Trendy247:
Nice..

Abeg o I need help here, just fell in love with architectural design, so I decided to try something with archicad but got stucked somewhere.. I'm an electrical engineer.

Pls how do I draw a triangular wall, just lyk the one we hav in the second pix?

maxnedu11:
that's the roof which could be hip, gable roof e.t.c click on the roof command on the archicad toolbars and play with the roof command you can watch and download tutorials on creating roof from youtube.

seyeoba:
Please what branch of Civil Engineering is most applicable to the Oil and Gas Industry?

candylips:
structural engineering and oil and gas doesn't mix. Try to get into JB for examaple

Dannyfan:
Good morning all. I am a newly admitted student of civil engineering with the aim of becoming a well know structural engineer. I need guidance, advice, tips and many more that can help me in my future profession.
I will also like to work and gain experience from engineers in the house, with the mind to develop Nigeria. I believe growth of any country depends on its structural design of buildings, bridges and more.
I will appreciate if i can be put on the right track.

asamaigho:


I will advice you to take very seriously your structural analysis lectures, u need to understand the behaviour of structures under various loading condition and their mode of failure,this is the basis of design.
don't read to pass exams alone,go d extra mile to understand, strength of materials and structural analysis, when dat is done,most structural problems won't come as a shock to you.
secondly take your GEOTECHNICAL classes seriously because all( I mean all oil and gas structures depend on their foundation)...from mega pipe support systems,to tank foundations,pig launcher foundations, piles,cofferdams..etc, the truth is geotech is even more active in the oil and gas industry than structural...

AS A CIVIL ENGINEER PLEASE DEVELOP KEEN INTEREST IN THE LISTED ABOVE..
ALSO ENSURE THAT UR SURVEY CLASSES ARE TAKEN SERIOUSLY,BECAUSE IN A MEGA PROJECT,YOU WILL BE CONTROLLING PERSONS OF VARIOUS FIELDS,...U DONT WANT TO LOOK LIKE A FISH OUT OF WATER.

Dannyfan:

Thanks alot for advice, and what software is mostly good for a civil engineering student.
And also as a novice i have never think of it that a civil/structural engineer can work in an oil&gas sector. My thought was that structural engineer are for; 1. Determining the steel and concrete of a building, bridge 2. Designing of building structure i.e. the skeleton of a building.
Sir, i will like you to explain the roles of structural engineer in oil and gas sector and their role any where they can fit in for engineering work.
And also help me broaden my knowledge of a geotechnical engineering/engineer

adanny01:


1. Tower design softwares are available in Nigeria, however, its not so lucrative for obvious reasons. Transmission/substation towers are made from galvanised steel which is not made in Nigeria. This means that if you design in Nigeria, the manufacture will happen offshore. This leads to a second problem which is testing. Every designed tower must be rigorously tested before the manufacturer supplies the tower members. Testing involves erecting the tower and subjecting to different forces it likely face. Erecting the tower involves erecting a foundation an other testing equipment. These manufacturers of towers already have equipment for testing specific types of towers which design they have. A new design may cost more to test so Nigerian contractors prefer the manufacturer's design. Most contractors will go into agreements with tower manufacturers to design, test and supply. Thats the reason design is not made in Nigeria. I worked with a consultant in this sector, most of the design they submit to us for vetting is made by the manufacturer, while the contractor just puts its name. Any comment we make on the design is refered back to the manufacturer to make necessary revisions.

2. No experience is useless. Tower erection is mechanical.

3. Safety is an important part of engineering. Its a branch of engineering itself so i will encourage you to keep to your personal safety even if your employer doesnot care. Nigerian law enforcement is so weak that contractors get away with such things. I am very sure that safety equipment is captured in the BEME but they will claim this money without using it. I have seen situations where a miscellaneous item in the BEME with a sum of N23m was accessed by using 5 bags of cement and a trip of sharp sand.

asamaigho:


OK...
OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY IS BASICALLY...ABOUT LOCATION OF OIL RESERVES, DRILLING,STORAGE/METERING AND SELLING.
ITS A MULTI FIELD ENTERPRISE..
HOW DOES THE CIVIL(STRUCTURAL/GEOTECH/ENVIRONMENTAL/SURVEY) ENGINEER COME IN?.

WE DESIGN AND CONSTRUCT AND STRUCTURES SUCH AS ( ALL FOUNDATION,PILING WORKS, STEEL AND CONRETE STRUCTURES,LIKE FABRICATION SHED,WAREHOUSES,ROADS, COFFERDAMS,OFSHORE PLATFORMS,WATER PURIFICATION SYSTEMS, PIPE SUPPORT SYSTEMS..ETC.

