A PAPER PRESENTED BY

ENGR (BARR) TOPE ORIBUYAKU

BSc, MSc, LLB, LLM, BL, MBA, FNSE, FNICE, MNIStructE, MNIQS, MCIArb

AT THE 29TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE AND

GENERAL MEETING OF THE NIGERIAN INSTITUTION OF
STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS

THEME: ISSUES ON FAILURE OF ENGINEERING

STRUCTURES IN NIGERIA

DATE: 25TH – 26TH OCTOBER, 2016

VENUE: ABUJA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE CENTRE
INTRODUCTION
 The philosophy of structural design is to achieve
structures that are not only safe but economical.
Therefore, a design that is absolutely safe but
wasteful in cost is not a good design, whereas a
design that is unsafe but economical is even worse,
as it could lead to a collapsed building if eventually
used for construction.
 Reference to safe and unsafe refers to high solid
and structurally adequate is the structure, and
therefore in order to avoid structural collapse,
structural designs must be capable of producing
structurally adequate, and hence, safe structures.
 It can be expected that the more the adequacy of a
structure, and therefore, the more structurally safe
it is, the higher the cost. This is because such a
design will take care of all eventualities that can
lead to structural failure, and hence to be costlier
than an inadequate structure.
 However in reality, that relationship may not always
hold. That is, a less safe structure can even be less
economical than a safer structure. How then do we
relate cost to design? How do we reduce cost on a
structure and still achieve structurally safe
structures?
 This presentation will discuss methods of reducing
cost in structural design, which can lead to a
structurally unsafe structure, which are
characterized here as CRUDE methods. The
presentation will also discuss methods of reducing
costs without sacrificing the safety requirements,
which are termed REFINED methods in the
presentation.
ECONOMIC FACTORS IN
STRUCTURAL DESIGN
 It is generally expected that when a person is
financially buoyant, it will be relatively easier for
him or her to spend adequately for any cause. The
same reasoning applies to the state of a national
economy.
 As shown by Windapo and Rotimi (2012) in a
causal loop diagram of a system dynamic model
created to show the degree of
alignment/compliance to sustainable construction
principles and unsustainable practices on building
collapse/performance and indirectly on capital
growth/sustainable development, there are
dynamic relationships between economic
conditions and the behavior of construction
stakeholders to comply with design standards in
Nigeria.
UNSAFE PRACTICES TO REDUCE
CONSTRUCTION COSTS
 Any practices that tend not to comply with design
specifications during construction are unsafe and
should not be used to ‘cushion’ the effects of economy
downturn. Such unacceptable methods which have
been identified as causing building collapse include:
 Use of cheaper but poor materials
 Use of poor but inadequate material combinations, e.g.
poor concrete mix ratios
 Use of shoddy but cheap workmanship
 Use of inappropriate but less effective equipment
 Inadequate construction intensity
 Etc.
SAFE AND REFINED METHODS OF
REDUCING COST
 On the other hand, cost have to be reduced on
construction projects, especially in this period of
recession. What then are the permissible and safe
methods.
 The following four (4) methods are discussed:
Avoiding materials wastage; life-cycle applications;
and Design optimization
DESIGN TO PREVENT MATERIALS
WASTAGE
 The design engineer must be conscious of the need
to detail materials to fit standardization. This
occurs in such materials as reinforcement,
formworks, falseworks, etc.
 The principle is that the mounts of cut-offs should
be reduced to the minimum. This does not only
reduce construction costs, but also reduce the
amount of wastages to be disposed off the site,
which itself costs money.
LIFE CYCLE COST APPLICATIONS
 ASTM E917-83 (1983) describes the standard practices
for evaluating LCC of buildings and building systems.
The motivation for the LCC is that on any investment
decision, all costs arising from the decision, both
immediate and in future are potentially important.
 Construction projects completed on the basis of lower
initial cost alone have often proved to be far more
expensive in the long run, besides causing damage to
the environment and bringing poorer return on the
investment. Thus the durability of structure and its life
cycle cost are closely inter-linked.
 Therefore, for economically sound structure, the
emphasis should be on reduction of life cycle costs
and not merely the reduction of initial cost, and
hence, it is the duty of the design engineer to
