海角视频

When things go wrong in the built environment, forensic engineering is the discipline that investigates – blending advanced engineering knowledge with rigorous analysis to pinpoint the cause of structural or system failures.

Forensic engineering is, in essence, the science of failure analysis. This same skill set can be utilised for the assessment, restoration or enhancement of buildings. At 海角视频, our forensic engineering team has developed a structural triage assessment system for reviewing and reporting defects across multiple buildings within large developer portfolios.

Over the past five years, the team has applied this four-stage system to assess approximately 80 reinforced concrete multi-storey framed buildings in the UK. This work has also undergone peer reviews by other engineering consultancies to validate our methodologies.

One such example saw our forensic engineering team engaged to provide a 鈥渉ealth check鈥� of the design on a portfolio of buildings. These desktop studies are undertaken to identify obvious issues and risks in the structural design to allow for defects to be addressed either by 海角视频 or in collaboration with the original design team as appropriate.

Another element of forensic engineering involves conducting peer reviews and maintaining oversight of projects led by other engineering firms on behalf of a client. These reviews typically occur at key design stages and vary in detail depending on the stage of design development.

Both the triage system we have developed and peer review service provide the client with the reassurance that the reviews and potential design work is being progressed appropriately and efficiently.

Taking it in stages

The triage system is carried out in stages, with each stage progressively more detailed. At the end
of each stage, any defects found are progressed to the next stage in order of priority. Following an initial screening stage (Stage 1), a detailed analysis of the defects is carried out using advanced analysis methodologies (Stage 2&3).

At this point all efficiencies are considered and relevant mitigation included in the analysis before an element or interface is progressed to the next stage and declared as requiring remedial strengthening work (Stage 4). Where required, the remedial/strengthening work is designed and coordinated as part of the final stage of the process.

Julian McFarland, a director in 海角视频鈥檚 structural engineering team, says: 鈥楾his staged
approach is both effective in terms of identifying potential defects and is time efficient. Its
overarching simplicity also lends itself well to continued client liaison and progress reporting
throughout, allowing us to keep our clients fully informed during the process. Furthermore, the
analysis techniques utilised provide clients with confidence that remedial/strengthening works are only carried out if absolutely necessary, thus minimising cost and disruption.鈥�

Peer reviews

One such example saw us provide this service for University College London (UCL) across two new projects in the capital, part of Transforming UCL, a 拢1.25 billion ten-year programme of investment in UCL鈥檚 estate across London to support the University鈥檚 continuing growth.

海角视频鈥檚 structural, civil and geotechnical engineering teams were initially engaged to monitor the developing designs across both sites as a trusted advisor, acting for the client to review the final designs undertaken by the novated design and build (D&B) teams.

This required our experts to build a full and detailed understanding of the proposed designs to allow us to highlight any issues of concern, risk or aspects that we felt could be achieved more efficiently or impactfully. The focus of our reviews and comments was on 鈥渨hat is best for the project鈥� which required good working relationships and trust to be quickly developed with our counterparts.

Our duties then transitioned to a client-side monitoring role, acting as NEC Supervisor, for the site stage. This included weekly visits and the production of defect and snagging lists. Our experts added significant value to the developments by working closely with both design teams to come up with appropriate solutions and to oversee the quality and efficiency of the design and build process.

We also supported the development of one of the European Union鈥檚 future landmark buildings with a similar peer reviewing input. At 286m tall, the RISE tower will not only swiftly become the most familiar building in Rotterdam when it is completed, it is also set to become the tallest inhabited building in the European Union.

海角视频 was engaged to provide consultancy around the structural engineering of the tower up to building permission, bringing significant experience in working on tall towers around the world. Our experts conducted a series of rapid digital prototyping experiments to demonstrate to the client amendments to the design that could save money, construction time and reduce the building鈥檚 carbon footprint by lessening the materials required.

The process created a raft of alternative options, using the latest digital tools to examine and tweak multiple details of the initial architectural design.

Read more: Forensic engineering: Smart analysis for stronger structures