r/StructuralEngineering

Anyone else see this and feel uneasy about the load path for pretty much all the framing systems?

Throw away account because my coworkers know my handle.

I have 7 YoE, Bachelor's + Master's, PE license.

I engineer anything from simple egress stairways to daya centers, and the infrequent roller coasters.

I manage 3 larger clients and 4 smaller clients. This involves dealing with reviewing and quoting projects, preparing proposals, assigning projects to other engineers, providing guidance to the assigned engineer and making sure the project is on-track for the communicated deadline. A majority of the time, I will end up assigning the project to myself due to the complexity of the projects the clients send me.

My supervisor(s) constantly come to me with questions on how I would approach a project, or what type of fee we should propose. My yearly reviews are constantly "We appreciate all that you do. We know that if we have a complex project, we can assign it to you and trust that you will figure it out and meet the deadline.

My gripe... is the pay. I am currently making $94k/year. I am constantly being told "The more tasks you take on, the more value you provide, and the more we pay you." I feel that I am constantly unable to leave work at work because I am helping out so much. I will even fit some time into my vacations to help out as need be.

I am going to start the conversation with my supervisor that I feel underpaid and ask for a raise. What would you expect to be paid if you were in my role in Washington/Idaho area?

Good day. Has anyone in here done any work on barndominium projects where you would have a metal building shell structure with a light framed living space framed on the inside of the shell structure. Perhaps even a two story living space that would take up about half the footprint of the PMB, and the remaining area oF PMB is used as unconditioned space like a work shop or for larki g. I’m thinking the light framed structure would need to be structurally separated from the PMB. Any thoughts or insights would be much appreciated.

Location: London, Cardiff or Manchester, Hybrid | Salary: £52,000+ per annum, depending on experience

An established expanding structural engineering consultancy is seeking a Senior Structural Engineer to join its team, working on a varied portfolio of residential and commercial projects.

The role:

Lead the structural design of residential and commercial buildings from concept through to construction

Produce and check calculations, drawings and specifications across steel, concrete, timber and masonry

Liaise directly with clients, architects and contractors

About you:

MEng/MSc (or equivalent) in Civil or Structural Engineering

8+ years UK experience in similar positions

Right to live and work in the UK with no visa sponsorship

Chartered, or actively working towards chartership with IStructE or ICE — full support provided

Solid design experience on residential and commercial buildings, with strong working knowledge of Eurocodes and British Standards

Proficient in Tedds, Tekla, Robot, AutoCAD and Revit

What's on offer:

£52,000+ per year, negotiable with experience

Structured support and mentoring towards chartership

Varied, design-led projects with genuine scope for progression

Easygoing non-corporate environment

To apply, send me your CV on a DM.

Its been a year since I have completed my Masters in Earthquake engineering, and I have not done anything, I am using Claude too much and building stuffs that i think does not matter, I recently made a compliance check for etabs which will extract every data of etabs and check if its aligned with the Code or not, but other than that I dont have much going on, I cannot go work as a Structural engineer because of my lower back pain, I thought I would take a break for a year to fix my back pain but its like I am good no pain for 2/3 mnths after that all of the sudden my back goes bananas again, I am looking for remote opportunities but for an engineer I dont think there are much opportunities, maybe I am thinking of helping engineers use claude code effectively? I dont know what do you guys recommend I do, feeling kind of super down at the moment, and I am already 27 with nothing in life. Currently in Nepal

I’m in my third year of my engineering degree (three semesters left) and I am struggling to find internship opportunities. Full transparency I was not a good student in my first few years of my degree and I failed a unit. Even though I locked in this past year my WAM is still sitting at around 66 (~approx 2.4 GPA).

I’ve applied to maybe around 15 different companies for their internship position but not even a rejection email was sent back to me let alone an interview. I don’t really have any work experience in the industry except for some unit which placed us at a consultancy company for a few weeks and that was 2 years ago now.

I really want to work in design/consulting for structures or bridges but I can’t help but feel like my shortcomings as a student and poor time management has really made it impossible for me to get my foot in the door. I don’t know where to go from here so I’m looking for any advice on the best steps I can take right now to get me where I want to go. I am from Melbourne Australia if that helps.

Thanks

TL/DR: Had to leave structural design after 6 months. Looking to return from the field, but I amnervous about returning as my college focus was water and I haven't touched calculations in a long time, and can't use my last job as a reference.

