Structural engineer's mistake could take down firm

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FLBuff PE

Multi-disciplinary engineer
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My company is involved in the 'fix' of this school in Meeker, Colorado. The town is located in NW Colorado. The first story appeared in the Sunday Denver Post, and the second story is in this morning's paper.

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19375912?source=pop_section_news

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_19387865

This guy will likely lose his license, and face disciplinary action. And this firm, which my company has worked on several projects with, may not survive. Their reputation has been ruined, and they will likely face multiple lawsuits. Just a reminder of the importance our engineering judgements, no matter how 'small', have on our lives, our company's viability, and the lives of the public.

 
Looks like the state needs to share in the blame...they got rid of the person but still should share responsibility.

 
Intresting read.

Maybe I review too much work done by others but I am finding that many engineers don't know how to detail up an adequate load path or use codes appropriately these days.

I could also just be bitter too. ;)

 
Yea, the state whiffed on this as well. They should have caught that the seismic load assumed was for a barn or storage shed, not a school. It's lucky that the wind loads up in that area (which can be fairly significant) didn't cause the building to come down, causing a MAJOR disaster. I'm glad that it was "just" a wall moving that caused the review.

 
My company is involved in the 'fix' of this school in Meeker, Colorado. The town is located in NW Colorado. The first story appeared in the Sunday Denver Post, and the second story is in this morning's paper.

http://www.denverpos...op_section_news

http://www.denverpos...ews/ci_19387865

This guy will likely lose his license, and face disciplinary action. And this firm, which my company has worked on several projects with, may not survive. Their reputation has been ruined, and they will likely face multiple lawsuits. Just a reminder of the importance our engineering judgements, no matter how 'small', have on our lives, our company's viability, and the lives of the public.

WOW! As a structural engineer myself that scares the crap out of me! I worry all the time, that I've overlooked something, didnt' understand the behavior of some key member as I thought I did, or don't realize I'm missing some common code requirement.

 
ngnrd - PE said:
For me, it's not about whether or not somebody made a mistake, but rather, what their actions were after the mistake was discovered. I guess we'll see how it all plays out on this one. Keep us informed Buff. I'd like to see where this goes.
I disagree completely! Mistakes that threaten life-safety are what it's all about. Nothing you do after you discover a mistake that hurts people (or could hurt people) mitigates the mistake. Buildings are extremely complex - which is why designers should check and double-check the critical parts. I see all too often that people stamping drawings have little "expertise" but instead rely on someone else to make sure it's done right. One small example: a sheet detailing the roof drain leaders was stamped by an HVAC guy. When a problem was found with the capacity of one leader, the engineer that stamped the sheet admitted he had no knowledge of code requirements for roof drain leaders.

 
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reminds me of my project in California, I did the calcs and a licensed structural engineer in Cali state checked it and the Buidling Official checked it too, before the construction happens, everybody should agree on the calcs and design before construction if not, everyone in the loop is liable. Not only one guy is responsible.

 
I think we are seeing price driven engineering, I see quite a few projects that may not go through the needed review due to lack of budget. This can be faulted all arround. Are we going to low bid ourselves out of business?

 
This is the reason why we needed a 16 hour SE exam.

Howell was already ripped a new one and now it sure looks like his former company will get theirs too.

 
Thanks for posting all these links FLBuff. I feel bad for the structural engineer, you would think maybe if he had more of a staff to help him maybe someone at the firm would have caught the building code error.

 
In California, licensed engineers do the plan checks. Is this uncommon in other parts of the country? Not that the structural engineer doesn't need to ensure her calculations are correct, but it makes me feel safer in general knowing that all of our buildings go through rigorous oversight before and during construction.

 
Saw this in the paper this morning:

http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_19823514

Structural issues of varying degrees of seriousness have been identified in every Neenan Co. school project that has received money through a state grant program meant to make school buildings safer.

"Corrective actions" are being carried out at each of the 15 school buildings at various stages of completion in eight districts across Colorado, officials said Wednesday at a meeting of the board that oversees the Building Excellent Schools Today program.
 
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