how you can be of service to others. Lifting others in their time of need. Leading by example. It isn’t very often you get to read about particular service offerings that transcend the industrial work place and make a difference in the lives of others, but today we are doing just that.

A Hospice Hero is awarded

Today we get to shine a light on Michael and brag on him a bit. He deserves it! Michael consistently makes a proactive effort to visit hospice patients during his lunch break at least once, sometime twice each week. He’s been sticking to this service-driven leadership for over a year now.

And he doesn’t stop there. As a matter of fact, last Christmas, the McNeil Engineering team had the privilege of working directly with the Boy Scouts of America to assist them with receiving their surveying merit badge, an experience we know we will never forget, and we’re sure they won’t either.

One thing we want the community to know is that we are more than engineers. Michael is the perfect example of that. Michael received the Hospice Hero Award back in early December 2019. The Hospice Hero Award is a program honoring hospice volunteers and professionals across the nation, highlighting their dedication to a selfless commitment to others. We are so proud of Michael!

To us, success means providing an unmatched value through commitment and individualized service to our community. When a business is known for their industry expertise and even more so for their commitment to giving back, we call that progressive scalability and adaptive evolution – on a human level.

We want to thank Michael for his consistent commitment to others. We absolutely could not experience any form of success without employees like Michael and the continued support of our beloved community.

We would like to take this time to highlight our team and their contact information. If there is any way we can assist you, please let us know. We truly love our community.

Management Contacts:

Ted Didas, P.E., President / CEO – Civil Engineering Manager | 801.255.7700 x114 | ted@mcneileng.com
Matt Roblez, SE, SECB, Principal – Structural Engineering Manager | 801.255.7700 x128 | matt@mcneileng.com
Mike Hoffman, PLS, Principal – Survey Manager | 801.255.7700 x138 | mike@mcneileng.com
Scott Schoonover, PLA, ASLA, Principal – Landscape Architect | 801.255.7700 x152 | scotts@mcneileng.com
Carl Greene, Principal – Consulting Manager | 801.255.7700 x118 | carl@mcneileng.com

Civil Engineering Contacts:

Ted Didas, P.E., President / CEO -Civil Engineering Manager | 801.255.7700 x114 | ted@mcneileng.com
Rob Poirier, P.E., Civil Engineering Project Manager | 801.255.7700 x117 | rob@mcneileng.com
Daniel Canning, P.E., Design Engineer
Jake Felshaw, Senior Civil Designer
Cody Williams, Staff Engineer

Structural Engineering Contacts:

Matt Roblez, SE, SECB, Principal – Structural Engineering Manager | 801.255.7700 x128 | matt@mcneileng.com
Brian Warner, S.E., LEED AP, Senior Structural Engineer | 801.255.7700 x111 | brian@mcneileng.com
Anthony Schmid, S.E., Senior Structural Engineer | 435.632.7660 | anthony@mcneileng.com
Cody Palmer, P.E., Professional Engineer | 435.213.3660 | cody@mcneileng.com
Rebeca Rendon-Lira, Project Coordinator
Tevi Lawson-Avla, Staff Engineer
Walter Travis IV, P.E., Professional Engineer
Layton Asmus, Staff Engineer
Greg Ostermiller, Structural E.I.T.
Shey Bailey, Structural Drafter

The ultimate work/life balance comes from enjoying both aspects equally. If you have any questions on the work we do in and around our community, or if you have any upcoming projects you would like to discuss with us, please feel free to reach out to us today.

Laser scanning for oil

Utah Laser scanning for oil At McNeil Engineering, we’ve been using LIDAR laser scanning as a tool for civil engineering, structural engineering, surveying and building modeling for years. One of the most interesting uses was scanning the Book Cliffs in eastern Utah in a project to research how laser scanning can help find mineral deposits that could indicate the presence of oil shale deposits. It could lead to a breakthrough in prospecting for energy resources.

