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CW Engineers | 7/10/2012
From the Community Bowl expansion, to a three story commercial project downtown, Chris Wentz and his staff at CW Engineers have their hands full this summer.
"We`ve just hired three people in the last three weeks, we`ve had three different people start."
In a new office they opened this spring, workers at CW Structural Engineers help design several large commercial projects.
"Basically what we`re doing is putting structure or framework to building shells that are created, designs that`re created by architects primarily."
Wentz says that when designing a building, the structural members, such as the steel columns, are just as important as the fancy brickwork that you see on the outside.
"And we put the structure to those to resist all of the loads that`re applied to the building. Lateral loads, vertical loads, snow, the wind, all of those loads, transferring those loads form the top of the building down to the foundation."
By utilizing software, structural engineers can predict how a building will respond to various hazards, maintaining the building`s integrity and ensuring its safety.
"The economy has allowed people to do some more things that they wouldn`t typically be doing. So I think there`s been an increase in that a little bit. Which makes for some more challenging structures for us when the building takes on different shapes."
But a challenge Wentz says they embrace. As more development in the city is underway, Wentz says even more students are entering the trade.
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