Posts by George Runkle
Better Travel for the Road Warrior – Easing the Agony
In the past year, many of us have had to restrict our travel, but it still is a fact of life for many of us. It’s hard to accomplish everything over Zoom, so I found business travel to be a necessity. Even in the worst of the epidemic, I did have to make one trip…
Read MoreMy Recurring Nightmare in the House From Hell
I have this nightmare that repeats itself over and over again. It is slightly different, but the theme is the same for each one, and I wake up shaking. It’s not about my time in the Middle East, or any of the horrific things I’ve seen, it’s more mundane that makes it so terrifying. The dream is about an awful house that I can’t get out of, and the worst thing is it can really happen.
Read MoreAluminum Exterior Cladding, CDC, Atlanta, GA
Our client, Seco Architectural Systems, Inc, was to provide aluminum screens for the parking garage exterior. Here is a typical elevation view of the panels: To develop this, we designed a system of aluminum sheets supported on aluminum tubes. Then, in the design process, we developed the wind and dead loads. Using those loads, we…
Read MoreUnderground Detention – The Best and Practical Way to Design
The Project: This project was an underground detention pond that we designed with reinforced concrete. I have seen large underground detention ponds, but never one this large made from concrete. With this one, the desire by the developer was burying the basin, with soil cover and planting. The Challenges of an Underground Detention Pond: Loading:…
Read MoreWhen You Don’t Want To Do That Foundation Repair
Surprisingly, it’s not necessary or advisable to repair every defect in a house. Normally what we will do in that case is give a number of alternatives in our report. We then layout the pluses and minuses of each alternative. Many times it our foundation repair engineering indicates it’s flamingly obvious that repairing the house…
Read MoreWhen Cars Go Electric, What Happens?
This past week Governor Gavin Newsom stated that California would ban gas powered cars in 15 years. Also, an article appeared in Forbes magazine on September 26. It is predicting that Tesla’s proposed $25,000 electric car would mean “Game Over” for gas and oil. That made me think. What happens when cars go electric to the…
Read MoreShipping Container House Construction In Atlanta
This video of shipping container house construction in Atlanta. It was the second one we designed in the City. It’s located in Old Fourth Ward, and is a very simple house, but it looks good. It was built in 2008. These videos show its construction when it was fairly close to completion. This is a…
Read MoreOur Latest Container Design – See Why We Like It
This Odd Old House
When we do structural investigations of old buildings, we find surprises. However, I have never seen anything like this. We have here an unusual find in an old house. This was an old “shotgun” type house in West Atlanta that was being renovated. We went to the site to make structural recommendations. The house looked…
Read MoreCold Formed Steel Construction – University Lofts
University Lofts was a project located in downtown Binghamton, NY. Originally, a department store was on the site, and the facade was left in place. There was a serious fire inside of the building, so the owner tore out the interior. To rebuild it, the owner decided to use cold formed steel construction. The contractor…
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