Load paths
How to calculate beam reactions from a slab
A slab loads a beam, and the beam passes that load to its end supports as reactions. Here is how to find them by statics, for uniform, triangular and trapezoidal loads.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Writer
Elena Marchetti
Structural engineer · Founder · Rotterdam
Elena builds StructLoads. She spent a decade sizing gravity systems for residential and small commercial buildings, and writes about making load takedowns fast, transparent and hard to get wrong.
Load paths
How to do a structural load takedown (step by step)
A load takedown traces gravity loads from the slabs down to the foundation. Here are the five steps, a worked column, and the checks that catch errors.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Load paths
Foundation reactions from a load takedown
The foundation reactions are where a takedown ends: the load each column and wall delivers to the ground. Here is how to read them and turn them into foundation design loads.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
Load takedown: spreadsheet vs software
Spreadsheets are flexible and free but slow on geometry; software automates tributary areas and stacking. Here is an honest comparison and when each one wins.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
How to read a structural floor plan
A structural floor plan tells you the grid, the supports, the spans and the loads. Here is what each element means and what to extract for a load takedown.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Workflow & tools
Tribby3d alternative: StructLoads compared
Looking for a Tribby3d alternative for tributary areas and load takedown? StructLoads is a free, browser-based option. Here is an honest comparison of the two.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
What is a transfer beam?
A transfer beam carries a column or wall that stops part-way down and redistributes its load to supports below. Here is what it does, why it is used, and how load flows through it.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
How to check a load takedown
Four quick checks catch most load-takedown errors: area balance, reaction ratios, total load, and units. Here is how to run each one and what a failure tells you.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Workflow & tools
Free structural engineering software for students
Students need tools that teach, not just compute. StructLoads is a free browser tool for load takedowns and tributary areas, with no install and a visible formula trace.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
Manual vs software load takedown
A hand load takedown teaches the method and stays transparent; software is faster and exact on geometry. Here is an honest comparison and when each one is the right call.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
How to do a load takedown fast (and check it)
Speed in a load takedown comes from drawing once and checking smart. Here is the fast workflow and the three checks that catch most errors.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
How to export a load takedown report
A load takedown is only useful if you can hand it over. Here is how to export it as a PDF, Excel or CSV, what each format is for, and what a good report contains.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
Best load takedown software, compared
Which tool should you use for a gravity load takedown? A fair comparison of StructLoads, dedicated tributary tools, calc platforms, full analysis suites and spreadsheets.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Fundamentals
What is a load path in a building?
A load path is the continuous route a load follows to the ground. Here is what it means, the gravity and lateral paths, and why continuity and redundancy matter.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
Fastest way to calculate column axial loads
The fastest way to get column axial loads is to draw the plan once and let the tributary areas and stacking resolve. Here is the workflow and why it beats sketching.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
Gravity load path: slab to foundation
Follow one gravity load from the slab through the beam, column and footing to the soil. Here is each handoff in the load path and why tracing it prevents errors.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Fundamentals
How tributary areas actually work (and where hand methods go wrong)
Tributary area is the single idea that turns a floor plan into column reactions. Here is the clean mental model, the midline method, and the cases where sketching it by hand quietly fails.
Elena Marchetti··7 min
Load paths
Multi-storey load takedown explained
In a multi-storey building, loads stack down the columns floor by floor. Here is how the top-down accumulation works, how transfers fit in, and a worked three-storey column.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
How to calculate column loads
A column's load is every floor it carries, added up. Here is how to find the axial load from tributary areas, stack it through floors, and factor it.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
Column load schedule explained
A column load schedule lists every column with its loads, level by level, down to the foundation. Here is what it contains, how to build one, and how to read it.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Workflow & tools
Import a floor plan from DXF or PDF
Stop redrawing plans from scratch: import a DXF or PDF and trace the geometry to place supports. Here is how plan import works, the difference between the two, and how to set the scale.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
Bearing wall load takedown, explained
A bearing wall carries floor load as a line reaction per metre, not a point load. Here is how to take a wall down, what feeds its line load, and how it reaches the footing.
Elena Marchetti··5 min
Load paths
How to calculate footing loads
A footing carries the column above it plus its own weight. Here is how to find the load for bearing and for footing strength, using service and factored values.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Workflow & tools
Free tributary area calculator (online)
Need tributary areas without the sketch and spreadsheet? StructLoads is a free browser tool that computes them from a plan you draw, exactly and instantly.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
Load takedown, floor by floor: a worked example
A column reaction is just every floor above it, added up in the right order. Here is a full three-storey gravity takedown worked by hand, from slab pressures to a factored foundation load.
Elena Marchetti··8 min
Fundamentals
Dead load and live load calculator (free)
Need to turn floor build-ups and occupancy into dead and live loads fast? StructLoads is a free tool that computes them and carries them through a full load takedown.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
Interior vs edge vs corner column loads
An interior column carries about twice an edge column and four times a corner. Here is why, the load ratios, and a worked comparison you can use as a sanity check.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Fundamentals
Dead load vs live load, explained
Dead load is the permanent weight of the structure; live load is the movable weight it carries. Here is the difference, typical values, and how each is factored.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Load paths
How to size a column from axial load
Once you have a column's factored axial load, a quick required-area estimate gives a trial size. Here is the preliminary method for steel and concrete, with worked numbers.
Elena Marchetti··4 min
Fundamentals
Beam tributary width calculator (free)
Get a beam's tributary width and uniform line load without the sketch. StructLoads is a free tool that computes the strip each beam collects and turns it into a UDL.
Elena Marchetti··4 min