minimize life cycle costs of their designs.
 Life Cycle Cost of a Structure is made up of several
components listed below (Narayanan. R. and
Kalyanaraman, V (2000)).
 Initial Cost
 Actual “Cash” Cost of the project
 Cost of the Investment locked-up without Returns
(“The Time Cost”)
 Cost penalty to the community by traffic delays and
detours; Losses suffered by local Business (“Hidden
Penalty Cost”)
 Cost of damage to the Environment due to Pollution
(“The Environment Cost”)
 Periodic Maintenance Cost, including energy cost
 Cost of dismantling the structure, at the end of its
life
 Less the salvage value of the construction
products.
DESIGN OPTIMIZATION
 Another effective means of reducing cost is design
optimization.
 Design optimization is loosely defined by
Papalambros and Wilde (2000) as the selection of
the "best" design within the available means.
 When stated so simply, optimization seems an obvious
objective of any design task. Papalambros and Wilde
(2000) observe that design optimization involves:
 The selection of a set of variables to describe the design
alternatives.
 The selection of an objective (criterion), expressed in
terms of the design variables, which we seek to minimize
or maximize.
 The determination of a set of constraints, expressed in
terms of the design variables, which must be satisfied by
any acceptable design.
 The determination of a set of values for the design
variables, which minimise (or maximise) the objective,
while satisfying all the constraints."
QUOTE OF HERBERT HOVER
 In order to drum down the status and duties of the
structural engineer, let me quote a speech of
Herbert Hoover:
 Herbert Hoover, a former President of the United
States of America - (the massive arch dam called
“Hoover Dam” in the U.S.A. is named after him),
described the Engineering profession as follows
(1961):
 “It is a great profession. There is the fascination of watching
the figment of the imagination emerge through the aid of
Science to a plan on paper. Then it moves to realisation in
stone or metal or energy. Then it brings jobs and homes to
men. Then it elevates the standards of living and adds to the
comforts of life. That is the Engineer’s high privilege. The
great liability of the engineer compared to men of other
professions is that his works are out on the open, where all
can see them. His acts, step by step, are in hard substance.
He cannot bury his mistakes in the grave like physicians. He
cannot argue them into thin air or blame the judge like the
lawyers. He cannot, like the architects, cover his failures
with trees and vines. He cannot, like the politicians, screen
his shortcomings by blaming his opponents and hope that
the people will forget. The engineer simply cannot deny that
he did it. If his works do not work, he is damned forever….
 “On the other hand, unlike the doctor, his is not a life
among the weak. Unlike the soldier, destruction is not
his purpose. Unlike the lawyer, quarrels are not his
daily bread. To the engineer falls the job of clothing the
bare bones of science with life comfort and hope. No
doubt, as the years go by, the people forget which
engineer did it, even if they ever knew. Or some
politician puts his name on it. Or they credit it to some
promoter, who used other people’s money… But the
engineer himself looks back at the unending stream of
goodness which flows from his success with
satisfaction that few other professions may know. And
the verdict of his fellow professionals is all the accolade
he wants.”
 Therefore, structural engineering is a high-liability
profession—a profession where mistakes can result
in the loss of life and property. Operating in an
environment of high consequence tends to breed
conservatism.
CONCLUSION
 Structures must be designed to be structurally
adequate and therefore safe against collapse or
failure.
 At the same time, the cost of construction has to
be brought down in this era of economic
recession.
 There are crude ways of achieving this, which are
essentially using poor materials and poor
processes which lead to collapse of structures.
Such approaches should be avoided.
 On the other hand, the structural engineer has to
be more economically conscious in their designs,
so as to achieve affordability and fundability.
 Three methods of achieving this are (1) avoiding
wastages through inefficient sizing and detailing
(2) Use of life cycle cost philosophy during the
design stage(3) Use of design optimization.
 The important message is that both safety and
economy are key expectations in structural design,
and the engineer cannot open his eyes for one and
close them for the other. Otherwise, such designs
will not be fulfilling.
 Thank you for listening.