The ground to scan

The Book Cliffs are mountainous formations located in eastern Utah and western Colorado, so named because of the top cap on south-facing buttes, made of Cretaceous-era sandstone, which resemble a shelf of books.

The Book Cliffs begin where the Colorado River leaves the De Beque Canyon into the Grand Valley. The cliffs run mostly along the southern and western edge of the Tavaputs Plateau.

They are one of the best places in the world for studying sequence stratigraphy, which is the study of layers of sedimentary rock deposits and the way they represent various geologic processes over long periods of time.

The Book Cliffs show that the area was at one time part of the Western Interior Seaway that extended from the present Gulf of Mexico to the Yukon Territory, from 145 to 66 million years ago. Later, during the Eocene Era of 55 to 33 million years ago, the Green River Basin enjoyed warm temperatures and abundant rainfall.

In 2005, the oil shale was discovered in the Green River Formation, now estimated to contain from 500 billion to 1.1 trillion barrels of potentially recoverable oil.

The question

Certain minerals, called mineral lenses, are often indicators of the presence of oil shale deposits, and thus pointers to valuable extractable energy resources. So a fast, cheap and non-damaging method of finding them would be a major benefit to the energy industry. At the same time, avoiding digging or drilling that does not find extractable resources would be a boon for the natural environment.

Professor Paul Jewell of the University of Utah’s Department of Geology and Geophysics specializes in studying hydrologic principles — that is, how water moves over surfaces — to understanding geochemistry and sedimentation. He has used LIDAR and other mapping technologies to create sophisticated models of surface environments in the western United States, such as Lake Bonneville, the ancient lake that covered much of present-day Utah, Idaho and Nevada after the last ice age.

One question he wanted to answer was: Can LIDAR scanning be used to find the minerals in the exposed cliff faces?

We at McNeil Engineering were happy to team up, and extend our knowledge and expertise in using LIDAR scanning and digital mapping.

The technology

LIDAR, or light detection and ranging, is also known as 3D laser scanning. It’s a combination of the concepts of laser scanning and radar.

The technology reflects a beam of laser light off a surface. Computers measure the difference in return times and wavelengths to produce a three-dimensional model of a surface.

Our laser surveying systems capture millions of measurements in a few minutes, resulting in highly detailed, rich models that we can study. They’re far more precise than the models produced by traditional surveying methods.

The prize

Over the years, prospectors have found a number of key indicators for the presence of buried resources, including oil and other fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are found in sedimentary rock. These are formed by small mineral particles deposited by running water. Over time, with pressure, they fuse together. These rocks are porous, and the spaces are filled with carbon-based, organic matter which, over time, decays into oil or gas.

Running water, such as the Green River, deposits a range of materials when it flows into a larger, more still body such as a lake. The presence of certain minerals in layers of sedimentary rock could indicate an ancient body of water, and hit at the possibility of oil or oil shale trapped in the layers.

Not to be confused with shale oil (oil produced by fracking), oil shale is a fine-grained sedimentary rock that can contain significant amounts of organic material called kerogen. When heated to high temperatures, kerogen can be converted into usable oil.

The experiment

McNeil Engineering’s 3D laser scanning team accompanies Professor Jewell to the Book Cliffs. We used our laser scanning system to record literally millions of data points along the faces of the cliffs, then build digital models.

The models we generated allowed the team, as well as specialists from the University of Utah, to identify places where the mineral markers could indicate the presence of oil shale buried within the rock structures.

This information allows the geological team to narrow down the most likely places to investigate for resources.

How to read a building information model

Building information modeling, or BIM, has been around for about a decade now, but it may still be new to some clients, developers, construction professionals and building owners.

By nature, BIM models are highly complex, and they can be challenging to interpret. Here are some tips that the construction client can use to understand what BIM is telling them.

Building information modeling

BIM technology is complex. They are more than digital, 3D representations of building designs or architecture. The models integrate all the physical and functional information of a building project: specifications, building materials, schedules, and costs. The latest definitions add environmental sustainability and life-cycle management.

