jon-lee

One of the top 5 house builders

if im correct, to be classed as an Architect you need to be recognised by RIBA?? those who are not would be classed as Architectural technologists, technicians or draughtsperson with at least a recognised level of qualification. A competent technician or draughtsperson is all you need depending on how extravagant your build is.

what is the area, perimeter and U values you have specified??

in most design there's no right or wrong providing it structurally stable. IMO the bearing is more that adequate. What id be concerned about is steel to the left bearing onto it as the pic shows that the far left steel is cantilevered by a pinned connection (im assuming that blockwork will be built up to support??) personally id of extended the 2300 beam to support the far end beam but thats just me

apologies for being "that guy" please be aware that 215 & 440 are not the beam ctrs but the infill block widths

i dont wish to anger any structural engineers, but the majority would admit they are not specialist pre-stressed floor beam engineers (some are), they wont spend time calculating this product but use available technical information such as load span tables, these are actually conservative with regards to achievable spans. for example increased spans can be achieve when in design, this could be the difference between specified a 225mm when a 150mm will work, quite a cost saving IMO.

don't pay for beam and block engineering calculations this is included as part of the design just ask the manufacture for the required O&M manual information

Sorry i didnt even answer your question!! midlands area, forterra building products (message me privately a have a few direct contacts)

Hi Blooda, you are better off going direct to a manufacturer, a builders merchant is more expensive due to a mark-up (around 5-15%) however builders merchants will allow you an account where a manufacture will be proforma (paid upfront). just something consider. good look.

i do my own preliminary design calculations using GEO5 software however, i employ an external engineer to check and sign off my design (I'm only a technician under my PI so use a selection of external engineers depending on what I'm designing just so I'm covered). my concerns have only come following me requesting that a section could be safely excavated to expose the made ground material.

Hi Chaps, i have attached a section because its much easier than trying to explain parameters i need to work with.

Totally agree far too many unknown factors with made ground. Like I said in previous comments my gut feeling is warning me

I'm a MSE retaining wall designer and made my concerns very clear to the client from the start. In fact my suggestion was actually metal sheet piled but wasn't to keen with the vibration close to the road that needed retaining or the additional cost for temporary works. Thanks for the advice, appreciated

For maximum safety yes 45° I would totally agree with you and I don't really like designing much steeper even when I know the soil cut will be stable at 80°+. Sorry I should have given more details. The made ground to be cut is an embankment previously retained by a timber crib approximately 1m from a pedestrian footpath and road the retained height exceed 4m in some parts. I'm quite green re geotechnics (structural background) but my gut feeling is giving warning signs. I appreciate your advice, thank you

so a bit of a head scratcher for the geotechnics gurus!! I'm currently designing a MSE retaining wall, but in order to keep within the boundary i need the safe cut to be 60deg. going off the SI report no bore holes or trial pits are in the area required so they have exposed a small section of the embankment revealing a variety of materials including brick, rubble, colliery spoil/ash even a work boot. so you clever lot!! any advice is much appreciated.