Structural Engineering: 2009-11-08

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Re: Effect of Consolidation on Black cotton soil

Perhaps you would want to study about foundations in Mexico City and Chicago- both of which have had to go to unique and elaborate solutions because of very soft soil more than 100 ft. in depth.

Stan Scholl, P.E.

RE: Being Outspoken

Dear Harold: Until we take our own individual responsibility and participate in cleansing our profession of these small number of corrupt engineers such as most members of Caltrans Seismic Advisory Board, the corrosion of reputation of honorable structural engineers such as yourself and thousands of hard working and ethical members of our profession will continue. Your suggestion of ASCE ethical panel looking into this is good one , but, in my experience, at least in two cases, the case of WTC Building Performance Assessment Team, and the Katrina investigation team, ASCE did not follow its ethical rules.

When ASCE formed the WTC Building Performance Team, to investigate collapse of World Trade Center Towers, two people were on the ASCE/FEMA BPAT team. One was Mr. Jon Magnuson , who was the top officer of the firm Skilling, Ward, Magnusson Barkshire , the firm that did the structural design of the WTC. The name Skilling Ward Magnuson Barkshire after collapse of World Trade Center changed to Magnusson Klemencic Associates. ASCE did not find it ethical to put the top officer of the firm that did the structural design of the WTC on the investigative team that was investigating why buildings collapsed.

The other member of the ASCE/FEMA BPAT was Ms. was Ms Saw-Teen See,Managing Partner, Leslie E. Robertson Associates, RLLP. Ms. See is also wife of Mr. Leslie Robertson who was working at the time of design of WTC at Skilling Ward Magnusson Barkshire and is the structural engineer of the record with his signature on all structural sheets. If ASCE is serious about ethical issues, it can start at home. When you are forming a team to investigate why a building collapsed, you do not put the wife of structural engineer who did the structural engineering of the building on the team to investigate her husbands design.

Of course the result of having these conflicts of interest was that the ASCE/FEMA Report stated that in essence there was nothing wrong with structural design of the WTC. The truth is the opposite . There were many things wrong about it including the use of "steel Bearing Walls" with very high strength steel and extremely vulnerable to fire.

As I have always stated, the 2595 people who died at the WTC, were murdered by those 19 murderers and their supporters and organizers. But, we had to learn from this tragedy to see if we have to change anything in our practices to avoid people loosing their lives because of our design. But of course, since there was nothing wrong with WTC design according to the morally corrupt ASCE BPAT, then we did not need to change anything!

When I stated that this is nothing but "moral corruption", many of you, including yourself, were attacking me for bringing up these facts. In doing so, or even by keeping quite, , perhaps unknowingly and perhaps based on a very mis-guided sense of pride or belonging to your profession, were on the side of the ASCE and some even personally attacked my character.

It took only the courage of my honorable colleague and very dear friend Professor Ray Seed , who wrote a 40+ letter to bring ASCE before an investigative panel which admonished ASCE for its unethical conduct in New Orleans.

As for the WTC BPAT case, ASCE not only has not accepted any wrong doing, it has showered awards on those who organized the WTC BPAT including the WTC BPAT leader Dr. Gene Corley and The ASCE WTC BPAT Project Manger Mr. James Rossberg who were directly involved in knowingly inviting and accepting Mr. Jon Magnusson and Ms. Saw-teen See with such a clear conflict to be a member of the investigative team.

Harold, we know each other for more than 20 years and I have utmost respect for your integrity as well as for your vast knowledge of the filed, but, do you really believe ASCE will be able to review the case of unethical conduct of Caltrans Seismic Advisory Board?

Best regards

A.Astaneh, Ph.D., P.E.

====================================================================

From: Harold Sprague <spraguehope@hotmail.com>
To: <seaint@seaint.org>
Subject: RE: Being Outspoken

--_25bbe240-7f1f-4dee-b38f-c71c130f89f3_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

There is an independent group within ASCE involved in anti-corruption. ASC=
E Global Principles for Professional Conduct that might warrant consultatio=
n on this issue. =20

Regards=2C Harold Sprague

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Friday, November 13, 2009

Re: Effect of Consolidation on Black cotton soil

Dear,
I have thought about this research topic just two
or three hours from now. But we have apparatus in our labs and our
professor are very free to us so i doubt that he will say no for any
guidance issues. Now I require to know the feasibility of this
project and How good this project is ??
Regards

On 11/14/09, David Topete <d.topete73@gmail.com> wrote:
> have you approached your adviser/professor about doing such a research
> topic?
>
> On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 10:40 AM, Avi Sharma
> <leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Hello all , As I requested you all to tell me some good research
>> topics, I have made this topic which is a mix of Geotechnical and
>> Structural Engineering.
>> I stay in Nagpur, India. Here we have large
>> area covered with Black Cotton Soil which is known to be not very good
>> for construction. What i was thinking is to have a research on '
>> Consolidation on Black cotton soil' which will have direct effect of
>> consolidation on Black cotton soil and is it almost same or differ
>> with different composition of Black cotton soil. Secondly, Effect of
>> structure of Buildings of same load on Black cotton soil. I know this
>> is quite a vast topic but still I want to know from all members that
>> will it be a good research project to do ??
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> --
>> Avi Sharma
>> 2nd Year
>> Department of Civil Engineering,
>> SRKNEC, India
>>
>> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
>> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
>> *
>> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
>> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
>> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
>> *
>> * http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
>> *
>> * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
>> * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
>> * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
>> * site at: http://www.seaint.org
>> ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********
>>
>
>
>
> --
> David Topete, SE
>

--
Avi Sharma
2nd Year
Department of Civil Engineering,
SRKNEC, India

Re: Effect of Consolidation on Black cotton soil

have you approached your adviser/professor about doing such a research topic?