I worked in a small structural design firm for about 6 months before I had to leave due to family issues. I really only did a lot of anchor bolt calculations (I love in CA so really just a lot of seismic calculations for anchor bolts), a pipe bridge addition & retrofit, and a handful of equipment stands. I really didn't get into the meat if structural design at all but I enjoyed what I did. I'm currently working as a field engineer at a large scale construction company. I'm thinking about my hours I put in, and looking at their postings online for their design districts for better work/life balance.

It's mostly filled with structural and geotech, but my focus from my college days was in water resources which seems to be in short supply in terms of job availability where I live without a significant paycut, which I frankly can't afford in CA with my wife as a stay at mom. The design districts though would only cut my pay by around $10,000 at most (barring any promotions by the time I get a job), and would put me in lower cost of living areas.

I worked just long enough in structural design to learn that I know very little about large scale structural design. How is the learning curve in the average structural engineer job? I would have to earn my masters to apply at all for their structural positions, but I'm hesitant to pursue a masters in structural engineering since I would have to backtrack to bachelor level senior electives as well as master level courses. I'm also worried that by the time I get back to design I'll be out of touch. Any real calculations at my current job are outsourced to third party companies, pre engineered systems (like camlocks), or our structural aid district.

Has anyone here spent a long time between college and working in design? What was the transition like going to design from the field? I just don't want to make a choice I'll regret. Also, is it worth getting my PE just to apply for entry level positions? My job has a few PEs who are willing to vouch for those intersted in getting their PE, but I don't know how valued a PE is going from construction to design vs just getting it after working.

I have a situation where a horizontal cold joint was created in a reinforced concrete beam, about 300 mm down into an 800 mm deep beam.

I am of the opinion that this joint severely compromises the capacity of the beam. Specifically, I have shown through interface shear calculations that the ability of the beam to resist transverse shear across this joint is somewhere between 33%-60% of the original monolithically designed section.

A typical shear flow calculation (VQ/It) would show just how much transverse shear this plane should be resisting - highest near the ends of the span where direct shear is highest. However - when I apply the cracked moment of inertia of the transformed section into a shear flow calculation - I get outrageously high stresses - stresses that are orders of magnitude higher than even a monolithically cast section would be able to resist. It makes sense when I compare the same calculation to the gross moment of inertia though - my cracked moment of inertia is lower by similar orders of magnitude.

I am of the opinion that the beam was not poured in conformance with the drawings and specifications and should be demolished and replaced. The contractor is of the opinion that everything is perfectly fine because it's just concrete. My project manager is of the opinion that I should do some calculations that show it either absolutely doesn't work, or that it does in fact still work and we can accept it as-is.

I thought I was on the right path with checking shear flow, and comparing that to the interface shear transfer resistance that can be developed across the joint, however it is clear to me from the math that once the section cracks (not the cold joint - just cracking from bending) that shear flow calculation doesn't seem to be valid for this scenario as it is no longer a homogenous unit.

Does anyone have any ideas on how to analyze the new capacity of this beam? I am considering just analyzing the bottom portion of the beam, below the cold joint, as the "beam" and ignoring the portion above. The stirrups should be fully developed into the top portion still so there shouldn't be an issue with ensuring they are developed. This would be a pretty simple way of checking the bending capacity at mid-span, but it doesn't seem feasible at the supports (designed as continuous span over columns), as then I'd have a "really thin beam" over the columns - but again maybe that is the way I show that it certainly doesn't work?

I have recently completed my PG in Civil Structural Engineering and had an internship of 9 months at Walter P Moore. I was unable to get a permanent job there but since then it has been 3 months as of now and still i am unable to even have an interview call from a company. I have even tried for the referrals from the seniors from WPM itself but even that didn't got me any response.

It feels like I’ve been hitting a wall and could use some perspective from some seniors as i am not even getting a response for the companies. Can someone help me guide to what i am missing or some suggestion to improve my current situation.

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I'm new to the world of structures and, while exploring different opportunities, I've come across requirements such as: Analytical or research skills for solving complex problems or professional judgment in the design of practical and economical solutions.

What examples can you share, based on your experience, to help me understand what kind of profile they're looking for?

Where should I start? I feel like understanding what the hell these structural guys mean when they talk about slenderness ratio would be a good talk.

We are literally doctors of the buildings and bridges and we don't even get doctors salary :( I am dead inside.