A Shell station on a Huntsville, Alabama arterial. Four slender columns, a flat deck roughly 60 feet by 30 feet, fifteen feet of clearance, and a fascia band carrying the brand colors. It is one of the most repeated structural forms in North America, and… Read more
Skyscraper design was once governed almost entirely by strength — could the frame carry gravity, wind and seismic loads with adequate margin? For the new generation of ultra-slender “pencil towers,” the governing requirement has shifted to something more subtle: occupant comfort. A building can be… Read more
Structural Dynamics Series — Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport (DTW), McNamara Terminal, Concourse A DTW McNamara Terminal, Concourse A. The exposed roof structure combines arched panels, downward flying struts, and lateral tie rods. Introduction The McNamara Terminal at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport opened on… Read more
Measuring the Eiffel Tower’s Natural Frequencies with a Smartphone | VibrationData VibrationData · Field MeasurementT. Irvine · Paris · 11 Jul 2026 Measuring the Eiffel Tower’s Natural Frequencies with a Smartphone Two short accelerometer records on the summit deck captured five of the tower’s first… Read more
The photo above, taken looking up at the elevated steelwork of Shibuya Station in Tokyo, is a one-frame history of steel construction. Dome-headed rivets, high-strength bolted splices, welded gussets, and retrofit bracing all share the same few square meters of structure — and every train… Read more
On the evening of 24 June 2026, northern Venezuela was struck by two major earthquakes 39 seconds apart — a rare “doublet” that became the country’s deadliest natural disaster in a generation. For the structural dynamics community, the event is a case study in nearly… Read more
Incident Summary On the morning of July 7, 2026, construction workers on the 21st floor of 235 East 42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan discovered structural steel columns buckling before their eyes, along with bending box beams, cracks, and sagging floors. The 37-story tower — the… Read more
Pointed Gothic arches framing the choir, Notre-Dame de Paris. Smooth and Pointed Arches: Loads, Stress, Fracture, and Fatigue Introduction The accompanying photograph shows the interior of Notre-Dame de Paris, where every opening is spanned by a pointed arch. Stand in a Roman basilica instead and… Read more
Introduction Some of the best structural engineering field trips are unplanned. While passing through St Pancras International station in London, I photographed three artifacts that together tell a 159-year story of structural engineering: the great Barlow train shed roof, a foundry plate cast in 1867,… Read more
By Tom Irvine | Structural Integrity Series — Gatwick Airport Railway Station, United Kingdom The photograph above was taken at Gatwick Airport Railway Station — the busiest airport rail station in the United Kingdom, serving both the Gatwick Express and Southern/Thameslink services with approximately 19… Read more