On Fri, Nov 13, 2009 at 10:40 AM, Avi Sharma <leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com> wrote:

Hello all , As I requested you all to tell me some good research
topics, I have made this topic which is a mix of Geotechnical and
Structural Engineering.
I stay in Nagpur, India. Here we have large
area covered with Black Cotton Soil which is known to be not very good
for construction. What i was thinking is to have a research on '
Consolidation on Black cotton soil' which will have direct effect of
consolidation on Black cotton soil and is it almost same or differ
with different composition of Black cotton soil. Secondly, Effect of
structure of Buildings of same load on Black cotton soil. I know this
is quite a vast topic but still I want to know from all members that
will it be a good research project to do ??

Regards

--
Avi Sharma
2nd Year
Department of Civil Engineering,
SRKNEC, India

******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
* Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
*
* This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
* Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
* subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
*
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*
* Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
* send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
* without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
* site at: http://www.seaint.org
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--
David Topete, SE

Effect of Consolidation on Black cotton soil

Hello all , As I requested you all to tell me some good research
topics, I have made this topic which is a mix of Geotechnical and
Structural Engineering.
I stay in Nagpur, India. Here we have large
area covered with Black Cotton Soil which is known to be not very good
for construction. What i was thinking is to have a research on '
Consolidation on Black cotton soil' which will have direct effect of
consolidation on Black cotton soil and is it almost same or differ
with different composition of Black cotton soil. Secondly, Effect of
structure of Buildings of same load on Black cotton soil. I know this
is quite a vast topic but still I want to know from all members that
will it be a good research project to do ??

Regards

--
Avi Sharma
2nd Year
Department of Civil Engineering,
SRKNEC, India

RE: Helical Piles Design

Sorry, I only have a hard copy and it’s not posted on their website, but if you call AB Chance at (303) 423 0591 I’m sure they’ll send you a copy.

regards,

Gordon

From: Kausik Dutta [mailto:kaushikd@lntecc.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 10:26 PM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: RE: Helical Piles Design

Can you please share this manual of Helical Pile design? It would be of good help for me also.

Regards

Kausik Dutta

From: Gordon Goodell [mailto:GordonGoodell@harmonydesigninc.com]
Sent: 13 November 2009 00:13
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: RE: Helical Piles Design

Nikola,

John Pack at AB Chance in Denver put together a pretty good starter manual called Practical Design and Inspection Guide for Helical Screw Piles and Helical Tension Anchors. If you call them at 303 423 0591 I’m sure they’ll send you a copy.

regards,

Gordon Goodell

From: Nikola Nikolov [mailto:nikola_nikolov@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:00 AM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Helical Piles Design

Can anyone recommend a book / manual for design of helical piles.

Thanks

Nikola

"This Message and its contents is intended solely for the addressee and is proprietary.Information in this mail is for L&T Business Usage only. Any Use to other than the addressee is misuse and infringement to Proprietorship of L&T ECC.If you are not the addressee please return the mail to the sender.L&T ECC DIVISION"

RE: ground vibrations

That is a good suggestion. The Bureau of Mines has a lot of information as well. When you need more detailed study, there are some good computer programs that can be used. Some are proprietary and some are user hostile, but they can be mastered as evidenced by the accelerometers.

Regards, Harold Sprague

> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 09:33:01 -0500
> From: akester@cfl.rr.com
> To: seaint@seaint.org
> Subject: re: ground vibrations
>
> Harold et al,
> I recently had to do a lot of research on this very subject for some forensic work, may I recommend the book "Construction Vibrations" by Charles Dowding. It is very comprehensive and there are lots of case studies on blast vibrations.
>
> HTH,
> Andrew Kester, PE
> Florida
>
> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> *
> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
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RE: Being Outspoken

There is an independent group within ASCE involved in anti-corruption. ASCE Global Principles for Professional Conduct that might warrant consultation on this issue.