FIRST I MUST TELL U THAT CIVIL ENGINEERING IS "BROADER THAN BROAD STREET".
THE FIRST SET OF PROFESSIONALS IN ANY CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS ARE CIVIL ENGINEERS, WE DETERMINE THE TYPE OF FOUNDATIONS TO BE USED,GIVE THE LAYOUT OF VARIOUS STRUCTURES,....SOME STRUCTURES ARE MECHANICAL,E. G STEEL TANKS AND PIPING,..BUT THEY STILL NEED THE CIVIL ENGINEERS FOR TANK FOUNDATIONS AND ROOF TRUSS DESIGNS....IF IT IS A GAS Containment TANK, THEN, ITS PURELY CIVIL ENGINEERING.
FOR OFFSHORE PLATFORMS, WE DESIGN THOSE STRUCTURES WITH A SOFTWARE CALLED (SACS)..

THE TRUTH IS MOST OF SUCH PROJECTS ARE CONTRACTED OUT,...WHILE THE MAINTENANCE AND DAILY ROUTING WORK ARE DONE BY THE PARENT COMPANY(IOCs),of which they will employ and train graduates from any field to run......we even have guys dat studied agric science working as instrumentation supervisors.

PLEASE NOTE: UNLIKE OTHER FIELDS, CIVIL/STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING IS A PROFESSIONAL FIELD...JUST LIKE DOCTORS,...what I mean is, we supervise various technicians/artisans to achieve a desired result,..eh fitters,welders,masons,capenters...etc.

FOR INSTANCE YOU MUST HAVE A CIVIL engineering BACKGROUND TO PRACTICE STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING.
for piping,....all u need is either a mechanical,chemical or civil engineering background.


FEEL FREE FOR MORE ENQUIRIES...ignore d auto spell

meetolu:
Structural engineering professionals in the house? Lets hook up and get talking.

Yeah! If it stands or function to the benefit of mankind and resistant the deformation cursed by forces of nature
acting against it? It is Structural. So lets get ourselves a voice around here.


Some questions to get this thread rolling

i. If you work in a Design firm what is it like. Tell us about your job.
ii. How can a young structural engineering graduate go about getting an opportunity to get training in a structural engineering design firms.
iii. What is the career path ie. stages of development for  structural Engineering graduates in Nigeria.
iv. What are Software to learn,certification to get,institutions to register with and how it helps.
v. What step to take to get working experience when one have not been employed yet. Does freelancing/volunteering opportunity exist?
vi. ?etc!!!!!


All the Professionals in the House you are welcome and all Engineers working let us contribute to enlighten others.

Thank you.

NB: This is for Structural Engineering aspirants and practitioners.lets talk the talk here.
Bring on your comments, contributions or questions.

Dannyfan:
Thanks so much.
Is oil n gas sector more interesting and befitting for a structural engineer?
And what software will be ok as elementary for structural engineering student? On becoming a structural engineer, which sector or company can give the best of experience as an IT student or Internship?
Anyways i am just starting, i just hv to ask to hv d basic knowledge of what i am doing so that i wunt b mislead.

klbakare:


Dear sir, you will be surprised to know that galvanized steel is actually being made in Nigeria. Bear in mind that galvanized steel is normal steel of whatever specification with zinc coating on it. Commonly used method is hot dipping. There are companies here in Nigeria that offer this service. I am a welder with a B.tech in agricultural engineering. I fabricate structural steel components designed mostly by structural engineers. e.g trusses, stanchions, rafters etc. I really wish to learn how to design water tank stands and trusses. You will discover that welders are usually left alone to do all the thinking when water tank stand projects are to awarded while it usually ought to be designed by a structural engineer. I have this feeling all the time that we welders always over-design tank stands, making it very expensive. Perhaps if am able to understand the design of tank stands, I will be able to launch a solution in the structural steel fabrication arena. I will appreciate whatever assistance you can render, I am also render to partner with you on this particular plan. And if u have any structural steel job, I am readily available.

adanny01:


Yes, i know. We ordered galvanised steel a lot of times locally. One time, because of the timeline demanded by the client, we bought a whole tower from Nigeria. However, quality was a serious issue.

These are projects build to last almost a life time. Quality is a big issue here. Rusting is not taken lightly in power transmission lines, only the best galvanization is required.

Secondly, I am not aware if tower testing facilities are available in Nigeria, it means even though produced in Nigeria, a sample tower still has to be taken for tests.

