Technical Books

Wood Design Guide

The 155-page Wood Design Guide provides realistic examples drawn from the collective experiences of the authors from actual projects. The intention is for the exercises to be useful in both tests and practice.

Chapters cover gravity, lateral, and connection design and examine solutions through the Allowable Stress Design and Load and Resistance Factor Design approaches. An Appendix explores an integrated building design example based on a retail building in Arkansas.

Basic Seismic Design Workflow with Examples for Low Seismicity

The NCSEA design guide presents clear, practical examples for low seismic regions and serves as both a workflow and checklist when designing larger, more complex buildings. By following its structured approach, engineers can achieve more consistent, reliable calculations while minimizing errors or omissions. Through defined workflow procedures, example calculations, and demonstrations of how a simple model informs more complex designs, the guide strengthens understanding of the ASCE 7 Seismic Provisions. Ideal for early-career engineers seeking to build confidence in seismic design as well as experienced professionals looking to confirm knowledge and streamline their process, this resource promotes accuracy, consistency, and efficiency in seismic design practice.

Guide to the Design of Common Irregularities in Buildings

Structural irregularities are not uncommon to encounter in buildings, but they should be addressed to prevent damage to the building and to minimize danger to the occupants and the surrounding community. The latest version of “Guide to the Design of Common Irregularities in Buildings,” provides important, updated information on designing for irregularities through three in-depth examples in concrete, steel, and wood. Written by Badri Prasad, S.E., Douglas Thompson, S.E., and Rafael Sabelli, S.E., this 164-page guide is based on the most recent 2021 IBC® and ASCE/SEI 7-22 and standards.

Excavation Shoring Design Guide

Reviewing a pertinent worked example bolsters any designer’s confidence. The more detailed the worked example is, the better. This design guide is comprised solely of such detailed worked examples.

Excavation support mechanics are adequately described in widely available manuals. Article 68 of Terzaghi’s Theoretical Soil Mechanics describes the standard of practice from 1943 when excavation shoring was still called “timbering.” Agencies with an interest in safe and stable excavation support have been issuing design manuals ever since, updating them every decade or so to include new construction techniques and support changing procurement practices. The most widely used publications include:

• The Federal Highway Administration’s Geotechnical Engineering Circulars No. 2, No. 4, and No. 7;
• Section 4 of AASHTO’s Guide Design Specifications for Bridge Temporary Works;
• The Caltrans Trenching and Shoring Manual, which is useful even if your project is not located in California; and
• The US Army Corps of Engineers manual, Design of Sheet Pile Walls.

These references cover broad topics, including site characterization and earth pressure diagrams, soil/grout bond strengths, and deflection curves. They focus on sizing the shoring system’s principal members, but this NCSEA Excavation Shoring Design Guide extends farther by providing the real construction details that are necessary to round out complete designs. Using these examples as templates will reduce review comments and requests for information (RFIs).

Author: Bryan G. Cortnik, P.E., S.E.

Engineering Structural Glass Design Guide

The intent of this Guide is to collate relevant design references, requirements, and analysis methods into a single source for easy reference. The reader is encouraged to carry out more comprehensive research to accompany this Guide; the history of glass, fracture mechanics, Finite Element Analysis theory, and many other topics receive only a limited primer here and are subjects for which other more comprehensive documents should be referenced.

This Guide is intended to assist in determining the capacity of glass elements, augmented or reduced by the various relevant factors, and assumes industry standard levels of quality with regard to fabrication and installation. The reader should be aware that often quality levels vary considerably, and recognition of this variability is always an important aspect to consider during the design process.

Authors: Marcin March, P.E., CEng, MIStructE, and Franklin Lancaster, P.E., and edited by Phil Khalil, P.E. 

Structural Load Determination 2018 and 2021 IBC and ASCE/SEI 7-16

This publication has been developed to assist designers in the proper understanding and determination of structural loads in accordance with the 2018 and 2021 edition of the International Building Code® (IBC®) and ASCE/SEI 7-16, including dead load, occupancy live load, roof live load and environmental loads such as rain, snow, ice, flood, wind and seismic loads.