Regards, Harold Sprague

> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:58:54 +0530
> Subject: Re: Being Outspoken
> From: leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com
> To: seaint@seaint.org
>
> Dear,
> May be I misunderstood your post as a hate message
> sent to you. We listen to all this buzz of corruption in my country
> 'India', so i would not be much amazed or disbelieve you particularly
> on this aspect of corruption. Corruption is a problem with civil
> engineers usually but USA is popular for its ethics code ie. Code of
> conduct and being truthful towards your company and branch but many
> time this is not done. I have not went through deeper problems of
> Civil engineers as of now but I am sure the S Curve looks a little
> awkward which may be due to two reasons-
> (a) Due to some engineering difficulties regarding foundation etc
> (b) Second is the reason which you are giving.
> Being here in India, I cannot straight away say which option is
> correct or wrong. But people like you and all engineers there can at
> least ask questions to authorities and its on people like you to tell
> the world about it .
>
> Regards
>
> On 11/13/09, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl <astaneh@ce.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> > Dear Avi: I am sorry that I can't understand what your post is trying to
> > say. Dr. zzzzz has sent me the nice short e-mail complementing my speaking
> > out about this unbelievable corruption in Seismic Advisory Board of Caltrans
> > which , in my opinion is the root cause of all these problems with the Bay
> > Bridge and now a fatality. Why are you asking Dr. zzzz to "Maintain a
> > decorum" ? And why are you asking me to "reveal his name to Seaint for
> > some kind of action"?. What are you talking about? He has written a nice
> > letter to me. Why "some kind of action should be taken against him?
> > Besides, if he wanted to have his name revealed he would have posted the
> > note on Seaint instead of sending me privately. How can I violate his
> > privacy and reveal his name? I think you may have misunderstood the hate
> > mail case in my post. The hate mail I received was from someone else and
> > that e-mail was turned over to Berkeley police (I had typed in my post
> > "Campus mail" instead of "Campus police". Please let us focus on preventing
> > a few in our community such as members of the Seismic Advisory Board of
> > Caltrans from destroying fine reputation of so many structural engineers ,
> > who are doing their jobs honorably and with public safety in mind.
> >
> > It is very simple: Seismic Advisory Board(SAB) of Caltrans was created
> > after Loma Prieta quake to be an "independent " watch dog overseeing and
> > approving Caltrans seismic designs. For first four years and under
> > Chairmanship of the late Professor Housner, the SAB did exactly that. But
> > after that the former Chair Dr. Penzien and the current Chair Dr. Frieder
> > Seible , who is the Dean of School of Engineering at San Diego and almost
> > all members of SAB started receiving multi-million dollar contracts from
> > Caltrans for research and consulting in a non-competitive basis. In essence,
> > The Chair and members of SAB were getting money from Caltrans to do
> > consulting, then presenting their work to Caltrans only to be presented to
> > themselves for approval. Believe me such a corrupt system , in our
> > professions results in someone getting killed and the someone may have been
> > the truck driver killed on the S-curve of Bay Bridge.
> >
> > Let us keep the focus on eradicating this corruption and saving lives.
> >
> >
> > Best wishes.
> >
> > A. Astaneh
> >
> >
> > Subject: Re: Being Outspoken
> > From: Avi Sharma <leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com>
> > To: seaint@seaint.org
> >
> > Dr zzzzz
> > I am really feeling bad about this one now. You can say
> > to this extent is something that is out of limit. I think you should
> > have read something about the prof you are saying this. He is a real
> > Civilian !! If you had guts then you would have come a general message
> > through seaint. I am not against you but the point I am trying to make
> > is about a decorm of place you are in. This is not orkut/fb, this is
> > something serious and something of our branch's concern.
> > Just one message, Maintain a decorm !!
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > Prof Astaneh,
> > Please reveal his name to admins atleast
> > for some kind of Action.
> >
> >
> >
> > ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> > * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> > *
> > * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> > * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> > * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
> > *
> > * http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
> > *
> > * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
> > * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
> > * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
> > * site at: http://www.seaint.org
> > ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********
> >
>
>
> --
> Avi Sharma
> 2nd Year
> Department of Civil Engineering,
> SRKNEC, India
>
> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> *
> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
> *
> * http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
> *
> * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
> * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
> * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
> * site at: http://www.seaint.org
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National Structural Firm

Hi,

I have a client that builds indoor climbing wall structures for climbing gyms and other gyms. They are steel framed plywood sheathed structures. I need help to identify a national structural firm- or firm with registered engineers in all 50 states to provide engineering support and design for these structures

Tim Rudolph

Pinyon Engineering

Bishop CA

re: ground vibrations

Harold et al,
I recently had to do a lot of research on this very subject for some forensic work, may I recommend the book "Construction Vibrations" by Charles Dowding. It is very comprehensive and there are lots of case studies on blast vibrations.

HTH,
Andrew Kester, PE
Florida

re: helical piles

My understanding of how helical pile design normally works is that it is like a pre-engineered truss or any other specialty structural item. Each pile contractor works with a manufacturer who usually has their own proprietary design, and they supply engineering in the form of load capacities, they have typical attachment details, supply their own brackets, etc. If you are the EOR of a new building or a repair to an existing foundation, you would likely tell them how often you would like these piles spaced along the footing and would give them the required load capacity. For residential applications, the piles will likely far exceed anything you can throw at it from a gravity load. Ensure that you have a say in approval of the contractor and that they have success in your area in the installation of this product in similar applications, I have heard some horror stories out there. This isn't drywall, it is a pretty complex operation with a lot of unknowns.

There are pluses and minuses to every type of foundation system. Use caution if it is an existing structure and you are doing repair work. Make sure a geotech has identified the soil issues. Use caution if you are partially underpinning part of the existing structure, make sure your existing structure can now carry the loads to the helical piles rather than being supported by uniform soil bearing pressure.

HTH,
Andrew Kester, PE
Florida

Re: Being Outspoken

Dear,
May be I misunderstood your post as a hate message
sent to you. We listen to all this buzz of corruption in my country
'India', so i would not be much amazed or disbelieve you particularly
on this aspect of corruption. Corruption is a problem with civil
engineers usually but USA is popular for its ethics code ie. Code of
conduct and being truthful towards your company and branch but many
time this is not done. I have not went through deeper problems of
Civil engineers as of now but I am sure the S Curve looks a little
awkward which may be due to two reasons-
(a) Due to some engineering difficulties regarding foundation etc
(b) Second is the reason which you are giving.
Being here in India, I cannot straight away say which option is
correct or wrong. But people like you and all engineers there can at
least ask questions to authorities and its on people like you to tell
the world about it .

