I read an article in the Arkansas Democrat Gazette yesterday that I felt obliged to comment upon.

To summarize, a family contracted with a builder in the city of Little Rock to build a house. The cost of construction (to the property owner) was hundreds of thousands of dollars. Along the way, something went terribly wrong, and the house is now uninhabited, and perhaps uninhabitable.

Among the issues reported was the construction method used for the footings (a foundation type) under the home. Apparently, they were built to follow the slope of the ground (or nearly so), and the building's problems are reportedly attributed to that non-code-compliant issue, as well as non-code-compliant framing.

There are a host of other issues surrounding the home involving the neighbors, a sinking driveway, the financial state of the family after the lawsuits got finished, the enforcement of the residential code regarding the framing code violations, a chastisement of the chief building code enforcer, et cetera. However, underlying all this is a problem you will find everywhere in Arkansas: codes are not rigorously enforced, especially codes regarding structural engineering.

When I submit a project to any Arkansas "authority having jurisdiction," I've got nothing to worry about - except that any error I make will never be caught. that's right folks, nobody's policing structural engineering in Arkansas, at least not that I know about. [If I'm wrong about this, please correct me. Name one STRUCTURAL ENGINEER in this state who is working regularly for a building code enforcement agency - I'd love to talk with this person. No, the Board of Engineers (& Land Surveyors) doesn't count. I've been told point-blank that they can't do anything unless a complaint is filed.

What does this mean, oh reader, to your home or business: pray your structural engineer is doing his job, hasn't had a series of bad days, and isn't taking on more work than he can diligently complete. Don't count on the size, reputation, or age of the firm to protect you. Things get missed when firms get bigger, reputations are sometimes earned unjustly, and long-standing firms can have long-standing problems. If you've got your own in-house structural engineers, great! Send a set of plans over, you'll at least get a review of the high points; you may even get a thorough review of the calculations (assuming youcan get them from the design engineer). But if you don't have an engineer on staff, or on retainer, then get help.

Stuck Associates selected Red Pepper Consulting to provide structural engineering design and construction observation for a new nursing home facility in Batesville, Arkansas.

Stuck Associates can be found here: http://stuckarch.com/

The facility owner is Wood Lawn Nursing Home.

The project is still in concept phase, but stay tuned for schematic models.

Smith Associates Architects selected Red Pepper Consulting to perform the structural engineering design and construction administration for the iCAN! Resource Center in East End, Arkansas.

Thank you, Scott, for selecting Red Pepper Consulting!

Smith Associates Architects can be found at http://www.smithassociatespa.com/

The parent organization of iCAN! Resource Center, Community Connections, can be found at http://www.communityconnectionsar.org/

Yesterday I attended a lunch seminar for the Structural Engineers Association of Arkansas. The speaker for the seminar was Jeff Stoneman, a field engineer with Simpson Strong-Tie Anchor Systems. He discussed code provisions for post-installed anchors - the stuff structural engineers specify to fasten material to concrete after it's already cured (hardened). Among the take-aways was some general notes for post-installed anchors. With Jeff's permission, I've posted those here after running the handout through the scanner and OCR, then applying a little formatting. It's written for Simpson products, but I imagine it can be modified for other vendors. Pay close attention to the refernced codes and testing standards - these are not the same standards we were using merely 5 years ago, and the anchors we specified then are not necessarily acceptable any longer.

Check out Simpson's anchors at http://www.simpsonanchors.com/

PS - if you're reading this and wondering why you're products aren't mentioned, don't worry - I don't play favorites. Send me what you've got and I'll look it over and post anything interesting.

POST-INSTALLED ANCHORS

1. POST-INSTALLED ANCHORS SHALL ONLY BE USED WHERE SPECIFIED ON THE CONSTRUCTION DOCUMENTS. THE CONTRACTOR SHALL OBTAIN APPROVAL FROM THE ENGINEER-OF-RECORD PRIOR TO INSTALLING POST-INSTALLED ANCHORS IN PLACE OF MISSING OR MISPLACED CAST-IN-PLACE ANCHORS. CARE SHALL BE TAKEN IN PLACING POST-INSTALLED ANCHORS TO AVOID CONFLICTS WITH EXISTING REBAR. HOLES SHALL BE DRILLED AND CLEANED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE MANUFACTURER'S WRITTEN INSTRUCTIONS. SUBSTITUTION REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTS OTHER THAN THOSE SPECIFIED BELOW SHALL BE SUBMITTED BY THE CONTRACTOR TO THE ENGINEER-OF-RECORD ALONG WITH CALCULATIONS THAT ARE PREPARED & SEALED BY A REGISTERED PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER. THE CALCULATIONS SHALL DEMONSTRATE THAT THE SUBSTITUTED PRODUCT IS CAPABLE OF ACHIEVING THE PERTINENT EQUIVALENT PERFORMANCE VALUES (MINIMUM) OF THE SPECIFIED PRODUCT USING THE APPROPRIATE DESIGN PROCEDURE AND/OR STANDARD(S) AS REQUIRED BY THE BUILDING CODE. PROVIDE CONTINUOUS SPECIAL INSPECTION FOR ALL MECHANICAL AND ADHESIVE ANCHORS PER THE APPLICABLE EVALUATION REPORT (ICC-ES ESR). CONTACT MANUFACTURER'S REPRESENTATIVE FOR THE INITIAL TRAINING AND INSTALLATION OF ANCHORS AND FOR PRODUCT RELATED QUESTIONS AND AVAILABILITY. CALL SIMPSON STRONG-TIE AT (800) 999-5099.

