Features
By Matthew H. Johnson, P.E., A.M.ASCE
The recent addition of critical library space at the Rhode Island School of Design afforded the opportunity to firmly establish the importance of value engineering in assisting the architect and the owner in significantly improving a facility’s function, in fully respecting budget constraints, and in effecting a library structure of the highest quality.
By William B. Bingham, P.E., M.ASCE, and Rodney E. Holderbaum, P.E.
Loch Raven Dam, a massive concrete gravity structure that impounds one of only two water sources for the Baltimore region, was in need of significant renovation but could not be taken out of service. The solution involved improving the spillway’s shape and capacity and adding a concrete buttress.
By Noah Klersfeld, Jiro Takagi, P.E., and Guy Nordenson, P.E., S.E., F.ASCE
The bridges Center, in Memphis, Tennessee, is intended to bring together youths and adults from the surrounding neighborhoods to challenge their minds as well as their physical abilities. By working with the building’s architects to create soaring ramps supported by exposed steel trusswork, the engineers created a structure that serves as a teaching tool in and of itself.
By Frederick C. Dock, P.E., M.ASCE, Charleen Zimmer, Stacy Becker, and Fred Abadi, Ph.D., P.E.
The good intentions informing the redesign of a major thoroughfare in Minneapolis were not enough to overcome the issues that plague urban transportation projects around the country. The Lake Street experience suggests that only deliberate forethought, persistent attention to design details, and strong leadership can balance pragmatic traffic flow issues with the broader goals of community revitalization.
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