Comments on Footbridge Design Assignment
Design Report
When writing a report, consider the intended audience for each section and address the needs of
that audience.
1. The Client may only read the covering letter and Introduction and look at the first couple
of drawings.
2. The Architect will probably look at all the drawings and skim the report.
3. The Tenderer may read the whole report, but not the the calculations.
4. The Contractor, on site, only sees the drawings and the Specification. It is unlikely that
the people actually doing the work on site will ever see the text of the report or your calculations.
5. Review Engineers would read the whole report, especially the calculations and the drawings.
“Review Engineers” may be in-house (for Quality Control), or appointed by the client (for Quality
Assurance) or by the Assessors in the event of a failure or public enquiry.
For your Design assignment the Examiner is a Review Engineer.
Covering letter
The covering letter is the place to highlight important issues that the client should know about.
It is NOT the place to make self-glorifying statements.
It is the place to LIMIT your liability, not to extend it beyond the requirements of the contract.
The Report
Your design should be easy to read and understand. This is important for your colleagues,
for Tender Adjudication and for Review.
STYLE & CONTENT
1. Limit the text – keep it brief and concise. Avoid statements such as “The Architect (or
Client) requires xxx” and rather give reasons why xxx is a good (or the best) option.
You are “The Engineer”. It is your job to ensure that all safety and functional constraints are
addressed. Do not expect the Client or Architect to tell you how to do this. If the Client does
interfere by insisting that you do something that you regard as unsafe (or unsuitable) then
make sure that your objection is recorded in writing.
2. Do not the complain about the difficulty of the design. It will not attract sympathy and it
makes the Client doubt your competence. If there is some part of the design that you do not
understand or cannot do then you state your requirement for expert assistance.
3. Do not propose the use of novel or unusual materials or components unless you have a strongly
reasoned motivation. Seductively described “miracle cures” usually only work in specific
circumstances. Civil Engineering Design is necessarily conservative.
Lives may be lost or much money wasted through your eagerness to try something new.
4. Specify components by functionality and required features, not by name.
WRONG
The bearing shall be a Wabo®Crete SPS silicone sealed bearing.
RIGHT
The joint should be a steel-reinforced elastomeric pad designed to accommodate ??mm
temperature expansion movements with a service life of at least 20 years. (For example
see www.WaboCrete,com).
TABULATE the critical parameters
1. Site specific constraints. Geometric, access, safety, environmental etc.
2. Design Codes used.
3. Material properties assumed for design.
4. You cannot avoid professional responsibility by citing other authorities, but you can use
sourced knowledge to explain your decisions. All knowledge sources used in the design,
such as the Geotech Report, must be referenced.
REFERENCES
Do not reference verbal information. If you cannot produce a written source then the
reference is worthless. If you receive a verbal instruction from your “Client” (Supervisor or
Lecturer) confirm it back to them, at least by email, and then reference this written confirmation.
The list of references should give full details for all references in the text, which are usually
abbreviated.
AVOID REFERENCING COMMERCIAL LITERATURE
The Franki Handbook has a special status in South African where it is endorsed by highly
experienced academic and professional engineers.
Most of the design content in the book is annotated so it can be referenced as, for example :-
Franki Figure 20.1.2 “Variation of Nc with depth of penetration” after Skempton (1951).
Calculations
STABILITY ISSUES
Most failures are caused by poor details or unforeseen load cases, rather than inadequate size or
strength of major components.
A recurring problem is ignorance of secondary loads, such as those resulting from
misalignment (construction tolerances) or differential foundation settlement.
For example, columns have a small surface area and attract little direct wind load but they
can be destabilised by large lateral loads transmitted through connected beams.
Always keep in mind the over-all stability of the structure.
When designing a geotechnical element such as a retaining wall or a foundation always
consider whether the slope of the site or a nearby excavation will affect overall stability.
The title block (see example)
must appear on EVERY PAGE of
the calculations, not just the front
of each section.
The first sheet should comprise a
detailed index to the calculations.
Calculations should be hand-written. Typed calculations tend to be too rigid, inhibiting
flow of information. If you do type the calculations then expect to add hand-drawn sketches or
diagrams and hand-written corrections and annotations.
Drawings
The drawings must contain ALL information needed for FABRICATION, ORDERING and
CONSTRUCTION.
Assume that the Contractor ONLY sees the Drawings and will not see the Design Report or
reference documents.
Design each Drawing (or group of Drawings) for the intended audience. Provide separate Drawings
for each trade. Do not put reinforcing Bending Schedules on a Concrete Layout Drawing and
definitely DO NOT put concrete dimensions on a Bending Schedule.
Do not duplicate information across drawings.
The Notes on each drawing should be specific to the content of that drawing.
Use a rational numbering sequence starting from most general (Site location) and progressing to
most detailed (such as Reinforcing Schedules).
List all Drawings in a table in the design report.
Title Block
Use the same title block, fonts and line types on all drawings. The title block should include, in
addition to a meaningful description of what the drawing is about:
Drawn by: The person who actually
did the drawing?
Checked by: The person who checked
the drawing
Designed by: Should be the same as the
name of the person on the
relevant calculation sheets.
Approved by: Leave blank, to be signed by
the designated project engineer who carries
professional responsibility for the design.
Typically a director of the design company,
or the client's Review Engineer.
Scale @ A? State the sheet size (e.g. A1)
for which the scales are valid.
Use STANDARD SCALES: These are 1:1, 1:2 or 1:5 multiplied by 10n where n=0, 1, 2, etc..
Do NOT use 1:25, 1:30, 1:40, 1:75 or any other non-standard scale.