In short, the models can display everything an architect, engineer, construction manager, developer, owner or facility manager would need to know about a project before construction begins. You can see a three-dimensional representation of a project, incorporating virtual reality (VR) aspects to picture it in place. You can close in, viewing electrical, plumbing, ventilation and other systems. A popular use is a virtual “fly-through,” viewing internal spaces.

BIM allows the owners, developers, architects and construction managers to experiment with different design choices and analyze the results on costs, schedules, life cycle maintenance and environmental impact.

This also allows designers and engineers to find design conflicts, such as where planned pipes would go through load-bearing bulkheads. This allows the engineers to resolve the conflicts before construction begins, saving valuable time and expense.

BIM emphasizes the importance of integrating every team into the design process.

Adoption of BIM

According to industrial research firm McKinsey & Co., 75 percent of companies that have adopted BIM reported positive returns on the investment. This is a result of shorter project life cycles and savings on material costs and paperwork.

Governments in the U.K, Finland, Singapore and elsewhere now require BIM for public infrastructure projects.

Take the time necessary

Implementing BIM, integrating it fully into your systems and getting the most out of the technology typically takes three months of daily use in the architecture and engineering offices.

During this critical learning curve, projects, milestones and tasks will require more time to accomplish as the team learns how to make BIM work with their existing systems and tools.

Some projects may have timelines or delivery requirements that aren’t flexible enough, leaving them out of the BIM process. They should use previously existing processes and tools.

Demand to be involved

Success in BIM depends on the client’s involvement from the get-go. Your engineering team should offer you plenty of opportunities to offer feedback and suggestions. They should also provide frequent visualizations of the project and updates, and proactively keep you involved. If they don’t, demand they do — or find another team.

Make a BIM implementation plan

The engineering or architecture firm driving the project should present a BIM implementation plan that details how each member of the project team will use BIM, assign responsibility for each part of the model, information needed by each member, and exactly how the data will be shared.

How much detail do you need?

Even though a powerful BIM system can visualize the placement of every electrical outlet and closet rod, it may not be necessary. Each additional level of detail adds to the time and cost needed to produce the model.

The engineering industry has produced comprehensive guidelines that define the levels of detail for large projects, such as AIA E202-2008: Building Information Modeling Protocol Exhibit. However, with a smaller project, you need to weigh the benefit against the cost and time required for a greater level of detail.

Templates

BIM templates are the starting points for models. They allow the project team to save time and produce more consistent, accurate models. Your engineering team should not only use BIM templates, but clearly show which templates they have chosen and be able to tell you why.

By the same token, the engineering firm should build a standard library of components for their BIM models. These can save time, and are fully customizable to fit the requirements of the project.

The result is time savings, which equates to cost savings.

Test concepts frequently

BIM offers a range of analytical tools to examine design and construction alternatives. Try out as many as feasible, looking at the predicted results in costs and timelines.

Keep it lean

While today’s computers are powerful and can process much more data and far larger files than ever before, BIM models are highly complex and larger files still slow computers down. The engineering team should examine best practices in keeping the BIM files as lean as possible.

Find out more about BIM

At McNeil Engineering, we provide the BIM design team an accurate base data model to build an intelligent model.

To find out more about how your next project can realize the benefits of implementing BIM, read our BIM page and give our digital modeling team a call.

What you should look for in an ALTA land survey

Before you buy or sell a piece of real estate, whether it’s a developed lot or vacant land, you may have to get what’s known as an ALTA land survey. This is a far more detailed report on the real characteristics of the property, beyond what most surveys present.

ALTA stands for American Land Title Association, and the ALTA land survey can only be done by a registered, licensed surveyor, in accord with the standards set by the American Land Title Association and American Congress of Surveying and Mapping Standards. The latter organization has recently been merged into the National Society of Professional Surveyors, so the proper name of this kind of survey is now ALTA/NSPS land title survey. But we’ll use the shorter name for simplicity’s sake here.

