There was a time when I could have responded to the title of this presentation by simply noting axial forces, perhaps resolved into the X, Y and Z directions, together with moments and shears. Although such items are basic in the practice of structural engineering, I am afraid they alone would no longer be responsive to this assignment.

All sorts of forces influence the practice of structural engineering today. The engineer who has a sound theoretical background, who has had a great deal of technical experience, and who keeps up to date in his field has a start but he must also contend with many other factors and influences to practice structural engineering successfully. Whether this trend is good or bad I shall leave for your decision. Many of these things are brought about by changes in society in which structural engineering in merely being swept along, many by engineers themselves and their competitors, and many by the clients.

All I can hope to do here is to list and comment briefly about some of the many forces that influence practice, and to compare "now" with "yesterday" and perhaps guess as to "tomorrow". For this purpose I have divided the forces that influence into three categories: (1) Those brought about mainly by society (in which engineers unfortunately exercise a relatively small influence); (2) those caused by changes in technology; and (3) those caused by engineers, competitors, and/or clients. In several cases, the division is difficult, and perhaps some items belong in two or three categories. There is one thing in common with these various forces -- they take time and money to cope with and thus they detract from your technical activities or add to your costs if you have others do the coping for you.

We all recognize that the practice of structural engineering takes many forms, which are generally responsive to the types of clients. Some engineers do almost all of their work for architects, some do little if any work for architects, and there are those who have a mixed practice in that regard. Some do essentially all work as subcontractors in the design team, some joint venture, some are prime contractors, and there are combinations. Some do all government work, some do none, and many do some. In this discussion I shall imagine a hypothetical composite engineer whose work has any or all of these aspects at various times.

Tables I, II, and III provide listings of the three categories of forces outlined above. It is clear that there is much more to private structural practice than determining bending moments and shears and selecting the members to resist them. A good engineering firm today not only has to have a high level of technical competency and seasoned experience but operate successfully in view of the factors in Tables I, II and III, as well as others not listed.

The City of Los Angeles Dept. of Building and Safety (LADDBS), the nation's largest municipal building department, recently received the Building Department of the Year award at the California Building Officials (CALBO) annual conference.

"Thanks to the leadership of General Manager Andrew Adelman, the City's Building and Safety Department has made tremendous progress in its efforts to streamline its operations, enhance efficiencies, and increase the level of quality customer service," said Mayor J. Riordan. "Our dynamic one-stop permit centers are a solid example of how City government can work with its constituents to imrpvoe services. This award is terrific recognition of our B& S Department's achievements."

Over the last 16 months, LADBS has undertaken major efforts to improve customer service and operational efficiency. Newly renovated and improved customer service centers have been established in Downtown L.A., Van Nuys and West Los Angeles. LADBS has also initiated a new Customer Call Center, with a toll-free, easy access number, 1-888-LA4-BUILD (1-888-524-2845), replacing more than 100 department telephone numbers previously used by customers. Many other programs are underway to measure and manage service delivery.

This year the department's 800 employees will issue approximately 100,000 permits ( with a valuation of over $2 billion), conduct 650,000 inspections, serve almost 250,000 walk-in customers and handle over 700,000 telephone calls.

4 2 p.m. COLA/UCI Testing Com. SEAOSC Office, Whittier

5 3 p.m. SEAOSC Board Meeting Luminarias Restaurant, Monterey Park

5:30 p.m. L.A. Dinner Meeting Luminarias Restaurant, Monterey Park

7 Noon L.A. Tall Bldgs. Council USC

11 2 p.m. Quality Assurance Com. SEAOSC Office, Whittier

4 p.m. Existing Buildings Com. SEAOSC Office, Whittier

12 5:30 p.m. Orange County Dinner Mtg. Costa Mesa Country Club

15 11 a.m. 1999 SEAOC Convention Mtg. Fess Parker's Resort, Santa Barbara

20 3 p.m. Testing Standards Com. SEAOSC Office, Whittier

6 p.m. CSES Dinner Meeting Taix's Restaurant, L.A.

22 8 a.m. Macro Seminar

26 Noon Online Newsletter Deadline For July/Aug. Issue

28 Election Ballot Return Deadline To SEAOSC Office

The Sixth ASCCS International Conference on Steel and Concrete Composite Structures will be held in L.A. March 22-24, 2000, at Manhattan Beach Marriott Hotel. The conference is sponsored by the Association for International Cooperation and Research in Steel-Concrete Composite Structures (ASCCS).

The Conference is calling for technical papers on topics falling within the scope of composite and hybrid structures. Areas of particular interest include but are not limited to: structural design and analysis of composite and hybrid structures, observed performance, computer modeling, fire-resistant design, buildings, bridges and special structures, earthquake resistant systems, retrofit and rehabilitation, cost effective construction, new materials and new structural systems.

Three copies of 300-word abstracts must be received by May 31, 1999 by Dr. Y. Xiao, 6-ASCCS-2000, Dept. of Civil Engineering, University of Southern California, 3620 S. Vermont Ave., KAP 210, Los Angeles, CA 90089-2531. Telephone: 213-740-6130; Fax: 213-744-1426; email: yanxiao@usc.edu.

