Significance of structural design process in construction projects

Significance of structural design process for construction projects Structural design services are a very complicated process which requires a great deal of accuracy, attention and planning since it plays a huge role for the successful execution of construction projects. Successful planning is actually a very important part wherein effective project execution related decisions are taken by building stakeholders. Structural design can be described as a set of integrated process which is carried out for developing high performing design.

But what can be regarded as a high performing design in context of the structure. In other words what are the important qualities of an effective structure? An effective structure is the one which can successfully handle all kinds of possible loads which are faced by it throughout its lifecycle.

A good structure saves the building from getting affected by the loads imposed on it by various sources such as the pressure from its own components and pressure imposed on it from forces such as earthquake, cyclones and snowfall etc.

All this indicates that, structural engineers have to be very cautious and attentive while developing the design for the structural framework of the building, as a weak structure imposes huge risks to the life of building occupiers. If structural design process is not taken seriously by design team, it can have huge repercussions for the health of the building in question. A weak structure can fail to resist the pressure that comes from natural forces such as earthquake, snowfall and cyclone etc. thereby resulting into the disintegration of the building. If a building collapses due to such loads, it directly affects the life of the people. That is the reason special attention is required from the structural engineers throughout the design development process.

Be it the drafting, detailing and modeling process, structural engineers have to be involved in all the phases. They should be supervising all the design phases and pay attention to the output produced by drafters, detailers and modelers. In other words structural drawings and model which are developed by trained drafters, detailers and modelers should be effectively examined by structural engineers before the information contained in them is utilized for actual construction. Fabrication and erection drawing are never delivered to fabricators and erectors until they are evaluated by engineers. Construction of structure does not begin until structural analysis is performed by structural engineers.