Structural Engineering
Engineering Services
Building Structures
We have provided designs for steel and concrete structures of all types, from low to moderate-rise buildings. Our specialty is steel buildings with special requirements - seismic, dynamic loadings or dampers, wind-induced vibrations and blast design.
Note: We do not perform residential engineering services.
Seismic Design
We excel at seismic design, investigation, repairs, and rehabilitation. We provide both code-based and performance-based earthquake structural engineering services. We completed the performance-based engineering for the seismic upgrade of Boeing's high-bay assembly building in Everett, Washington, where they make the 747, 767 and 777 airliners. This factory has the distinction of being the world's largest building. We developed performance-based design criteria and used non-linear dynamic time-history analysis for the investigation and design phases. The final design solution used non-linear friction dampers to control and dissipate seismic loads. We are confident in our ability to handle any size project.
Dock Structures
Often, larger cranes can be safely installed on an existing dock by following a rational engineering approach that takes full advantage of the as-built dock strength. Sometimes dock designers do not sharpen their pencil and make conservative assumptions during the design process which underestimates the strength of the dock. The published dock strength can be considered a guaranteed minimum. It is almost always possible to find additional capacity from an existing design.
Our structural engineers have experience analyzing existing dock structures and finding more capacity using the as-built conditions. This allows safe installation of taller cranes with longer outreaches.
Structures Subject to Unusual Loading
Our structural engineers have designed structures and equipment as diverse as access platforms used in acoustic test cells subjected to 158 db random acoustic vibrations (used to test space shuttle and rocket payloads for simulated launch conditions).
How about simulated rocket assemblies to test parachute and air-bag deployment for land-based recovery?
If you have structural questions, we will have the engineered answers for you.
Unique Structures
CP&A provides designs for steel, concrete and wood structures of all types, including commercial buildings, offshore structures, and various types of crane structures. Our specialty is steel structures with special requirements, such as dynamic seismic loads, wind induced vibrations, wave motions, and any other static and dynamic, linear and non-linear analyses specified in the design codes or user specifications. We use state-of-the-art computer analysis, design and drafting practices. We have developed our own custom software to increase our efficiency, reliability, and robustness of our designs.