The next meeting of the Flexible Diaphragm Subcommittee of the Existing Buildings Committee will be held at 3 p.m. Tuesday, April 27, 1999, at the SEAOSC office.

At the Mar. 23 meeting, the subcommittee members completed the entire Chapter 5 of the UCBC Appendix to make this chapter generically applicable to all reinforced concrete and masonry wall buildings with flexible diaphragms. This Chapter also now can be used directly with all the most current building codes (1997 UBC, 2000 IBC) and 1997 NEHRP guidelines and requirements,

The subcommittee also started working on the commentary for this new Chapter 5. The subcommittee members worked up to Section A506 in the commentary by the time the meeting adjourned at 6:30 p.m. The subcommittee will continue to work on the commentary in our next meeting until we are able to finalize the commentary for Chapter 5.

All subcommittee members are encouraged to attend the meeting as we are working on an important and interesting task. Please bring your 2000 IBC and 1997 UBC with you because both these two model codes are what Chaprter 5 will be based on. 1997 NEHRP has also been used as the benchmark standard for our Chapter 5. Please make time to join us.

Program: Sulfate Attack on Concrete

Speakers: Geoff Hichborn, P.E.

Menu: Chicken breast in tomato basil butter. (Vegetarian meal available if requested by Noon May 3.)

Location: Luminarias Restaurant, 3500 Ramona Blvd., Monterey Park

Time: Social hour: 5:30 p.m. Dinner: 6:30 p.m. Program: 8 p.m.

Cost: $22 (Full-time undergraduate students: $10)

(See blue insert for reservation form and details.)

SEAOSC welcomes its newest members:

George C. Chang, Member, Jacobs Engineering Group, Signal Hill

Sharon Chiu, Associate, Dames & Moore, Los Angeles

David Choi, Associate, Hillman, Biddison & Loevenguth, Los Angeles

Paul J. Hamilton, Member, Mountain Pacific Inc., Laguna Beach

Son Troung Nguyen, Member, HNTB, Irvine

Alfonso Quilala Jr., Member, REM Engineering, Pasadena

John Rochford, Member, Snyder Langston, Irvine

Marcello Sgambelluri, Associate, John A. Martin & Assoc., Los Angeles

Paula Stamp, Industry Member, Ray Wilson Co., Pasadena

"Design of Seismic Isolated Structures: From Theory to Practice", a new textbook by SEAOSC Board member Dr. Farzad Naeim, S.E. and UC Berkeley Prof. James M. Kelly has just been published by John Wiley and Sons. Naeim has been a SEAOSC member since 1985.

Program: Results of COLA/UCI Shearwall Research at UCI

Speaker: Dr. Gerard Pardoen, P.E., UCI

Location: Costa Mesa Country Club, 1701 Golf Course Dr.

Time: 5:30 p.m. social hour, 6:30 p.m. dinner, 7:30 p.m. program

Menu: Buffet

Cost: $22 (Full-time undergraduate students: $10)

SEAOSC is co-sponsoring a seminar on the Design of Concrete Buildings for Earthquake and Wind Forces According to the 1997 UBC with the Portland Cement Association Aug. 26.The major changes in the seismic design provisions of the 1997 UBC pertaining to concrete structures will be presented plus a summary of seismic detailing requirements for buildings in regions of low, moderate, and high seismic activity.

Design examples will reflect the latest wind and seismic provisions of the 1997 UBC. Three reinforced concrete framing systems will be presented: beam-column frame, buildilng frame, and dual. In addition, a design example utilizing dynamic force procedures will also be presented.

Speakers will be Drs. David Fanella and Javeed Munshi of the PCA and Dr. S.K. Ghosh of S.K. Ghosh Assoc. Inc.

Participants will receive handouts plus "Design of Concrete Buildings for Earthquake and Wind Forces According to the 1997 UBC", a PCA publication.

Cost is $145; students: $75. Watch this newsletter and your mail for registration details.

We welcome members of the Southern California Chapter of ACI and the International Concrete Repair Institute to our May joint meeting. The sharing and exchange of topics such as sulfate attack on concrete is but one means to keep pace with the evolution of knowledge. While this may be an old topic, it has haunted many engineers from time to time and has given the legal profession numerous opportunities to attack our profession. We hope that you will bring a colleague to this dinner meeting.

For those of you who may not know, the Southern California Chapter ACI was the first chapter recognized by the American Concrete Institute when it was founded in 1958. Many of the pioneers in the chapter movement would have told you that the establishment of the first chapter was anything but easy. Nonetheless, it took close to two years for the organizing committee, led by Henry Layne, Ernie Maagg and others, many of whom were members of SEAOSC, to remove the fear from the then officers and Board of Directors of the American Concrete Institute that the Chapter would not become a burden to the national organization, and that the Chapter would serve to expand the mission of the Institute. Today, there are over 100 chapters all over the world.

Through the years, it has become a forum for the structural engineering profession and technical expertise of the concrete industry to exchange ideas concerning the design, construction, manufacture, use and maintenance of concrete materials, products and structures. Numerous educational and research projects related to concrete have taken place. The successful completion of the Slender Wall Tests in the early 80’s and the use of high strength concrete in the late 80’s are just examples of the bond between our organizations. On a personal note, I am grateful for the privilege to have served as president of the local ACI Chapter in 1982.

