No calculations, just the ideas a coordinator needs to read a structure: how load travels to the ground, where a beam works hardest, which elements keep the building standing, and why some slabs must never be cored.
You'll never size a beam. But every week you'll be asked whether a duct can go through one, whether a wall can lose a door opening, or why a slab can't take a fixing. The structural engineer answers those questions. Your job is to ask them well, and that needs a picture of what the structure is doing.
Every building carries its own weight (the dead load: concrete, steel, finishes), what's put in it (the live load: people, furniture, plant) and what the weather does to it (wind, snow). These loads travel down through the frame to the ground. Each member is sized by calculation for the forces it carries: compression in columns, bending and shear in beams and slabs, tension in ties and cables.
Read the full lesson on BIMpedia →