When do you need it

When buying or selling property or land, a lender or title company can ask for an ALTA. It’s usually required for the sale or refinancing of commercial property in order to determine whether there are any “survey risks” such as disputes over boundary lines, encroachments, easements, claims and other conditions that may not be found in public records but can complicate the transaction.

Imagine depending on a basic survey and beginning construction or development on a property, only to find out that the land is prone to flooding, that there are competing claims to it, or a dispute over the boundary. These can completely derail a project, or at least significantly delay it and they can increase costs.

ALTA surveys are also a good idea when buying a vacant property. Vacant land may never have been surveyed, or was surveyed a long time ago with less accurate technologies and practices. In the case of an old survey report, it may not show easements, encroachments or other changes that have been applied in the meantime.

As a buyer, you may want a full detailed survey to make sure there are no boundary, encroachment or ownership problems that could develop into a problem later. The ALTA land surveyor does more extensive research to uncover these issues before you make the purchase.

If you are the seller of property, developed or not, you might want to commission an ALTA land survey to compare against the buyer’s survey, and to protect your interests.

What an ALTA land survey includes

An ALTA land survey usually costs significantly more than other types of surveys, because it is far more detailed. The report will show:

legal description of the property
boundaries of the property
fences
all improvements, building and structures on the property
easements, encumbrances and special access permissions
access and legal routes to the property
roads and paths crossing the property
buried and overhead utility lines
zoning classification
flood zone classification
water boundaries
identity of owners of neighboring properties

How it’s done

Gathering all this information requires a broader range of actions than most people think of when they picture surveying. It starts with deep research into public and private land records. This will find the title, as well as any competing claims and liens on the property.

Next is the field investigation, starting with original survey markers and boundary lines. If the land itself is difficult and rugged, this can be time consuming.

This is the stage that determines locations of buildings and structures, access points, roads and paths, bodies of water, utility features, parking spaces and more.

What you should look for

When you receive an ALTA land survey, make sure you’re getting what you pay for. In addition to a map or visual representation of the property, the survey report should include:

in-depth description of the land and its history
full description of all easements and encumbrances, as well as future development
zoning setbacks and limitations
possible encroachments across the boundaries or easements
description of all utilities
access points to public roads
flood zones
water boundaries
names of the owners of adjacent properties.

Stay up to date

The ALTA land survey standards are updated every few years. The last update was in 2016, so make certain that the ALTA survey you pay for was conducted according to the latest standards.

McNeil Engineering’s ALTA land surveying team has provided these detailed, comprehensive surveys for a broad range of properties in the Intermountain area: hospitals, schools, restaurants, retail developments, office development and other commercial real estate.

Do you need an ALTA land survey?

Because of the high standards for research and report development, you can rest assured about any hidden defects or property features before you begin expensive development and construction on a property.

Take a look at our ALTA/NSPS Land Title Survey page, and give us a call to find out more about our specialized team and whether this detailed report is what you need to help you make crucial property decisions.

Regular inspection is key to longest life for your buildings’ roofs

Regular inspection Roofs just don’t get the attention they deserve. It’s not hard to understand why. We rarely see the roof, especially of a commercial or industrial building. As a result, problems can go unseen for too long, leading to unnecessarily extensive work for a roofing consultant and expensive, time-consuming repairs that can disrupt mission-critical business operations.

Turning to a roofing consultant as soon as you become a building owner to do a thorough roofing inspection — and even better, calling in a specialized roofing consultant at the architectural design stage of a new building — can save you a lot of money and time in the long run.

Here are some other tips from our roofing consultants on keeping your roofs in good condition:

The right time

Finding a small problem and fixing it promptly keeps it from developing into something major. It’s also far less expensive and time-consuming to fix a small problem than to have to replace an entire roof or section.

Consider also what a faulty, leaking roof can mean to your essential business operations: it can require disruptive work-arounds and even bring some operations to a standstill.