Regards

On 11/13/09, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl <astaneh@ce.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Dear Avi: I am sorry that I can't understand what your post is trying to
> say. Dr. zzzzz has sent me the nice short e-mail complementing my speaking
> out about this unbelievable corruption in Seismic Advisory Board of Caltrans
> which , in my opinion is the root cause of all these problems with the Bay
> Bridge and now a fatality. Why are you asking Dr. zzzz to "Maintain a
> decorum" ? And why are you asking me to "reveal his name to Seaint for
> some kind of action"?. What are you talking about? He has written a nice
> letter to me. Why "some kind of action should be taken against him?
> Besides, if he wanted to have his name revealed he would have posted the
> note on Seaint instead of sending me privately. How can I violate his
> privacy and reveal his name? I think you may have misunderstood the hate
> mail case in my post. The hate mail I received was from someone else and
> that e-mail was turned over to Berkeley police (I had typed in my post
> "Campus mail" instead of "Campus police". Please let us focus on preventing
> a few in our community such as members of the Seismic Advisory Board of
> Caltrans from destroying fine reputation of so many structural engineers ,
> who are doing their jobs honorably and with public safety in mind.
>
> It is very simple: Seismic Advisory Board(SAB) of Caltrans was created
> after Loma Prieta quake to be an "independent " watch dog overseeing and
> approving Caltrans seismic designs. For first four years and under
> Chairmanship of the late Professor Housner, the SAB did exactly that. But
> after that the former Chair Dr. Penzien and the current Chair Dr. Frieder
> Seible , who is the Dean of School of Engineering at San Diego and almost
> all members of SAB started receiving multi-million dollar contracts from
> Caltrans for research and consulting in a non-competitive basis. In essence,
> The Chair and members of SAB were getting money from Caltrans to do
> consulting, then presenting their work to Caltrans only to be presented to
> themselves for approval. Believe me such a corrupt system , in our
> professions results in someone getting killed and the someone may have been
> the truck driver killed on the S-curve of Bay Bridge.
>
> Let us keep the focus on eradicating this corruption and saving lives.
>
>
> Best wishes.
>
> A. Astaneh
>
>
> Subject: Re: Being Outspoken
> From: Avi Sharma <leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com>
> To: seaint@seaint.org
>
> Dr zzzzz
> I am really feeling bad about this one now. You can say
> to this extent is something that is out of limit. I think you should
> have read something about the prof you are saying this. He is a real
> Civilian !! If you had guts then you would have come a general message
> through seaint. I am not against you but the point I am trying to make
> is about a decorm of place you are in. This is not orkut/fb, this is
> something serious and something of our branch's concern.
> Just one message, Maintain a decorm !!
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Prof Astaneh,
> Please reveal his name to admins atleast
> for some kind of Action.
>
>
>
> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> *
> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
> *
> * http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
> *
> * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
> * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
> * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
> * site at: http://www.seaint.org
> ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********
>

--
Avi Sharma
2nd Year
Department of Civil Engineering,
SRKNEC, India

Re: Being Outspoken

Dear Avi: I am sorry that I can't understand what your post is trying to say. Dr. zzzzz has sent me the nice short e-mail complementing my speaking out about this unbelievable corruption in Seismic Advisory Board of Caltrans which , in my opinion is the root cause of all these problems with the Bay Bridge and now a fatality. Why are you asking Dr. zzzz to "Maintain a decorum" ? And why are you asking me to "reveal his name to Seaint for some kind of action"?. What are you talking about? He has written a nice letter to me. Why "some kind of action should be taken against him? Besides, if he wanted to have his name revealed he would have posted the note on Seaint instead of sending me privately. How can I violate his privacy and reveal his name? I think you may have misunderstood the hate mail case in my post. The hate mail I received was from someone else and that e-mail was turned over to Berkeley police (I had typed in my post "Campus mail" instead of "Campus police". Please let us focus on preventing a few in our community such as members of the Seismic Advisory Board of Caltrans from destroying fine reputation of so many structural engineers , who are doing their jobs honorably and with public safety in mind.

It is very simple: Seismic Advisory Board(SAB) of Caltrans was created after Loma Prieta quake to be an "independent " watch dog overseeing and approving Caltrans seismic designs. For first four years and under Chairmanship of the late Professor Housner, the SAB did exactly that. But after that the former Chair Dr. Penzien and the current Chair Dr. Frieder Seible , who is the Dean of School of Engineering at San Diego and almost all members of SAB started receiving multi-million dollar contracts from Caltrans for research and consulting in a non-competitive basis. In essence, The Chair and members of SAB were getting money from Caltrans to do consulting, then presenting their work to Caltrans only to be presented to themselves for approval. Believe me such a corrupt system , in our professions results in someone getting killed and the someone may have been the truck driver killed on the S-curve of Bay Bridge.

Let us keep the focus on eradicating this corruption and saving lives.

Best wishes.

A. Astaneh

Subject: Re: Being Outspoken
From: Avi Sharma <leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com>
To: seaint@seaint.org

Dr zzzzz
I am really feeling bad about this one now. You can say
to this extent is something that is out of limit. I think you should
have read something about the prof you are saying this. He is a real
Civilian !! If you had guts then you would have come a general message
through seaint. I am not against you but the point I am trying to make
is about a decorm of place you are in. This is not orkut/fb, this is
something serious and something of our branch's concern.
Just one message, Maintain a decorm !!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof Astaneh,
Please reveal his name to admins atleast
for some kind of Action.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

RE: Helical Piles Design

Can you please share this manual of Helical Pile design? It would be of good help for me also.

Regards

Kausik Dutta

From: Gordon Goodell [mailto:GordonGoodell@harmonydesigninc.com]
Sent: 13 November 2009 00:13
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: RE: Helical Piles Design

Nikola,

regards,

Gordon Goodell

From: Nikola Nikolov [mailto:nikola_nikolov@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:00 AM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Helical Piles Design

Can anyone recommend a book / manual for design of helical piles.

Thanks

Nikola

Re: Being Outspoken

Hello all, I have joined this group just 3 days ago and have posted
two topics till now. But the point is we should give freedom of speech
as well as ideas to everybody but we should refrain from disrespecting
someone. Rajendran Sir, Thanks for the advice !! I don't say that i
have best skills in english. but in that post, I wrote in a forum post
style which made you feel that I have devastating english !

