Kansas roofing company facing impostor employees

A Wichita, Kansas roofing company says people not associated with the company are claiming to seek work on the company’s behalf. The impostors have even put a Rhoden Roofing decal on their truck. The company’s owner is concerned that the imposters will ask for money up front from prospective clients using Rhoden’s name.

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Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures has been updated

Several significant updates have been added to the new edition of Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures, Standards ASCE/SEI 7-16. The recently released document helps determine design loads including dead, live, soil, flood, tsunami, snow, rain, atmospheric ice, earthquake, wind, and fire, as well as how to assess load combinations. This new edition of ASCE 7 supersedes ASCE/SEI 7-10.

Significant changes include: 

• New seismic maps reflecting the updated National Seismic Hazard Maps
• New wind speed maps, including new Hawaii maps, that result in reduced wind speeds for much of the United States, clarified special wind study zones, and separate Risk Category IV from Category III
• New snow load maps incorporating regional snow data for areas that previously required site-specific case study zones
• Updated rain duration provisions that align design requirements with International Plumbing Code provisions for drainage
• Entirely new chapter covering tsunami design provisions, which are important to Alaska, Hawaii, California, Oregon, and Washington
• New appendix provisions for fire design

Structural engineers, architects, and those engaged in preparing and administering local building codes should consult the updated code. To purchase online, visit the ASCE Bookstore.

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Three workers seriously injured on house job site in New York City

Three workers became trapped when the upper portion of a house under construction collapsed in Queens, New York City. The two-story home is undergoing construction including the addition of a third story. Debris fell through the roof including 1,200-pound laminate beams, bags of cement, concrete blocks, and sand aggregate. The city’s Buildings Department is investigating what happened. A department official reportedly said that heavy equipment deliveries are supposed to be sent to the lower level, or else engineers must give permission if materials are placed on the roof.

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