De Medici Associates

A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle, such as a body of water, valley, or road, without closing the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, usually something that can be detrimental to cross otherwise.
There are many different designs that each serve a particular purpose and apply to different situations. Designs of bridges vary depending on the function of the bridge, the nature of the terrain where the bridge is constructed and anchored, the material used to make it, and the funds available to build it.

Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewerage systems, pipelines, structural components of buildings, and railways. .
Civil engineering is traditionally broken into a number of sub-disciplines. It is considered the second-oldest engineering discipline after military engineering, and it is defined to distinguish non-military engineering from military engineering. Civil engineering takes place in the public sector from municipal through to national governments, and in the private sector from individual homeowners through to international companies.

Construction is the process of constructing a building or infrastructure. Construction differs from manufacturing in that manufacturing typically involves mass production of similar items without a designated purchaser, while construction typically takes place on location for a known client. Construction as an industry comprises six to nine percent of the gross domestic product of developed countries. Construction starts with planning, design, and financing; it continues until the project is built and ready for use.

The consulting engineering profession is aimed to benefit the whole of society, through the application of safer, cleaner, and more efficient foundations. With varied backgrounds, consulting engineers may have civil, structural, or mechanical and electrical expertise.

In engineering, a foundation is the element of a structure which connects it to the ground, and transfers loads from the structure to the ground. Foundations are generally considered either shallow or deep. Foundation engineering is the application of soil mechanics and rock mechanics (Geotechnical engineering) in the design of foundation elements of structures.

Geotechnical engineering is the branch of civil engineering concerned with the engineering behavior of earth materials. Geotechnical engineering is important in civil engineering, but also has applications in military, mining, petroleum and other engineering disciplines that are concerned with construction occurring on the surface or within the ground.

A principal designer is a designer who is an organisation or individual (on smaller projects) appointed by the client to take control of the pre-construction phase of any project involving more than one contractor.
Principal designers have an important role in influencing how risks to health and safety are managed throughout a project. Design decisions made during the pre-construction phase have a significant influence in ensuring the project is delivered in a way that secures the health and safety of everyone affected by the work.

To design a structural member made up of reinforced concrete it is very important to study the concept of Structural Analysis which describe how the structure will behave under different types of loads. The theory of reinforced concrete depends upon the bond between steel and concrete. Therefore, the steel re-bar used are deformed or ribbed to make a strong bond and avoid chances of slip.

Retaining walls are relatively rigid walls used for supporting the soil mass laterally so that the soil can be retained at different levels on the two sides. Retaining walls are structures designed to restrain soil to a slope that it would not naturally keep to (typically a steep, near vertical or vertical slope).

Every scientific claim, such as engineering, should be supported by a mathematical model to verify its applicability. Such is the case with structural calculations, which sometimes are provided yet taken for granted in building projects to push through with the construction. But if this is properly done, various realizations in the cost and integrity will come to light, providing more confidence that the undertakings will go smoothly.

Structural design is the methodical investigation of the stability, strength and rigidity of structures. The basic objective in structural analysis and design is to produce a structure capable of resisting all applied loads without failure during its intended life.
The primary purpose of a structure is to transmit or support loads. If the structure is improperly designed or fabricated, or if the actual applied loads exceed the design specifications, the device will probably fail to perform its intended function, with possible serious consequences. A well-engineered structure greatly minimizes the possibility.
of costly failures.

A structural drawing, a type of Engineering drawing, is a plan or set of plans for how a building or other structure will be built. Structural drawings are generally prepared by registered professional structural engineers and informed by architectural drawings. They are primarily concerned with the load-carrying members of a structure.

In construction, structural repairs are a technical term, contrasted to renovations or non-structural repairs. They are changes to a property to bring it up to local health and safety standards. Unlike renovations, they add relatively little value to a property.
Leases often include provisions that define what types of changes amount to structural repairs and assign responsibility to either the tenant or the landlord.

A Structural Survey is a detailed and comprehensive look at the condition of a property, dealing with hard to reach places and structural issues. Although one of the more expensive options of survey, the level of detail in the report makes it vital when buying an older properties (over 50 years old).
To mitigate some potential disasters when moving home and give themselves a good level of peace of mind, many people will have a professional chartered surveyor to highlight any issues and work out how they are going to remedy them.

Subsidence is the downward movement of the site on which a building stands -where the soil beneath the building's foundations is unstable. The movement is not caused by the weight of the building.
Most household insurance policies - and some commercial property insurance policies - cover loss or damage caused by subsidence, heave and landslip. However, they only cover the cost of repairing the loss or damage. They do not cover the cost of preventing further subsidence.

Temporary works is defined in BS5975: 2008 "Code of practice for temporary works procedures and the permissible stress design of falsework" as "(those) parts of the works that allow or enable construction of, protect, support or provide access to, the permanent works and which might or might not remain in place at the completion of the works".

Timber Engineering is one aspect of structural engineering. Wood is a uniquely renewable and sustainable building material. It is used worldwide in many areas of building. Timber buildings can be six Storeys or more, making it suitable not only for houses but for large buildings such as offices and hotels. Being lightweight in relation to its strength makes timber suitable for leisure centers, supermarkets, warehouses, etc. and bridges.

The term 'timber frame' typically describes a system of panelized structural walls and floors constructed from small section timber studs, clad with board products, in which the timber frame transmits vertical and horizontal loads to the foundations. It is generally not used to refer to timber post and beam structures or to timber engineered structural frames.

A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through the surrounding soil/earth/rock and enclosed except for entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube construction techniques rather than traditional tunnel boring methods.

In construction or renovation, underpinning is the process of strengthening the foundation of an existing building or other Structure.