Create a plan for regular inspections by a qualified, professional roofing consultant at more than one point during the year. Follow their recommendations and have all maintenance performed by qualified teams.

The right people

It takes a qualified roofing specialist to do a proper, thorough inspection. The person doing the inspection has to know about different roofing systems, their advantages and their potential weak points.

Look for a roofing consultant with experience in the kinds of roofs you own, and who is honest, transparent and accountable in their reports and recommendations about what you need done.

The same applies to the people who will carry out the recommended work. When hiring a roofing contractor, learn about their workforce, their qualifications and training.

The right approach

When it comes to roofing design and maintenance, there are a lot of different factors to take into account.

It has to start with your needs as the building owner or occupant. The nature of the architecture or design of the building and the construction techniques and materials will also affect any decisions the roofing consultant will make.

In addition, things never stand still. Buildings and roofs age and change. Technology and building practices change, too — and not always for the better. Climate change, as we mentioned in an earlier blog, also is driving changes in roofing decisions.

Some roofing consultants have noticed a trend to designing and building to meet minimum requirements, or to meet warranty requirements. While this can save money in the short term and satisfy your insurance agent, a better approach is to choose optimal design and construction that meet or exceed your needs and provide the right protection. You’ll get better performance and a longer lifespan for the cost.

The right technology

In addition to having the tools and knowledge needed for roof inspection and maintenance, look at a roofing consultant’s technology. Is it up to date?

Do they use drones, GPS and digital modelling?

Do they have safety equipment in helmets and blood pressure monitors for employees who may have to go into hazardous locations to carry out a roof inspection?

Do they use current technology like paperless invoicing? While this may not be a part of the core of roofing technology, it’s a sign that the roofing consultant is staying current with technology.

The right knowledge

Regulations and tax laws are also subject to regular change. For example, changes to the tax laws in 2019 now put commercial roofs under Section 179. This doubles the deduction limit for roofing work and maintenance to $1 million. At the same time, the depreciation period for commercial roofs has been reduced from 39 to 25 years.

These factors could change your decisions on when to invest in a new roof. Ask your roofing consultant what they think this could mean for you.

The right team

A roofing consultant is an essential part of any structural engineering team. At McNeil Engineering, our team includes roofing as part of civil engineering, structural engineering, landscape architecture, laser scanning and land surveying, and paving consulting. Talk to us at any time about your roofing needs.

New materials in structural engineering

Technological advances are changing just about everything humans do, and structural engineering is no exception. New techniques and new materials are being used to create buildings and other structures. Carbon fiber, polymer and even biological materials are opening new possibilities in structural engineering and construction. They allow us to build structures that were impossible just a decade ago.

Last month, we wrote about new formulations and uses for concrete. This time, we’re taking a deeper look at how carbon fiber is allowing us to explore new frontiers in structural engineering.

Carbon fiber

Carbon fiber is a very thin, long strand made by bonding carbon atoms in crystals oriented parallel to the long axis of the fiber. The result is a high strength-to-volume ratio, which means it is very strong for its size.

Several thousand carbon fibers are bundled together in a form called a tow, which can be woven into fabrics to make them stronger, or combined into completely different materials to increase their strength.

Carbon fibers impregnated with plastic resin form carbon fiber-reinforced polymer, which has a very high strength-to-weight ratio. Tennis rackets, skis and other sports equipment are some of the more common uses today.

Carbon fiber combined with graphite or other materials can form reinforcing composites that have a very high heat tolerance.

Structural engineering applications

Carbon fiber also can be used to reinforce steel, concrete, masonry and timber. Carbon-reinforced polymer rebar is an extremely strong and light alternative to steel rebar, and is used in bridge decks, parking structures and other applications that are susceptible to corrosion and magnetic fields. In addition, polymer rebars are not thermally or electrically conductive.

Carbon fiber-reinforced polymer compounds have been used to construct foot bridges since the 1990s. The advantages of carbon-polymer over regular concrete include less weight and longer life.

