WHAT DO STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS DO?

Structural engineers are trained professionals who are responsible for making sure that the structures we use in our daily lives, like bridges and tall buildings, are safe, stable and don’t collapse under applied loads. They do this by applying their technical knowledge to specify different types of construction materials in various shapes and geometries and design structures that can withstand the pressures and stresses of their environment such as gravity loads, storms and earthquakes.

picture of a busy building
As a structural engineer, I work closely with my clients to understand the function of the project in order to provide a safe, constructable and economical solution to complete their project successfully. Generally speaking, the structural design process of a building can be divided into three stages: load calculation, structural analysis and design.

Depending on the function of the building, standards and building codes can be used to estimate the weight of the building, and snow, wind and earthquake loads on the structures. Once the loads acting on the structure are known, the structure is analyzed to determine the effect of all these loads on the individual elements of the structure. Engineering software can be used by structural engineers to analyze different kinds of structures. It is always a good idea to check the validity of the software results using first principal knowledge and basic structural analysis formulas. The forces and stresses from the structural analysis software can be used to design the main structural elements including the floor system, vertical supports, foundations and other parts of the building.

What is construction engineering?

Construction engineering is an engineering subset that involves the design, development and supervision of a city or region’s buildings, roads and power supplies. It deals with any type of infrastructure, including roads, railroads, bridges, tunnels, facilities, airports, ports, dams and other utilities. Construction engineering is similar to civil engineering, which also focuses on infrastructure design and development, but with more emphasis on managing the construction process on project sites. For this reason, professionals often consider it to be a combination of construction management and the design aspects of civil engineering.

Construction engineering is an important field because it ensures structures are safe, well-made and dependable. It also makes sure construction projects get finished by a set date and according to strict plans and building codes.