What is a Cantilever Bridge?
Cantilever bridges are designed for road or rail traffic and typically built from structural steel or boxed girders made from prestressed concrete. The defining feature of a cantilever bridge is, well, a cantilever. Cantilevers are structures that project horizontally with support on only one end. Cantilevers may also be beams for smaller footbridges. The larger […]
History of the Seven Mile Bridge
The Seven Mile Bridge is the longest bridge among others that connect the Keys, and is part of U.S. Route 1 and the Overseas Highway. This bridge connects Knight’s Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) located in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. The history of the bridge begins in 1909 […]
The Design Behind the One World Trade Center
The iconic 1,776 ft One World Trade Center fills the void of the original twin towers representing hope and a stronger future. The towering monolith is located just feet away from the World Trade Center Memorial, representative of the past and remembrance during one of our Country’s darkest times. Depending upon the angle of light […]
May – June, 2020: Michigan Flooding
In mid-May, seven inches of rain created a chain of catastrophic events. The rainstorm caused more than 10,000 people to evacuate, damaged property and homes, and destroyed two hydroelectric dams. The Rainstorm Moisture created by Tropical Storm Arthur produced the heaviest rainfall. Moisture traveled from the East Coast to Michigan causing an increase in rainfall […]
How to Fix a Bad Foundation
The most important structural component of your house is the foundation, and it’s easy to overlook since it’s buried in the ground. The foundation keeps the structural integrity of the home intact by distributing the weight of the house and walls evenly to the ground. Cracks can be easily missed if they’re hidden behind furniture, […]
How Concrete Dams are Constructed
A concrete dam is built in four shapes; gravity dam, concrete buttress dam, arch dam, and the arch-gravity dam. The gravity, buttress, and arch-gravity dams use their weight as strength to counteract water pressure by pushing downward. The arch dam uses the concrete as its strength by being weighed down from the pressure of water. […]
How Concrete Dams Work
Concrete dams are used for a simple reasons – change the flow/flowrate of water and generate electricity. Concrete dams are major producers, too. Together they generate 20% of electricity in the world and open new areas to permanent settlement. Although most dams are simply fill dams which are used primarily as water storage, large concrete […]
How Reinforced Concrete Works
Reinforced concrete (RC) is one of humankind’s greatest innovations in building and structures. Thanks to reinforced concrete, enormous and complicated structures are made possible. How it works is relatively simple as the basic concrete composite material encases steel reinforcement for greater strength and more durability. Typically, reinforcing incorporates steel bars – commonly known as “rebar” […]