Manufacturers began embedding carbon fiber in precast concrete as far back as 2003. Replacing steel mesh in concrete makes the concrete lighter and more durable. It also allows less use of concrete, reducing weight and cost.

Carbon fiber in construction

Carbon fiber-reinforced steel, concrete and other materials can make building materials lighter. Composite building materials are easier to work with and can speed up construction without increasing costs.

The increased strength and lighter weight of carbon-reinforced materials allows architects and structural engineering professionals to make higher skyscrapers than was possible before, with less material. It also allows different shapes, such as the fanciful twisting, curving outlines of the most innovative new buildings recently erected around the world.

Closer to home, carbon fiber reinforcement of concrete, steel and other building elements makes homes and other structures stronger, more able to withstand tornados, earthquakes and other extreme events. This is already having an impact right here in the United States.

Carbon fibers in robotics

Carbon fiber reinforcement is also changing the way structural engineering and construction professionals produce buildings.

Reduced weight and increased structural stiffness allows machinery to work faster with less energy consumption, leading to higher productivity and longer maintenance cycles.

One construction-related application was a wall-climbing robot built by International Climbing Machines of Ithaca, New York. Its machines allow for inspection of hydroelectric dams and other high structures by remote control, protecting human operators from exposure to heights, chemicals or other hazards. By building a new model with a cassis made from carbon fiber reinforced material, it increased the machine’s carrying capacity and performance.

Imagine using robots like this to inspect walls and perform other maintenance duties.

Robots are already being used to perform a number of assembly, inspection and maintenance functions in the construction industry. This is only going to accelerate.

Find out more

It’s an exciting time in structural engineering and construction. If you have some thoughts about new materials for construction, we’d love to talk with you about them.

Building information modeling for the owner

One of the most exciting developments today in the structural engineering studio is integrating 3D visualization into building information modeling systems.

Technology has transformed the way engineers work, and it continues to do so. Computer-aided design (CAD) to 3D rendering, geographical information systems (GIS), building information modeling (BIM), even virtual reality (VR) are just a few of the technologies. 3D visualization and animation technology combines elements of all these, and more, and takes them to the next level. It also gives a powerful new set of tools to not only the structural engineering team, but to the building owner and client as well.

Here are just a few of the benefits that 3d visualization technology, as part of building information modeling, brings to all the parties in building design and construction.

Detailed visualization

As the name implies, 3D visualization technology presents a full, three-dimensional view of a planned building or other structure.

Far more than a 3D image, these visualizations are made from the CAD and other files. They depict in clear detail the full building: every floor, every room, every interior space. Viewers can see all the details of the finished structure, including finishes, lighting, windows and all other elements.

The system can also show the exterior of the building, including street views. This allows architects, engineers, designers, owners and potential tenants to see how the structure fits into its surroundings.

The software also allows architects, designers, engineers and clients to see the impact of choices of particular building elements, such as elevations, lighting, windows, wall surfaces, flooring and finishes. They can experiment with different floor plans and layouts, and make better decisions before committing resources to impractical ideas.

Inspect structural design

The building information modeling software that’s integral to 3D visualization also enables engineers to spot hidden conflicts — such as designs that put an air duct through a load-bearing bulkhead, or electrical cabling through water pipes — before construction. Thus, it helps builders avoid costly errors and maintain construction schedules.

Take a virtual tour

Animation features allow architects and engineers to take clients and future occupants on a virtual walking or even flying tour through a realistic, detailed digital model. It can show every hallway, room, floor, and can also go outside, down the street and all around the structure to show how it fits into its surroundings.

By combining VR technology, building information modeling technology can bring a design to life, allowing clients and future occupants to visualize the interior spaces complete with finished floors and walls, lighting, even furniture and window treatments.

VR can also be used to “see” the exterior of the building with lighting, signage, even people.

