Structural design for solid construction
Solid construction engineering in Heinsberg: concrete and masonry down to the last bar
We size load bearing members in reinforced concrete and masonry, draw the plans that go with them and deliver the structural calculation your building authority and your shell contractor actually need. One point of contact, one complete set of documents, traceable from the first load assumption to the bar schedule.
Monday to Friday, 9 to 18Heinsberg
Section A / AKreis Heinsberg
- Sizing Reinforced concrete and masonry
- Drawings Position, formwork and reinforcement plans
- Evidence Structural calculation ready for checking
The principle
Mass carries differently. So it is calculated differently.
Reinforced concrete and masonry take load across an area rather than through single members. Where there is compression the concrete carries; where tension appears, steel has to sit, in exactly that place and over exactly that length. Those places belong on paper before the pour, not after it.
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A section, not a stick model
We cut the member open: depth, width, concrete cover, position of the reinforcement. Only the section tells you what a member really carries and where its limit sits.
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Reinforcement where the tension is
Every bar has a reason. Position, diameter, spacing and anchorage are all evidenced and written into the drawing, so that nothing on site has to be estimated.
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Masonry sized honestly
Sand lime brick, lightweight clay block, concrete block: every unit strength and every mortar gives a different permissible stress. We calculate with the unit that will actually be built in.
Services
What we calculate for your solid construction
From a single lintel over a new kitchen opening to the complete structure of a house. You tell us what is to be built, we tell you the section and the steel it will take.
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01
Structural calculation
A checkable calculation for the whole structure or for single members, with load assumptions, verifications and results in an order a checking engineer can follow.
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02
Structural design
We fix the load bearing system: span directions, column grid, wall thicknesses, slab depths. The earlier that is settled, the calmer and cheaper the shell work runs.
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03
Reinforced concrete design
Slabs, ground slabs, downstand beams, columns, walls, stairs and foundations. Bending, shear, punching, deflection and crack width are carried through, not estimated.
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04
Masonry design
Load bearing and bracing walls, piers, lintels and ring beams. Buckling length, eccentricity and bearing pressure decide which unit really carries the load in the end.
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05
Seismic verification
Where a verification is required we carry it out: seismic zone, ground conditions, bracing and the checks for the load bearing walls that stiffen the building.
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06
Construction detailing
Connections, bearings, openings and details that can genuinely be built on site, agreed with the architect, the site management and the contractor.
How it runs
Four positions to a finished verification
We work through the order a check expects. At every point you know what exists already and what is needed from you next.
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Documents and load assumptions
Floor plans, sections, what is known about the ground and the intended use. Out of that come the load assumptions: dead load, imposed load, snow and wind for this exact site.
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Structural system and position plan
Every load bearing member is given its position number. The position plan is the map that the calculation, the drawings and the site all refer to from then on.
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Sizing, position by position
Every position is calculated and verified. If a section comes out too tight, you hear it from us before it reaches the construction drawings.
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Drawings and bar schedule
Formwork drawing, reinforcement drawing and bar schedule. The shell contractor gets dimensions and steel in a form he can work and order from without asking twice.
Members
The sections that keep coming back in solid construction
Six kinds of member from solid construction. Each has its own verifications, its own limits and its own language on the drawing.
The photographs show kinds of member used in solid construction, not projects of this office.
Enquiry
Tell us what has to carry.
A floor plan, a section, or to begin with even just a photograph of the situation is enough. We will tell you which verifications your project needs, which documents we need for them and what sort of effort it will take.
- Telephone
- 02452 6593528
- Address
- Ostpromenade 89, 52525 Heinsberg
- Office hours
- Monday to Friday, 9 to 18
Documents
What ends up on your desk
A complete set, ordered and labelled. Not a pile someone has to sort before anything can be built from it.
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Pos. 01
Structural calculation
Load assumptions, verifications and results, position by position, put together so a checker can work through it and clearly labelled.
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Pos. 02
Position plan
Every load bearing member with its number, so that the drawing, the calculation and the site all speak the same language.
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Pos. 03
Formwork drawing
Dimensions, levels, recesses and openings, entered so that the formwork can be set from it directly.
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Pos. 04
Reinforcement drawing
Position, diameter and spacing of every bar, with concrete cover, anchorage and lap lengths.
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Pos. 05
Bar schedule
The schedule that belongs to the reinforcement drawing, prepared so the steel can be ordered, bent and delivered from it.
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Pos. 06
Documents for submission
What the approval procedure needs, in the form in which it is accepted.
Questions
What clients ask us before the first meeting
Four answers that head off most of the callbacks. Anything beyond that we settle on the phone.
What does the structural design for a house cost?
It depends on the structure, not on the floor area alone: spans, the type of slab, how many walls are load bearing, the ground conditions and how many recesses and openings come with it. Send us the plans and a section and you get an offer with a clearly named scope rather than a range that helps nobody later.
Which documents do you need from me?
Floor plans and sections, to scale where possible, the intended use of the rooms and whatever is known about the ground. For a conversion, photographs of the existing structure help, and the old calculation if there is one. If something is missing we tell you exactly what.
Can you assess a load bearing wall in an existing building?
Yes. We look at what arrives from above, check whether a lintel or a downstand beam can take the load, and calculate the bearings with it. Without that verification nothing should be opened in a load bearing wall, not even as a trial.
Do you also work outside Heinsberg?
Yes. Our office is in Heinsberg and we calculate for projects across the Heinsberg district and around it. The distance to the site does not decide the structural design, the documents do.