Note that, towers are not welded, they are bolted. If you weld, you have to galvanise again. When required galvanization process is hot dip method, after welding, you cant hot dip the entire tower.

Steel design should be left to the structural engineer. To teach you design is not a day job. Even civil engrs who have gone through it in school may still have challenges in the field. If you really want to design i think the shortest route is become a draftsman to a structural engr, u will learn from his experience.

klbakare:
we also do bolted structures here in Nigeria. There is no need welding after galvanizing. The only challenge I see here is the integrity of the company doing the galvanizing. Their ability to provide a galvanized coating to whatever thickness of cover specified by the design team. as per the design stuff, Please be guided accordingly that I am also an engineer. Although an agricultural engineer, we also do a little bit of structural analysis, forces on trusses, limit state method and other analysis of load conditions on structures. Agricultural engineering is often looked down upon due largely to the insufficient grasp of the scope of the discipline by outsiders. I will take your advice on working with a structural engineer as a drafts man. If you have structural steel fabrication job Sha, am AVAILABLE, am a welder.

MightyHands:
any structural engr in the house who can design perfect frames for roof trusses..

yungmin:


Kindly contact me. If you are in Abuja, we could meet up: I would PM you

chiddyj:


I could assist you. However, it is quite cumbersome to get such quantities inbsteel. Do you have a model of the steel structure or just hard copies. As a clue, take the cross section perimeter of each member and multiply it by the length. That would give you the area needed to be painted.

to the structural engineers in the house.. I have a steel structure I have to paint. this is a 288 sq m base and it is 7 floors high with each floor 3m high. the beams and stanchion are all H_iron. the floor pans and stairs will also require painting. I want to know how dis can be calculated. any helpful info will get rewarded. pls all responses must quote me as I will be busy and can only return much later to assess the responses. thanks. any structural engineer in asaba/onitsha or ph/eket axis can drop their fone numbers. thanks

adanny01:


Yes, i know you are Agric engr. I respect them. I had several Agric engrs as friends and am still very close to one. I regard Agric and Metallurgical engrng as branches of mechanical engineering.

Reason i suggested being a draftsman is that, in trying to teach you, i may take time trying to show u some basics wasting time in the process. Being a drafts man, you will just see design process being carried out and you will grasp it faster.

I have a friend who was an SSCE holder but good at structural design because he was a draftsman to a qualified structural engineer. He later got ND and now on HND.

By the way, where is ur location?

adanny01:


Yes, i know you are Agric engr. I respect them. I had several Agric engrs as friends and am still very close to one. I regard Agric and Metallurgical engrng as branches of mechanical engineering.

Reason i suggested being a draftsman is that, in trying to teach you, i may take time trying to show u some basics wasting time in the process. Being a drafts man, you will just see design process being carried out and you will grasp it faster.

I have a friend who was an SSCE holder but good at structural design because he was a draftsman to a qualified structural engineer. He later got ND and now on HND.

By the way, where is ur location?

asamaigho:

I usually don't advice young engineers to go for softwares for a start...I prefer the to get d substance of manual analysis and design before going into computer based programs....
for design of steel and concrete the following are very good
1.staadpro.....my favorite, u can also design shell plates and above ground tanks,even tower mast(MTN mast)..
2. tekla structures
3. ram .. structures
4. prota steel
5.prota structures
6.safe
7.etabs
8.sap2000
for foundation designs
1 ram foundation
2 advance staad foundation
3.prota details
4.tekla tedds
there are lots more tho!.....must tell u dat in all of your pursuit let God be your driving force through JESUS Christ and you will get fulfilment.

asamaigho:


I really doubt the authenticity of what you are saying,how can an SSCE holder be good in structural design?it's not possible,i repeat it's not possible,unless design means something else to you.....
drafting a drawing is different from designing a structure. AND ONLY CIVIL/STRUCTURAL engineer CAN ACTUALLY DESIGN A STRUCTURE(CIVIL STRUCTURES).

asamaigho:

I usually don't advice young engineers to go for softwares for a start...I prefer the to get d substance of manual analysis and design before going into computer based programs....
for design of steel and concrete the following are very good
1.staadpro.....my favorite, u can also design shell plates and above ground tanks,even tower mast(MTN mast)..
2. tekla structures
3. ram .. structures
4. prota steel
5.prota structures
6.safe
7.etabs
8.sap2000
for foundation designs
1 ram foundation
2 advance staad foundation
3.prota details
4.tekla tedds
there are lots more tho!.....must tell u dat in all of your pursuit let God be your driving force through JESUS Christ and you will get fulfilment.