By allowing them to see how they could physically interact with the building, this capability can go a long way to encouraging potential tenants or buyers to commit to the deal.

Distant collaboration

The digital nature of building information modeling and 3D visualization allow professionals in remote locations to collaborate closely. This allows the engineering team to include the best professionals for every phase of the design process, no matter where they might be. Because they will be working with the same data set, working remotely maintains design integrity.

Produce scale models

Digital models produced in a building information modeling system can be exported and used to create scale models with a 3D printer. These models are more accurate, cheaper and far faster to create than more traditional handwork methods.

Building information modeling now

While impressive, 3D visualization is just one aspect of what building information modeling makes real. When choosing an engineering team for your next project, make sure that they know how to get the most out of building information modeling.

Structural steel unites trends in structural engineering

Several trends in structural engineering all involve structural steel right now. That points to the inherent strengths and utility of the material that make it a go-to solution for structural engineering challenges across the United States and around the world.

The demands for cost savings, energy efficiency, flexibility and shorter construction times are driving adoption of modular construction practices, involving structural steel, new materials and adaptations in structural engineering.

Structural engineering trends

For the past couple of years, observers of the architecture, engineering and construction industries have been noting several common trends. Increasingly, clients like builders, developers and property owners are demanding:

Improved energy efficiency
modular construction
prefabrication
improved materials for longer lifespan and more efficient construction

Structural engineering professionals are increasingly turning to structural steel to meet all these demands.

The quest for improved materials

Around the world, structural engineers are looking for better construction materials. The market is demanding longer-lasting, more durable and with better thermal insulation properties.

At the same time, prefabrication and off-site assembly are growing in markets everywhere, especially for industrial and commercial buildings. This technique offers significant cost savings, greater flexibility, shorter construction time and consistent quality.

It also fits perfectly with the trend toward modular construction — a way of erecting structures by stacking prefabricated units together. Modular construction is more productive, faster and provides greater flexibility in erecting commercial building projects, even skyscrapers.

Energy efficiency

Reducing the energy demand of built structures, for heating, cooling and other uses is a major part of the trend to reducing costs. Using panelized steel and modular, prefabricated techniques is an answer to these challenges that’s growing in application around the world. A large part of this is because of another, allied construction material: expanded polystyrene (EPS) panels.

Lightweight, strong, durable, EPS panels are also effective barriers against pests, including rats and termites, and provide good thermal insulation with low installation and maintenance cost.

Evidence

While a lot of people talk about interesting concepts as trends, the international structural engineering market is providing clear evidence of the trend toward structural steel and modular building.

A number of market studies have noted the growth of structural and panelized steel. The production of panelized modular building systems is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8{ffa1fb9a833dbe70b91c2563ca2a54067368c324c18ffac54b9412388222efff} over the next five years.

According to research firm ResearchAndMarkets, the use of panelized and structural steel in structural engineering projects will grow strongly in the fastest developing markets: Asia-Pacific, North America and Europe. But North America will dominate.

In developing countries, the cost savings, time savings, flexibility and efficiency of prefabrication and modular construction are driving their adoption for a wide range of applications, from residential to commercial and infrastructure construction. Structural steel and modular construction are being used at increasing rates in industrial buildings, such as in large facades, extensive glass surfaces and walls, as well as elements like stairwells and curvilinear roofs.

There are more applications in transportation, mining, shipbuilding, energy industries, and in residential buildings, office spaces and shopping malls.

At the same time, structural steel application is projected to grow in transportation, mining, shipbuilding and energy industries.

According to a study by News Tech Markets, the United States, India and China will account for 57{ffa1fb9a833dbe70b91c2563ca2a54067368c324c18ffac54b9412388222efff} of total growth in construction and engineering industry by 2030.

Another study predicted that North America will dominate the market over the next five years, as it did in 2018. In the United States, 35{ffa1fb9a833dbe70b91c2563ca2a54067368c324c18ffac54b9412388222efff} of contractors are implementing modular construction.