Within the Los Angeles basin, we are fortunate that our Association has a close relationship with most code enforcement jurisdictions, particularly those of the Division of the State Architect, City of Los Angeles, and County of Los Angeles. Many members of SEAOSC have served these agencies both as advisors and as active participants on joint committees on various technical or administrative assignments. In the past, various members have also participated in training sessions for plan check engineers at the LADBS. The Board of Directors plans to dedicate one dinner meeting this fall as Building Officials’ Night. We will invite building officials from DSA, COLA, and County of Los Angeles as well as members of CALBO to this special meeting. The exchange of common goals with the code enforcement agencies will help our profession to better appreciate our duties to safeguard the life safety of the general public.

Technical committee activities of the Association have been supported through the years by numerous engineers who volunteer their time unselfishly. In code development activities, each technical committee and/or subcommittee seeks a balanced representation from the private sector as well as from the public sector. The private sector includes practicing engineers and geotechnical specialists; while the public sector includes governmental agencies from state, county and local jurisdictions, educators and industry representatives. We strongly request your participation on our technical committees.

James Lai,

SEAOSC President

Agenda Item No. 3 - AC130 , Acceptance Criteria for Prefabricated Wood Shear Panels

Promponents are using AC130 to submit proposals for shear walls with height to length ratios greater than permitted by the code. These are being called narrow shear walls. R value not defined for narrow shear walls. John Kariotis indicated that concern with the height to length ratio may not be so important provided realistic drift limits were properly addressed, including deformation of connectors and anchors. The committee has previously submitted proposed revisions to AC130. No action was taken on the proposals.

ICBO-ES ;may be considering issuing supplemental reports that address requirements of the L.A. area building officials be urged to adopt the committee recommendations. This could lead to eventual adoption by ICBO-ES.

Agenda Item No. 4 - Mike Rhodebeck presented summaries of USP anchor testing. All connectors were tested attached to 4x4 wood members. Three tests were made for each connector. TD2 connector: wood member failed in one test, connector failed in other tests. All tests provided a FME (yield). The wood members failed in the tests of other connectors. The connectors need to be tested with wood members that are capable of failing the ocnnectors. Proponents should report: Load at FME (yield), deformation at FME, Load at SLS, Deformation at SLS, connector strength calculated by Code Allowable Stress Method, deformation at strength by code strength method.

Acceptance should be based on the above. Actual designs should consider the connector yield strength and the SLS of the wall with which it is used. It is suggested that the total connector deformation (connector + anchor) be limited to 1/8 inches. More information is required to confirm the maximum displacement.

The next regular meeting will be Mar. 18.

Younger Members, SEAOC WANTS YOU…

To attend our annual convention at the DoubleTree Resort in Santa Barbara Sept. 30 - Oct. 3. (Because we know you'll find it beneficial!)

And knowing that money talks…

We've established a poster board competition for current SEAOC members under 35 years of age.

Any interesting or informative structural engineering project, whether in the design stage, under construction, or already built.

The abstracts and sketches will be reviewed by the Younger Members Grant Program Committee; awardees will be notified by July 15 regarding acceptance. Detailed instructions for the completion of the poster boards will be sent to prospective awardees with the acceptance notice.

Fast-growing Glendale firm, freeway close to all Southern California, is looking for you. Work in private and public sector. Needs structural engineers at all levels. Flexible working hours allow you to cut your driving time. Opportunity to grow. Modern working environment. Grossman & Speer Associates. Fax resume: 818-507-1556.

Freet, Yeh & Rosenbach Inc., a 15-year-old structural engineering firm in Encino, Calif., has immediate opening for CAD draftsperson with five years experience in concrete, masonry, wood and steel buildings. A thorough knowledge of ACAD 14 is required. Fax resume to 818-377-3370. State salary requirements. No phone calls please.

Burbank structural engineering firm seeks P.E. with M.S. degree. Must have three to seven years experience in structural design and detailing for steel, concrete, masonry and wood-framed structures. Projects include new building design, seismic evaluation and retrofit for existing structures. Exceptional written and verbal communication skills a must. Fax: 818-729-9779.

The L.A. and Santa Ana offices of Dames & Moore are looking for registered engineers with minimum 8 years experience and excellent communication skills. If you are interested in diverse and challenging seismic projects, like to market, manage and execute projects and seek career growth, please FAX your resume to (213) 996-2375.

City Of Irvine, Principal Plan Check Engineer, requires B.S. in Civil Engineering, six years experience, registration as Civil Engineer in California. Must be Certified Building Official by Council of American Building Officials and/or certified Plans Examiner by International Conference of Building Officials. Contact (949)724-6201. Filing deadline: May 24, 1999.

Sherman Oaks 35-year-established structural engineering office looking for a motivated structural engineer to work on residential and commercial projects. Civil license is required. Fax resume to Reiss, Brown, Ekmekji Inc., Civil & Structural Engineers, at 818-990-5120.