At Beton we review project specifications for various reasons. Sometimes it’s to develop concrete mixture proportions that will help a contractor meet the requirements. Sometimes it’s to come up with […]
As countries report their death tolls due to COVID-19, some appear to be providing fraudulent statistics. Dmitry Kobak has examined them using the Poisson distribution. It’s a useful way to […]
Before Julia Morgan became an architect, only men practiced architecture. First she studied civil engineering at the University of California at Berkeley, graduating in 1894—the only woman in her class. […]
Can we improve the water quality of our lakes and rivers? It turns out that there are things we can do, and they’re working. Reviving dead zones in the Thames […]
As the third year of the pandemic begins, we know it won’t be over until people everywhere receive the vaccine—and maybe not even then. But it’s not just a matter […]
We’ve discussed the carbon footprint of concrete previously. However, carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases aren’t the only environmental effects of construction. Making the best use of scarce resources is […]
Keeping interior spaces cool in summer is much less energy- and carbon efficient than heating them in winter. For this reason, most of the CALGreen provisions for making buildings energy […]
There are generally three aspects to the performance of a structure. The first is structural. The structure needs to resist the gravitational, wind, and other loads to which it will […]
Experiments usually involve a controlled environment where we can limit the number of variables. In a traditional experiment using the scientific method, we hold everything constant except the thing we […]
We’ve discussed the importance of building codes and professional licensing in promoting the health, safety, and welfare of the public in previous blogs. But what does it take to become […]