The northeastern region will show the strongest growth due to lower shipping costs and strong growth in large construction projects.

Drivers and brakes

Besides their inherent benefits from a structural engineering and construction perspective, government policies are also driving the adoption of modular construction and panelized steel systems.

Many jurisdictions in the United States and beyond offer homeowners and commercial building owners incentives to reduce their energy consumption. These range from subsidies to install energy-efficient retrofits, to tax reductions or rebates for measures that decrease energy consumption.

In developing countries, the flexibility and savings of modular construction are very attractive, but transportation and logistics sometimes makes adoption more challenging and thus limiting. This is especially the case where transportation infrastructure — roads — are poorly developed.

Modular construction now

Modular construction techniques could be the solution to your construction or development challenge. Let’s sit down and talk about how to save time, money and the environment on your next structural engineering project.

Sculptors have engineering challenges, too

Every civil engineering project shares one common element: the environment. Every structure has to fit into its surroundings, whether they’re natural or built.

Structural engineering is all about how the physical laws of the universe affect the things we build. It’s up to civil engineering professionals to make sure that the structures we build can withstand everything the environment throws at them.

That’s why sculptor Lyman Whitaker of Whitaker Studios came to McNeil Engineering.

Engineering that catches the wind

A long-time client, Whitaker Studios of Utah creates beautiful metal wind sculptures that rotate, capturing the eye and the imagination. Created and built by Lyman Whitaker, with the assistance of his brother John and wife, Stacy, the pieces are sold in art galleries throughout the United States. They have also been installed in private spaces across the country. More and more, the sculptures are being acquired and installed in public spaces such as parks, train stations and roadway medians. These installations started to pose interesting structural engineering challenges.

The Whitakers came to McNeil Engineering to determine what wind speed they were capable of handling without falling over or otherwise failing. As a structural engineering challenge, the project went to Senior Structural Engineer Anthony Schmid.

“Initially it was just so he had some kind of idea of what loading the support poles could take,” Anthony says. “As time went on he started selling his sculptures to municipal entities where they would place them in parks, train stations, roadway medians, etc.”

These installations required structural engineering, so McNeil’s services moved more into designing the wind sculpture support poles to withstand the local code-prescribed wind loads.

Structural engineering challenges

The first challenge was to determine how to analyze the sculpture. Because they rotate, some of the wind energy is dissipated.

“We decided to be conservative, and assume that the wind sculpture does not rotate — this would be the worst-case scenario if the bearings supporting the sculpture were to fail,” Anthony explains.

Next was working out the surface area of the sculpture. This was challenging because of each one’s complexity. Whitaker Studios took this on, providing the area measures needed from their drawing models of the sculptures.

The next challenge was to get the support pole to be strong enough without making is so big that it distracted from the sculpture above. “We accomplished this by varying the size of the pipe in the support pole. We started with the largest size at the bottom, and put the smallest we could get to work nearer the top.”

Challenges on site

Most of the sculptures were installed on flat surfaces, so the footings were standard round piers. However, one was installed on a hillside in Pennsylvania, so McNeil had to customize the footings and coordinate them with the site grading plan and site utilities.

Others were installed at Disney World in Florida. Because of the high wind loads in that area, the Disney coordinator decided to design the supports such that the sculptures could be removed before or during a major wind event.

“McNeil Engineering is currently licensed in most of the western states, but when we had projects that were back East, the art galleries would have to reach out to local licensed engineers to provide a peer review of my reports,” Anthony explains. But that requirement has a bright side. “I have been able to discuss the philosophy behind the design with engineers in the eastern United States.”

The innovation and beauty of the Whitakers’ wind sculptures is getting noticed beyond U.S. borders, as well. “We have even done some design for sculpture support posts in Kuwait,” Anthony says. “We are currently working on updating the designs to the new 2018 International Building Code standards.”

Whatever structural engineering challenges you may have, you can come to McNeil Engineering. We love challenges.

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