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
Codes & standards
Snow load calculation (ASCE 7), explained
ASCE 7 turns ground snow into a roof snow load with a handful of factors. Here is the flat-roof and sloped-roof formula, what each factor means, and a worked example.
Sam Rivera··5 min
Codes & standards
Eurocode load combinations explained (EN 1990)
EN 1990 sets the load combinations for European design. Here are the ULS expressions 6.10, 6.10a and 6.10b, the partial and psi factors, and a worked example.
Sam Rivera··4 min
Fundamentals
How to calculate tributary area for a wall
A wall collects a tributary strip, not an area like a column. Here is how to find its tributary width, turn it into a line load, and where the strip method applies.
Sam Rivera··5 min
Fundamentals
Tributary area on an L-shaped floor
The re-entrant corner of an L-shaped floor is where hand tributary sketches drift. Here is why, how clipping to the outline fixes it, and the area-balance check that proves it.
Sam Rivera··5 min
Codes & standards
Load combination worked example
One column, every gravity combination, worked end to end in both ASCE 7 and Eurocode. See exactly how service loads become a governing factored reaction.
Sam Rivera··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
Codes & standards
Eurocode vs ASCE 7 load combinations
ASCE 7 and Eurocode reach similar safety by different bookkeeping. Here is a side-by-side of the gravity combinations, the factors, and a worked comparison.
Sam Rivera··4 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
Codes & standards
ASCE 7 load combinations explained
ASCE 7 gives the factored load combinations that size members. Here are the gravity LRFD and ASD combinations, what the factors mean, and a worked example.
Sam Rivera··5 min