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{ This monthly newsletter is designed and written for Architectural, Engineering, and Construction (A/E/C) related firms in an effort to offer marketing and professional tips that are customized specifically for the construction industry. We hope you enjoy it and find it valuable. }

In our last newsletter in December we mentioned we were looking for a new business development director to replace yours truly, and that we had "big things" coming in the new year. Well, we have not yet decided to fill the business development role at Classic Engineering, but we are proud and excited to announce the "big thing". Introducing........Ascribe!

Ascribe makes your AEC website a real marketing tool, rather than just an online brochure. It is what we have defined as a Collaborative Portfolio Manager and there is nothing out there remotely like it. Ascribe is a Plug-In to your existing company website that allows you to manage your company project portfolio by sharing pictures, descriptions, project awards and other information with the team members of that particular project. Also, your company logo, website link, and role on that project will appear on the rest of the team members websites as a contributing company on that project. Ascribe creates hundreds of construction website links pointing to your site and greatly increases your Brand Recognition and Qualified Website Traffic. If you don't have a current company website, don't worry, Ascribe can help there as well.

Would you like to see it??!! Click below to sign up for one of our upcoming free webinars.

(I'm running out of room, so I'm going to stop typing now, but there are many more.)

{ If we are not learning, we are becoming stagnant. This section is to stir your "drive to improve". }

At a recent industry marketing conference, one of the presenters was discussing BIM software packages and one of the main points in the presentation was that the AEC industry has long held an idea of “each man
for himself”. But, he argued, those who adopt a practice of collaboration will help each other help themselves.

What he meant is that through the use of tools such as BIM, the industry would be moving towards success through collaboration - companies joining together to share data and resources to achieve a common goal. This idea of collaboration is becoming more widely accepted as the future of our industry, especially with the emergence of the next generation of workers.

So what mutually beneficial relationships can we create and manage on the marketing side of this business we are all in? The underlying principle is that these alliances work through the basis of a trusting relationship. Here are a few ideas to explore to make your business development efforts effective through managed networking and relationships to other non-competing companies in your geographical area:

Get an account on www.linkedin.com. It is essentially managed networking for business professionals and the AEC industry is all over this site. You might already have an account and know what I’m talking about, but if not, Linked-In gives you the awesome ability to pass referrals, get introduced to the right people, and to manage your professional network. The underlying idea here is to share your network of people and others will do the same with you.

And of course I wouldn’t miss a chance to plug Ascribe. It is a perfect example of mutually beneficial marketing. Ascribe let you build a network of link and brand information through your companies project experience and online portfolio. If you are using Ascribe to power your company portfolio, you are giving the majority of people who contributed to a project the right to appear in a section on your portfolio below your project. The great thing about this type of collaboration is that the list of companies showing on that project, in turn, is showing you company and your role on their website. Through collaboration, companies can work together to build brand recognition. Ascribe makes your AEC website a real marketing too, not just an online brochure.

Why not find companies you trust and are not in competition with to form a small marketing alliance? On of the biggest challenges for smaller companies to utilize typical marketing vehicles, like radio and newspaper/magazine ads, is because it is not cost effective because the barrier to entry is too high. But if my company cost was 1/5th of what I would normally have pay, then it starts to make sense. Get 5 good, similar sized companies together and buy a 1/2 page ad in the business rags 4 times a year. The cost will be low, and the benefits will begin to appear over time.

By: Leslie Plank and Jason Carpenter

{ If there is one things that most A/E/C firms need, it’s more exposure. There are many great firms in Michigan and we would like to do our part to tell you about one each month. }

Number of Employees: 10
Established: 1978
Services: Architects, Planning, and Design
Project Throughput : $46 Million in construction in 2007

Signature Projects: Grand Valley Surgical Center, Home & Building Association of Greater Grand Rapids, and Macatawa Bank’s Regional Centers

Market Niche: Medical Facilities, Offices, and Churches

Secret To Our Success: “The firm excels in designing aesthetically pleasing buildings and additions that are functional and user friendly.” – Daniel Bode, Vice President

This Engineering Tip will touch on a few questions that often arise about the practical design and construction of lintels and crack control joints at openings in CMU masonry walls.

