A Structural Engineer is in charge of analysing and designing a structure. His/her role is to make sure that the structure will be safe and serviceable for its designed life. The possible loads that will act on the structure in its life time are estimated and combined with different safety factors. The structure is then designed and analysed based on these load combinations. By right design, a structural engineer can give optimised sections and reinforcement steel which can reduce the project cost by good margins.
A structural engineer works in coordination with architects for a project. The role of an architect is not confined in this article but for simplification, they design the space, interior and exterior look of the project, its space planning and functionality while the structural engineer focuses on its serviceability and performance. In a simple residential project, the main elements that a structural engineer designs are Beams, Columns, Slabs, Footing and structural wall (if any). The entire load of the structure is transferred to soil through foundation of the building. It’s one of the most important elements of any project and a structural engineer ensures to design a foundation that could carry the load of building and transfer it to the soil.
In an analogy with a human body, the looks of the body and the functionality of any body part is determined by the architect and the structure of bones and nerves is governed by the Structural Engineer. Hence, the seamless coordination among the two is really critical.
Challenges in small projects
In residential and small projects, owners just deal with the architects and focus on the elevation and interior designing while neglecting the structural part of the project. Lot of people use their experience from different projects to provide reinforcement by themselves. There are chances that the provided steel or sections like that might be over-reinforced or the sections might be bigger than required. Second case, can be the provided sections are inadequate to carry different loads like seismic or wind. The structure might look safe when its just carrying its own load but what about the loads due to natural events. No one can deny that earthquake or wind can affect the structure and not considering them, can lead to fatal damage. The structural engineer should be consulted for such projects, as every project can be different from each other.
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