On 11/12/09, Casey K. Hemmatyar <khemmatyar@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dear Avi:
>
> As a second year college student in overseas, you joined this list-serve 3
> days ago with "Internship query" and salary comparison inquiry. Please keep
> it respectful.
> God Bless and Thank you.
>
> Khashayar "Casey" Hemmatyar, SE
> Private email <khemmatyar(at).hotmail.com>
> California
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Avi Sharma [mailto:leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:22 PM
> To: seaint@seaint.org
> Subject: Re: Being Outspoken
>
>
>
> Dr zzzzz
>
> I am really feeling bad about this one now. You can say
>
> to this extent is something that is out of limit. I think you should
>
> have read something about the prof you are saying this. He is a real
>
> Civilian !! If you had guts then you would have come a general message
>
> through seaint. I am not against you but the point I am trying to make
>
> is about a decorm of place you are in. This is not orkut/fb, this is
>
> something serious and something of our branch's concern.
>
> Just one message, Maintain a decorm !!
>
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>
> Prof Astaneh,
>
> Please reveal his name to admins atleast
>
> for some kind of Action.
>
>
>
> On 11/12/09, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl <astaneh@ce.berkeley.edu> wrote:
>
>> Dear Seaint friends:
>
>> I just received this e-mail from (Dr. name withheld) a Seaint member and
>
>> felt I need to stop and reply. Then I felt to share his short e-mail and
>
>> my a bit longer reply with you as well. Being out there in public,
>
>> specially with projects I have been involved with, I get quite a lot of
>
>> supportive e-mails but this time I felt to make one public . The reason
>
>> is for the first time in my carrier, last week I received my first and
>
>> hope last hate e-mail which was very disturbing and had to be turned
>
>> over to Campus mail. The hate mail was attacking me because of my
>
>> criticism of Caltrans. So here is Dr. n.w. 's e-mail and my reply.
>
>>
> ====================================================================================
>
>> x. y. z wrote:
>
>>> * Prof. Asteneh:
>
>>>
>
>>> I thank you much for your outspokenness typical of your e-mail to the
>
>>> SEAINT list-serve at 6:07 am this morning. You may not know the
>
>>> extent of those who appreciate this type of professional activity..
>
>>>
>
>>> Dr. x. y. z
>

--
Avi Sharma
2nd Year
Department of Civil Engineering,
SRKNEC, India

RE: Staircase Structure 140 ft tall in OCBF?

This is a nonbuilding structure. Use the ASCE 7, Table 15.4-1. What you are presenting is why the nonbuilding structures section was developed. Your mass should be fairly low. Consider the OCBF with an R of 1.5 with no height limit.

Regards, Harold Sprague

Subject: RE: Staircase Structure 140 ft tall in OCBF?
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:05:26 -0600
From: Ravi.Vasu@jacobs.com
To: seaint@seaint.org

I am resending this, corrected.

List,

I have a stairwell, 10 ft X 18 ft(plan dimension) x 140 ft tall structure located in SDC 'D'. The columns are braced on all sides.

This is for a tall vessel 140 ft in height. & the staircase serves as the only access to reach the vessel at different heights

for the maintenance people. The stairwell is hardly occupied, may by 1 - 5 persons at a time per day, about 1 to 5 times

per day.

Up to a height of about 40 ft, the stairwell is laterally tied to a piperack structure(that is non building structure, similar to buildings)

located at about 10 ft from the stairwell. The staircase serves as an access to piperack platform also at 40 ft height.

I am trying to see whether OCBF fits the staircase structure  The stair structure is not a heavily occupied structure and I think

using SCBF(many details) may be too much. But, IBC 2006/ASCE 7-05 assigns a height of 35 ft to OCBF under 'Building' structures.

Can you pl. look into it & tell, under which braced system, the structure falls into(OCBF or SCBF)?

Thanks

Ravi Vasu

immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

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RE: Uganda Seismic factor

Stan,
That is very commendable. This is a good document for international wind, seismic, snow, etc. values.
http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/DOD/UFC/ufc_3_310_01.pdf

Best of luck.

Regards, Harold Sprague

> From: sscholl2@juno.com
> Date: Fri, 13 Nov 2009 00:35:00 +0000
> To: seaint@seaint.org
> Subject: Uganda Seismic factor
>
>
> I am going to Uganda in Feb-March as a volunteer to design some classroom buildings at a Christian University. Can someone provide a recommendation for the seismic factor? The buildings will likely all be concrete.
>
> Also, if anyone would like to participate in the structural design either by going on the two week trip or by helping when we return, to finish the design, please contact me and we can talk. I have been on several similar projects in India, Egypt, Central America, and elsewhere.
>
> Stan Scholl, P.E.
> Laguna Beach, CA sscholl2@juno.com
>
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> Graphic Design Education
> Browse Graphic Design degrees from the leading online universities.
> http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/c?cp=VuFwBMGp4KUkMWERAG51oAAAJz3Tym23tPrukTYPvXuOh6TjAAQAAAAFAAAAALpJTD4AAAMlAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJVKQAAAAA=
>
> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> *
> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
> *
> * http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
> *
> * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
> * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
> * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
> * site at: http://www.seaint.org
> ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********

Hotmail: Free, trusted and rich email service. Get it now.

Uganda Seismic factor

I am going to Uganda in Feb-March as a volunteer to design some classroom buildings at a Christian University. Can someone provide a recommendation for the seismic factor? The buildings will likely all be concrete.

Also, if anyone would like to participate in the structural design either by going on the two week trip or by helping when we return, to finish the design, please contact me and we can talk. I have been on several similar projects in India, Egypt, Central America, and elsewhere.

