Staying street SMART with project management

One’s ability to successfully manage a design/construction project, especially large-scale ones, requires understanding more than just the technical aspects of the work involved. A project manager’s job is to assist with the human side of a project’s organization. From mitigating to effects of politics on decision-making to keeping all the stakeholders in touch with each other, and motivated to succeed.

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Grounding HVAC Motor Shafts: Protecting bearings and lowering repair costs

Challenged to reduce energy consumption, facility managers are installing variable frequency drives (VFDs)—also known as inverters—in building HVAC systems. By allowing motors to run at less than full speed, these drives can yield energy savings of 20 to 30 per cent, but they also induce currents that can damage bearings and shorten motor life. The resulting repair costs can diminish any savings from their use.

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Specifying structural steel for bridges

Canada’s urban infrastructure growth is creating significant demand to increase the capacity of major waterway crossings, either by widening or replacing existing bridges, or building on new alignments. This article examines four major bridge projects in Québec and British Columbia.

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Acoustic considerations for metal ceilings

Whether specifying acoustic ceilings for classrooms, healthcare facility inpatient areas, or a business centre’s offices, it is important to remember the goal is ‘clarity,’ rather than ‘silence.’ Some spaces seek to project sound across a large distance, while others work to maintain privacy within a small space. Regardless of the application, a thoughtful selection of ceiling systems can contribute to a balanced design that mitigates unwanted noises and optimizes occupants’ comfort with desirable sounds and speech intelligibility.

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ICFs and efficient mid-rise design

Over the last decade, something has been transforming the city of Waterloo, Ont. In a community of only 100,000, approximately 80 mid-rise student residences, apartments, and multi-family buildings have been constructed—with 40 built within an area of less than 2.5 km2 (1 mi2). Further, all these structures have used insulated concrete forms (ICFs) in their design.

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Building More Durable Balconies: To steel or not to steel

There are two basic balcony configurations: those with cantilevered slabs and those with slabs supported at the edges by shear walls. Slabs falling under the first category rely on the top matt of reinforcing steel for structural capacity. Slabs supported at the edges span side to side and require concrete that is reinforced with steel in the bottom of the slab.

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