What’s evolving is the difficulty determining the nature and magnitude of the loads on a structure. But design and construction engineers realize this difficulty and are providing for it with higher factors of safety. This is resulting in higher costs, thanks to climate change – the real challenge.
A factor of safety ensures a structure can withstand greater live and dead loads than normal. Live loads are like the weight of a person walking on a floor or the pressure of the wind on a tall chimney. These loads change daily. Dead loads are like the weight of the floor and the weight of the chimney. These loads don’t…
