52 Chapter 3 Introduction to Engineering Design
and electrical engineers, and the interior designers. In some projects, the work of the land-
scape architect is also included. While the engineers work on their own design components,
the architect continues with fine tuning the layout of the building, from roof top to the bot-
tom floor and everything in between.
The civil engineer also provides the site plan design which includes the grading of the ground
from the perimeter of the building to the sidewalk, the grading of the parking area, and drain-
age for surface runoff. If there are existing structures and power-lines within the construction site,
the civil engineer also needs to include a demolition plan and the relocation of power-lines.
The structural engineer provides all the design details for structural components includ-
ing foundation, beams and columns, interior and exterior walls, connections, additional sup-
port for openings such as windows, doors, roof supports, floor supports, canopies, and so
on. The engineers must bear in mind all the design specifications required by the building
codes as established by local government. In most cases, the local government would adopt
the state’s building code. The building code does not only specify engineering design stan-
dards, but also specifies information such as the width of corridors, number of emergency
exits in a building, and so on.
Before construction can commence, the construction document must be reviewed and
approved by the building inspectors. If the client has not selected a contractor, as it is
common for publicly funded projects, interested contractors would then purchase a hard
copy of the construction document or download it from the architect’s web site for bid
preparation.Step 7: Construction Administration Phase
Once the construction document is approved and a general contractor is selected, construction
will commence. The general contractor will have a superintendent on site to manage the con-
struction and its progress and coordinates all the subcontractors. In large-scale projects such as
bridges, highways, or power plants, a construction manager, who is a registered professional
engineer, would be responsible for the site supervision.
A project manager representing the architect would then meet with the site superintend-
ent and the client on a regular basis to review the construction progress and to respond to any
issues that require further attention. Many projects would require adjustment in design due to
unforeseen matters.
The structural engineer also visits the construction site periodically to observe the
progress of the project. These visits are particularly important, as the foundation is being
built and as the skeleton of the building is being erected. Even though the site superintend-
ent would make sure the workers are building per given construction drawings and the proj-
ect manager would walk through the site frequently to ensure the building is constructed as
designed, sometimes, it takes the eyes of the structural engineer to see if the building is being
properly built per design specifications. Besides visiting the construction site, the structural
engineer is also responsible for reviewing the shop drawings submitted by the fabricators
through the general contractor. The shop drawings show the details of structural compo-
nents. For example, the steel fabricator must draw to scale the exact beam length to be deliv-
ered to the site. It also includes the number of holes and hole sizes at each end of the beam
for connection purposes. Each beam in the project will be assigned a unique identifica-
tion number so that the steel worker will know exactly the location of each beam in the project.Copyright 2010 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).圀圀圀⸀夀䄀娀䐀䄀一倀刀䔀匀匀⸀䌀伀䴀圀圀圀⸀夀䄀娀䐀䄀一倀刀䔀匀匀⸀䌀伀䴀