a. CONCRETE ANCHORS

i. MECHANICAL ANCHORS SHALL HAVE BEEN TESTED AND QUALFIED FOR USE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ACI 355.2 AND ICC-ES AC193 FOR CRACKED AND UNCRACKED CONCRETE RECOGNITION. PRE-APPROVED MECHANICAL ANCHORS INCLUDE:
(1) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "TITEN-HD" (ICC-ES ESR-2713)
(2) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "STRONG-BOLT" (ICC-ES ESR-1771)
(3) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "STRONG-BOLT 2" (ICC-ES ESR-3037)

ii. ADHESIVE ANCHORS SHALL HAVE BEEN TESTED AND QUALIFIED FOR USE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ICC-ES AC308 FOR CRACKED AND UNCRACKED CONCRETE RECOGNITION. PRE-APPROVED ADHESIVE ANCHORS INCLUDE:
(1) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "SET-XP" (ICC-ES ESR-2508)

b. MASONRY ANCHORS

i. ANCHORAGE TO SOLID-GROUTED CONCRETE MASONRY
(1) MECHANICAL ANCHORS SHALL HAVE BEEN TESTED AND QUALIFIED FOR USE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ICC-ES AC01 OR AC 106. PRE-APPROVED MECHANICAL ANCHORS INCLUDE:
(a) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "TITEN·HD" (ICC-ES ESR-1056)
(b) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "WEDGE-ALL" (ICC-ES ESR-1396)
(2) ADHESIVE ANCHORS SHALL HAVE BEEN TESTED AND QUALIFIED FOR USE IN ACCORDANCE WITH ICC-ES AC58. PRE-APPROVED ADHESIVE ANCHORS INCLUDE:
(a) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "SET" (ICC-ES ESR-1772)
(b) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "ACRYLIC-TIE" (ICC-ES ESR-5791)

ii. ANCHORAGE TO HOLLOW CONCRETE MASONRY/UNREINFORCED CLAY BRICK MASONRY
(1) MECHANICAL ANCHORS FOR SHALL HAVE BEEN TESTED AND QUALIFIED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ICC-ES AC106. PRE-APPROVED SCREW ANCHORS INCLUDE:
(a) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "TITEN-HD" (ICC-ES ESR-1056)
(2) ADHESIVE ANCHORS WITH SCREEN TUBES SHALL BE TESTED AND QUALFIED IN ACCORDANCE WITH ICC-ES AC58 OR AC60, AS APPROPRIATE. THE APPROPRIATE SCREEN TUBE SHALL BE USED AS

RECOMMENDED BY THE ADHESIVE MANUFACTURER. PRE-APPROVED ADHESIVE ANCHORS WITH SCREEN TUBES INCLUDE:
(a) SIMPSON STRONG-TIE "SET" (ICC-ES ESR-1772)

The sun is setting on a chilly Monday in Little Rock, The white stuff has made its rare appearance in Arkansas's Capitol city, so let's take a moment to consider snow from a structural engineering perspective.

Snow loads have been codified for several years now, and if you dig into the building code a little, you'll find the weight of snow is codified also. For those that are curious, it's a function of ground snow load (depth), with a little extra on top. The code equation is:

Density = 0.13 pounds x ground snow load (in pounds per square foot) + 14 pounds per cubic foot. In the case you live somewhere where snow gets REALLY deep, there's an upper limit of 30 pounds per cubic foot for the equation.

So, if you're reading this in Little Rock, the snow density (by building code) is 0.13 pounds x 10 pounds per sqaure foot + 14 pounds per cubic foot = 15.3 pounds per cubic foot.

No wonder shoveling it is so hard!

[Postscript: Snow experts should note that these values are derived for the convenience of engineering design for snow drifts on building structures. The weight of actual snow in the real world can - and will - vary.]

Twin Rivers contracted with Red Pepper Consulting to provide structural engineering assistance with the new Fire Station No. 1 in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.

RPC will provide structural design for the project, plus deliver design documents for the foundations, tornado-safe barracks, and drying tower.

Many thanks to Jerry and Mark at Twin Rivers for their confidence and trust!

Huge News! Stuck Associates contracted with Red Pepper Consulting to provide structural engineering design for the new Center for the Performing Arts on the high school campus of Jonesboro Special School District #1.

The project starts construction in 2012. Construction will be complete in 2013.

The project is located in Northeast Arkansas, near the New Madrid fault, so structural design for earthquakes is in the works.

Many thanks to the folks at Stuck Associates for your confidence and trust!

Many thanks to Gary Clements for two projects: structural design for renovations to the House chamber of the Arkansas Legislatire, and structural assessment of a cooling tower support structure for an institutional building in Texarkana, AR.

It is always a pleasure to work with Gary and his firm. RPC appreciates his trust.

Greetings from Red Pepper Consulting, Inc., News and Blog!

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