Stan Scholl, P.E.
Laguna Beach, CA sscholl2@juno.com

____________________________________________________________
Graphic Design Education
Browse Graphic Design degrees from the leading online universities.
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL2131/c?cp=VuFwBMGp4KUkMWERAG51oAAAJz3Tym23tPrukTYPvXuOh6TjAAQAAAAFAAAAALpJTD4AAAMlAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAJVKQAAAAA=

Re: Being Outspoken

Dear Avi:

As a second year college student in overseas, you joined this list-serve 3 days ago with "Internship query" and salary comparison inquiry. Please keep it respectful.

God Bless and Thank you.

Khashayar "Casey" Hemmatyar, SE
Private email <khemmatyar(at).hotmail.com>
California

-----Original Message-----
From: Avi Sharma [mailto:leisuresoul.avi@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:22 PM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Re: Being Outspoken

Dr zzzzz

I am really feeling bad about this one now. You can say

to this extent is something that is out of limit. I think you should

have read something about the prof you are saying this. He is a real

Civilian !! If you had guts then you would have come a general message

through seaint. I am not against you but the point I am trying to make

is about a decorm of place you are in. This is not orkut/fb, this is

something serious and something of our branch's concern.

Just one message, Maintain a decorm !!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof Astaneh,

Please reveal his name to admins atleast

for some kind of Action.

On 11/12/09, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl <astaneh@ce.berkeley.edu> wrote:

> Dear Seaint friends:

> I just received this e-mail from (Dr. name withheld) a Seaint member and

> felt I need to stop and reply. Then I felt to share his short e-mail and

> my a bit longer reply with you as well. Being out there in public,

> specially with projects I have been involved with, I get quite a lot of

> supportive e-mails but this time I felt to make one public . The reason

> is for the first time in my carrier, last week I received my first and

> hope last hate e-mail which was very disturbing and had to be turned

> over to Campus mail. The hate mail was attacking me because of my

> criticism of Caltrans. So here is Dr. n.w. 's e-mail and my reply.

> ====================================================================================

> x. y. z wrote:

>> * Prof. Asteneh:

>> I thank you much for your outspokenness typical of your e-mail to the

>> SEAINT list-serve at 6:07 am this morning. You may not know the

>> extent of those who appreciate this type of professional activity..

>> Dr. x. y. z

Re: Staircase Structure 140 ft tall in OCBF?

The OCBF height restriction would seem to rule out designing it as a OCBF. If you don't want to pursue the SCBF option, you might look at the non-building structure section of the IBC.

Vasu, Ravi wrote:

Message
I am resending this, corrected.

List,

I have a stairwell, 10 ft X 18 ft(plan dimension) x 140 ft tall structure located in SDC 'D'. The columns are braced on all sides.

This is for a tall vessel 140 ft in height. & the staircase serves as the only access to reach the vessel at different heights

for the maintenance people. The stairwell is hardly occupied, may by 1 - 5 persons at a time per day, about 1 to 5 times

per day.

Up to a height of about 40 ft, the stairwell is laterally tied to a piperack structure(that is non building structure, similar to buildings)

located at about 10 ft from the stairwell. The staircase serves as an access to piperack platform also at 40 ft height.

I am trying to see whether OCBF fits the staircase structure  The stair structure is not a heavily occupied structure and I think

using SCBF(many details) may be too much. But, IBC 2006/ASCE 7-05 assigns a height of 35 ft to OCBF under 'Building' structures.

Can you pl. look into it & tell, under which braced system, the structure falls into(OCBF or SCBF)?

Thanks

Ravi Vasu

immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

NOTICE - This communication may contain confidential and privileged information that is for the sole use of the intended recipient. Any viewing, copying or distribution of, or reliance on this message by unintended recipients is strictly prohibited. If you have received this message in error, please notify us immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

RE: Staircase Structure 140 ft tall in OCBF?

I am resending this, corrected.

List,

I have a stairwell, 10 ft X 18 ft(plan dimension) x 140 ft tall structure located in SDC 'D'. The columns are braced on all sides.

This is for a tall vessel 140 ft in height. & the staircase serves as the only access to reach the vessel at different heights

for the maintenance people. The stairwell is hardly occupied, may by 1 - 5 persons at a time per day, about 1 to 5 times

per day.

Up to a height of about 40 ft, the stairwell is laterally tied to a piperack structure(that is non building structure, similar to buildings)

located at about 10 ft from the stairwell. The staircase serves as an access to piperack platform also at 40 ft height.

I am trying to see whether OCBF fits the staircase structure  The stair structure is not a heavily occupied structure and I think

using SCBF(many details) may be too much. But, IBC 2006/ASCE 7-05 assigns a height of 35 ft to OCBF under 'Building' structures.

Can you pl. look into it & tell, under which braced system, the structure falls into(OCBF or SCBF)?

Thanks

Ravi Vasu

immediately by replying to the message and deleting it from your computer.

Re: Helical Piles Design

I found this reference online:

http://www.earthscrew.com/MacLean Dixie HFS Engineering Reference Manual.pdf

Nikola Nikolov wrote:

Can anyone recommend a book / manual for design of helical piles.

Thanks

Nikola

Staircase Structure 140 ft tall in OCBF?

List,

I have a stairwell, 10 ft X 18 ft(plan dimension) x 140 ft tall structure located in SDC 'D'. The columns are braced on all sides.

This is for a tall vessel 140 ft in height. & the staircase serves as the only access to reach the vessel at different heights

for the maintenance people. The stairwell is hardly occupied, may by 1 - 5 persons at a time per day, about 1 to 5 times

per day.