First, a quick discussion of lintels. There are two types of CMU lintels commonly used by engineers and architects in the West Michigan area. One type of lintel is the steel lintel, often called a loose lintel, which consists of structural steel member(s). Commonly used members are double angles, narrow wide flange beams, or rectangular steel tubes. A flat steel plate is usually welded to the bottom of the lintel member to provide support for the face shells of the CMU block units. The ends of the lintel beam and/or plate are supported on the masonry jambs of the opening, usually with a minimum bearing length of 8 inches.

The size of steel lintel members is dependent on the span and loading on the lintel, which may be controlled by either stress or deflection limits. Some engineers choose to design steel lintels for bending stress based on the section properties of the main member only and check the deflection based on the combined section properties of the main member and the attached plate. Most engineers assume that the top flange of the main member is laterally supported by the masonry above the lintel; some engineers prefer to assure this lateral support by providing dowels welded to the top flange. Tubular steel lintels offer the advantage of being inherently more stable in this regard than wide flange lintels; thus, tubular lintels are often recommended, especially if there is the potential for significant lateral loading on the lintel.

The other type of CMU lintel , which is re-gaining popularity with both engineers and masons, is the reinforced masonry lintel. This lintel is comprised of a special lintel unit which closes the bottom of the masonry cells at the top of the opening. Depending on the span and loading requirements, the next few courses of block above the lintel block are reinforced and grouted as required by the design. The horizontal reinforcement may be at the bottom only, or may also be placed at the top, and should continue a minimum of 16 inches past the jamb edge of the opening.

One feature of the reinforced masonry lintel that appeals to architects is the improved appearance of the bottom of the lintel, especially if this will be totally exposed, without a door or window frame. On the other hand, a steel lintel may be preferred or required where there is a brick veneer, since the bottom plate can easily be extended to provide a support ledge for the brick wythe.

Now, a quick discussion of control joints. Crack control joints are required in masonry wall construction because the masonry tends to shrink within the vertical mortar joints after the original construction and also because the moisture and temperature variations of a masonry wall cause the exposed masonry surfaces to expand and contract over time. These internal stresses in the integral wall construction will produce cracks that are at least unsightly and will potentially weaken the strength integrity of the wall. Crack control joints are used to periodically relieve these internal stresses and allow the wall units enough unrestrained movement to prevent the cracks from forming. The placement and spacing of these joints has long been understood and recommended limits have been established by good practice.

A special area where the location and construction of effective crack control joints gets more complicated is at wall openings. These discontinuities at the upper corners of an opening not only tend to produce stress concentrations, but the support of the lintel can also interrupt the desired straight line continuity of the control joint, as well as the vertical reinforcing at the jambs of the opening. Although it is necessary to provide control joints at one or both ends of a wall opening, the engineer may also be concerned about the transfer of lateral shear forces at the ends of the lintel and across the joint.

Where a steel lintel is used, the path of the control joint must first run horizontally from the face of the opening jamb, under the lintel bearing (usually 8 inches), then turn upward at the end of the lintel (see sketch). This horizontal bearing needs to provide support for the vertical and thrust forces of the masonry “arching” action above the lintel. The lintel bearing on the jamb also must be unbonded so that horizontal slip can occur.

Where a reinforced masonry lintel is used, the path of the control joint is moved away from the face of the jamb, by a minimum of 16 inches, to run continuously vertical from the base of the wall (see sketch). The crossing horizontal and vertical reinforcement around the upper corner of the opening must be sufficient to prevent a crack from forming at that point and encourage the internal stresses to move over to the control joint.

When a control joint is located in an area of the wall without openings, assuming that the wall spans vertically, a “Plain Control Joint” (see sketch) will probably suffice since there is little or no shear transfer required. This type of control joint is nothing more than an empty joint space with joint sealant at the edges. However, when lateral shear forces are required to be transferred across a control joint, which is often the case at a wall opening, other alternative details must be used. Two common construction methods for providing this capability are the “Gasketed Control Joint” and the “Grouted Control Joint” (see sketches). These techniques develop lateral shear interlocking across the joint while maintaining the functional crack control capability. The Architect/Engineer should specify where these types of joints are needed, since each requires a special type of CMU block shape to be used on each side of the joint.

By: Marlan Freeburg, PE

Classic Engineering, LLC is an engineering firm offering Structural, Mechanical, Electrical and Steel Detailing services to the construction industry.

To find out more, visit our website at www.classicengineering.com.

This newsletter is written by Jason Carpenter, Director of Business Development for Classic Engineering. He has a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering, and a Marketing MBA.

jason@classicengineering.com

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