Up to a height of about 40 ft, the stairwell is laterally tied to a piperack structure(that is non building structure, similar to buildings)

located at about 10 ft from the stairwell. The staircase serves as an access to piperack platform also at 40 ft height.

I am trying to see whether OMBF fits the staircase structure The stair structure is not a heavily occupied structure and I think

using SMBF(many details) may be too much. But, IBC 2006/ASCE 7-05 assigns a height of 35 ft to OMBF under 'Building' structures.

Can you pl. look into it & tell, under which braced system, the structure falls into(OMBF or SMBF)?

Thanks

Ravi Vasu

Re: Being Outspoken

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof Astaneh,
Please reveal his name to admins atleast
for some kind of Action.

On 11/12/09, Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl <astaneh@ce.berkeley.edu> wrote:
> Dear Seaint friends:
> I just received this e-mail from (Dr. name withheld) a Seaint member and
> felt I need to stop and reply. Then I felt to share his short e-mail and
> my a bit longer reply with you as well. Being out there in public,
> specially with projects I have been involved with, I get quite a lot of
> supportive e-mails but this time I felt to make one public . The reason
> is for the first time in my carrier, last week I received my first and
> hope last hate e-mail which was very disturbing and had to be turned
> over to Campus mail. The hate mail was attacking me because of my
> criticism of Caltrans. So here is Dr. n.w. 's e-mail and my reply.
> ====================================================================================
> x. y. xzzzzz wrote:
>> * Prof. Asteneh:
>>
>> I thank you much for your outspokenness typical of your e-mail to the
>> SEAINT list-serve at 6:07 am this morning. You may not know the
>> extent of those who appreciate this type of professional activity..
>>
>> Dr. zzzzz
>> *
>
> Dear Dr. zzzzzz: Thank you very much for your kind words. My approach to
> my "Tenured" position as well as meaning of tenure is that people of
> California have given me, an emigrant from Iran, this great job at this
> greatest University in the world located at the one of the most
> beautiful part of the world and have guaranteed all of this for life
> with one expectation that I find the truth in my teaching and research
> and when I find it I do not worry about the consequences of telling
> those who pay my salary (people of California) the truth that I have
> found and do not worry about being fired from my job since the boss did
> not like it! My boss is the people of California.
>
> I have to add that I also have another obligation to Americans who have
> accepted myself and my family with open arms and has given us the
> citizenship of this great country and allowed us to make it our new
> home. We have really been given the American Dream. This last part only
> recent emigrants can understand.
>
> I have added another obligation to my contract with my "boss" (all
> Americans) that in pursue of the truth I will make my best effort to
> ensure that the infromation that I have is correct and truthful , then,
> give to the "boss" nothing but the truth and the whole truth without
> considering for even a fraction of a second what consequences such
> interaction would have . Since I work in the structural engineering
> field, anything I do has safety consequences for my "boss" (The
> Americans) and I should not put my own petty financial interests ahead
> of Americans interest.
>
> In case of Caltrans, when in 1998 Caltrans/Metropolitan Transportation
> Commission selected the Self Anchored Suspension design for the Bay
> Bridge East Span replacement span, knowing enough about the bridge and
> site (I was studying the bridge by then for 10 years) I went to public
> hearing of the project and used my three minutes and made my statement
> that this system , the Self Anchored Suspension (SAS) is the most
> inferior bridge system and should not be approved for such a haigh
> seismic region. The bridge selection process was totally flawed since
> four of the selection panel members called Engineering and Design
> Advisory Panel (EDAP) had submitted their own design and those four
> designs ended up being the semi finalists and eventually all four
> entitities joined and selected one but each got a piece of the action.
> The design fee alone at that time was $75 million. The bridge which the
> public was told will cost $1.3 billion, today is estimated to cost $7.2
> and be finished in 2013 ( 25 years after Loma Prieta) . As a result of
> that 3 minutes of truth telling as per my contract with my "boss"
> (American People) Caltrans cut all my research projects ($100,000/year,
> consulting about $20K/yr and made it clear to all bridge firms and
> others that if anyone wants any funding from Caltrans they should not
> work with me . Then , Caltrans and Metropolitan Transportation
> Commission started a character assasination campaign that still
> continues to date . But, all of this is not what I will pay attention
> to. My attention is focused on doing my job for my "boss" as she would
> want me to do. I have no other option. The only concern I have is that
> like the hate mail I received last months, with Caltrans and MTC
> continuously creating hate towards me , there could be someone who snaps
> and causes physical harm tome or my family. That one I leave in God's hands.
>
> Of course in addition to America I have another beloved home and that is
> Iran and I feel exactly the same way about Iranians as I do about
> Americans, loved by both and love bothl. So, I have two bosses but
> think about it, with all that they have given to me and my family all
> they want me to do is not to lie and tell them the truth. Who could turn
> down this bargain
>
> Best wishes as always.
>
> "Hassan"
> Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Ph.D., P.E.
> Professor ,
> www.ce.berkeley.edu/~astaneh:
> =============================================================================================================
>
> ******* ****** ******* ******** ******* ******* ******* ***
> * Read list FAQ at: http://www.seaint.org/list_FAQ.asp
> *
> * This email was sent to you via Structural Engineers
> * Association of Southern California (SEAOSC) server. To
> * subscribe (no fee) or UnSubscribe, please go to:
> *
> * http://www.seaint.org/sealist1.asp
> *
> * Questions to seaint-ad@seaint.org. Remember, any email you
> * send to the list is public domain and may be re-posted
> * without your permission. Make sure you visit our web
> * site at: http://www.seaint.org
> ******* ****** ****** ****** ******* ****** ****** ********
>

--
Avi Sharma
2nd Year
Department of Civil Engineering,
SRKNEC, India

RE: Helical Piles Design

Nikola,

regards,

Gordon Goodell

From: Nikola Nikolov [mailto:nikola_nikolov@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 11:00 AM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Helical Piles Design

Can anyone recommend a book / manual for design of helical piles.

Thanks

Nikola

RE: Helical Piles Design

Just a couple weeks ago, our local Ram-Jack sales rep gave me a copy of “Helical Piles: A Practical Guide to Design and Installation” by Howard A. Perko, PhD, PE. It’s about a 500-page textbook-type book. While it has Ram-Jack’s name on the cover (implying that they must have paid for the research and/or publication), the rep said that it was intended to be a general-use, non-proprietary guidebook. I haven’t looked at it much, nor do I have any experience designing helical piles, so I can’t say how good of a resource it is, but it looks to be fairly thorough.

-- Joel Adair

SHW Group

Dallas, TX

From: Nikola Nikolov [mailto:nikola_nikolov@verizon.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 12:00 PM
To: seaint@seaint.org
Subject: Helical Piles Design

Can anyone recommend a book / manual for design of helical piles.

Thanks

Nikola

NOTICE:
This e-mail transmission is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential, privileged, and/or exempt from disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any review, disclosure, copying, distribution, or other use of any of the information contained in this transmission is strictly prohibited. If you have received this transmission in error, please immediately notify the sender by e-mail at the above address and delete it from your computer system; you should not copy the message or disclose its contents to anyone. The content of the message and or attachments may not reflect the view and opinions of the originating company or any party it is representing.

Re: Being Outspoken

Dear Seaint friends:
I just received this e-mail from (Dr. name withheld) a Seaint member and
felt I need to stop and reply. Then I felt to share his short e-mail and
my a bit longer reply with you as well. Being out there in public,
specially with projects I have been involved with, I get quite a lot of
supportive e-mails but this time I felt to make one public . The reason
is for the first time in my carrier, last week I received my first and
hope last hate e-mail which was very disturbing and had to be turned
over to Campus mail. The hate mail was attacking me because of my
criticism of Caltrans. So here is Dr. n.w. 's e-mail and my reply.
====================================================================================
x. y. xzzzzz wrote:
> * Prof. Asteneh:
>
> I thank you much for your outspokenness typical of your e-mail to the
> SEAINT list-serve at 6:07 am this morning. You may not know the
> extent of those who appreciate this type of professional activity..
>
> Dr. zzzzz
> *

Dear Dr. zzzzzz: Thank you very much for your kind words. My approach to
my "Tenured" position as well as meaning of tenure is that people of
California have given me, an emigrant from Iran, this great job at this
greatest University in the world located at the one of the most
beautiful part of the world and have guaranteed all of this for life
with one expectation that I find the truth in my teaching and research
and when I find it I do not worry about the consequences of telling
those who pay my salary (people of California) the truth that I have
found and do not worry about being fired from my job since the boss did
not like it! My boss is the people of California.

I have to add that I also have another obligation to Americans who have
accepted myself and my family with open arms and has given us the
citizenship of this great country and allowed us to make it our new
home. We have really been given the American Dream. This last part only
recent emigrants can understand.

I have added another obligation to my contract with my "boss" (all
Americans) that in pursue of the truth I will make my best effort to
ensure that the infromation that I have is correct and truthful , then,
give to the "boss" nothing but the truth and the whole truth without
considering for even a fraction of a second what consequences such
interaction would have . Since I work in the structural engineering
field, anything I do has safety consequences for my "boss" (The
Americans) and I should not put my own petty financial interests ahead
of Americans interest.

In case of Caltrans, when in 1998 Caltrans/Metropolitan Transportation
Commission selected the Self Anchored Suspension design for the Bay
Bridge East Span replacement span, knowing enough about the bridge and
site (I was studying the bridge by then for 10 years) I went to public
hearing of the project and used my three minutes and made my statement
that this system , the Self Anchored Suspension (SAS) is the most
inferior bridge system and should not be approved for such a haigh
seismic region. The bridge selection process was totally flawed since
four of the selection panel members called Engineering and Design
Advisory Panel (EDAP) had submitted their own design and those four
designs ended up being the semi finalists and eventually all four
entitities joined and selected one but each got a piece of the action.
The design fee alone at that time was $75 million. The bridge which the
public was told will cost $1.3 billion, today is estimated to cost $7.2
and be finished in 2013 ( 25 years after Loma Prieta) . As a result of
that 3 minutes of truth telling as per my contract with my "boss"
(American People) Caltrans cut all my research projects ($100,000/year,
consulting about $20K/yr and made it clear to all bridge firms and
others that if anyone wants any funding from Caltrans they should not
work with me . Then , Caltrans and Metropolitan Transportation
Commission started a character assasination campaign that still
continues to date . But, all of this is not what I will pay attention
to. My attention is focused on doing my job for my "boss" as she would
want me to do. I have no other option. The only concern I have is that
like the hate mail I received last months, with Caltrans and MTC
continuously creating hate towards me , there could be someone who snaps
and causes physical harm tome or my family. That one I leave in God's hands.

Of course in addition to America I have another beloved home and that is
Iran and I feel exactly the same way about Iranians as I do about
Americans, loved by both and love bothl. So, I have two bosses but
think about it, with all that they have given to me and my family all
they want me to do is not to lie and tell them the truth. Who could turn
down this bargain

Best wishes as always.

"Hassan"
Abolhassan Astaneh-Asl, Ph.D., P.E.
Professor ,
www.ce.berkeley.edu/~astaneh:
=============================================================================================================