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Welcome to our first edition of e-struct News

In an effort to improve channels of

communication we thought that we

would create a brief newsletter to

share with you.

Our aim is to let you know what’s

happening in the industry and how

we as a company are responding

to it. In essence, we will write

about projects we’re working on,

changes in the building code and

legislation and regulations affect-

ing planning and construction, the

latest in professional development

regarding methods and materials

and the sorts of services we pro-

vide to help you with your project.

With over 5000 projects un-

der our belts, we pride our-

selves on delivering quality

service across a broad

range of project needs.

Project Profile: Frankston

Engineering the New Greek Orthodox Church The Holy Epiphany.

The Greek Community is an integral part of

Frankston. Each year they host a fantastic

festival celebrating the day of the Epiphany

(January 6th) at Frankston Pier. After a pro-

cession from the church to the bay, the priest

performs a sanctification ceremony at the

waterfront holding a wooden cross. At the

end of the service, this cross is thrown into

the water and the crowd is invited to retrieve

it. If successful, you’re blessed with a year of

good health and luck.

We feel just as lucky to be involved in the

structural design of such an important build-

ing in our community. At this stage of build-

ing, the skeleton’s symmetry (pictured above)

hints at its elegant design which is evident

now the building has being fleshed out. As

the scaffolding is dismantled, you can see the

beauty of structure in the emergence of the

bell tower, and the strong framing which will

enable the heavy chandelier to hang secure-

ly. The shapes, forms and materials have

involved unique design ultimately creating a

space which is to be enjoyed by many. The

selection of materials is thoughtful and stun-

ning.

We are very proud to be invited to be a part of

the project by Morea Architects. We have

supplied not only structural design services,

but also soil testing, drainage design and

energy rating. The project has benefitted

from the combination of structural, civil, ge-

otechnical and sustainability perspectives. It

has been a pleasure to watch this structure

evolve.

this issue

Project Profile P.1

Dirt Diggers’ Corner P.2

Staff Profile P.2-3

I S S U E

S e p t e m b e r

01

Coming from a family where

engineers appear in the last

four generations, Chris Ro-

zycki was still encouraged by

his father to pursue whatever

career or field of interest he

wanted, but the apple didn’t fall

far from the tree and engineer-

ing was and is his passion.

It was time to select specialist sub-

jects for his senior high school years.

Between eldest brother Alex at

Monash-Clayton studying civil engi-

neering, older brother Gus tinkering

with computers and cars looking to a

Design of

Structures for

Seismic Resistance

&

Impact Actions

As part of e-struct’s continuing

professional development, we

took the opportunity to attend a

presentation organised by Engi-

neers Australia that ran August

5th, at Punthill Apartments Dan-

denong.

John Wilson, Dean of Science,

Engineering and Technology at

Swinburne University of Technol-

ogy discussed the effects of seis-

mic actions on concrete struc-

tures. Nelson Lam, Associate

Professor and Reader at the

University of Melbourne, dis-

cussed the dynamic impact ef-

fects on structures. John Wilson,

is researching the effects of dis-

placement based design for

earthquake considerations.

Displacement based (DB) design

is currently found in AS1170.4

earthquake code. Structures that

maybe found not to have ade-

quate resistance have been found

Q: What does it mean when my site

is Class P?

A: “P” site relates to a classification given to

Insitu soil that will behave ‘outside’ the

movement or reactivity parameters of a natu-

rally occurring soil. This soil classification

may indicate problems that need to be ad-

dressed with the design & integrity and sta-

bility of your proposed footings, founda-

tions and structures.

A rating of Class P is given to a site that may

consist of fill or soft soils (such as

loose sands & gravels, soft clay or silt), collaps-

ing soils that are firm when dry, but quickly

loose cohesion when moist. Soils subject to

erosion or soils susceptible to subsidence &

landslip activity .Other aspects that contribute

to a P rating include poor site drainage, trees

and dams & waterways within the site. (NCC,

Vol 2, Sec 3.2.4.)

Staff Profile

Chris Rozycki,

Managing Director.

Dirt Diggers’ Corner—What’s the Dirt on Class P Soil? Cont… P.3

“Becoming an engineer was always

my ambition. Even as a kid, I was

fascinated by how things were

constructed.”

future in electronic engineering, and

father Joe, a mechanical and robotics

engineer, a veritable smorgasbord of

professional engineer role models were

represented at home as Chris framed his

career pathway. Clearly engineering was

in Chris’s DNA and he was eager to start

his tertiary studies.

Finishing his studies at the Victoria

University of Technology, Chris spent his

As this is our f irst

edit ion, we thought that

it was timely to introduce

you to the man behind

our company.

formative career years working for

Melbourne Water and large & small

engineering consultancies before

being able to form e-struct in 2000.

In its early years, e-struct exclusively

provided structural and civil design.

However, Chris could see the frus-

tration experienced by his clients

undertaking the management of

complex projects and so began by

introducing geotechnical services ,

then energy rating and sustainable

design services and most recently,

the formation of PlanWay which

offers builder and developers end-to-

end involvement with the technicali-

ties of project development and de-

sign.

In terms of future directions for e-

struct, Chris aims to build on the

strength of services that the business

offers. He wants to ensure that his

clients continue to benefit from being

provided with quality service. He

aims to support his team at e-struct

and he is also keen to explore inno-

vations in the industry whether that

be through professional development

opportunities or development of new

equipment to be used in the field.

“e-struct evolved over time to

include quality services in

complimentary fields sought

by our clients. We have been

lucky to have staff who

embrace the opportunity to

expand the services we offer

while maintaining the quality

of work we insist upon.”

Find Moorooduc Hwy Plan Printing at our

e-struct off ice . We print colour or black &

white la rge format plans up to A0 , scan in black

& white up to A0 and laminate up to A2 .

For f r iendly and prompt service, emai l your p lans to

mai l@mhplanpr int .com.au or drop in to the of f ice!

It’s your

Moorooduc Hwy

Plan Printing

“It is essential to know about

the latest code revisions and

material developments; I owe it

to myself and to my clients to

be the best source of infor-

mation and that means always

learning more whenever the

opportunity arises”

understand it…

do it…

CPD:

A new Australian Standard came into

effect for Masonry structures in 2010.

This code (AS4773 Masonry in small

buildings –2010) was brought about

to cover predominately small resi-

dential structures.

The adoption of BCA 2012, Volume 2,

Section 3.3.1 means all design & con-

struction must comply with the provi-

sions inside AS4773.1 & 2. A major

change is the spacing of engaged

piers within garage walls. Table 9.2

within AS4773.1 provides maximum

spacing allowable for different height

walls. These spacings are also affect-

ed by the Wind Class for the site.

An example of a typical garage wall

application would be a 2700 height

garage wall within a new estate (Wind

Class N2) using 110 wide brickwork.

Table 9.2 requires standard 230SQ

engaged piers have a spacing of

960mm max. This is a marked differ-

ence from BCA 2011, Volume 2, Sec-

tion 3.3.1 which allowed 230SQ en-

gaged piers at 3000mm spacings

max.

It has been suggested anecdotally

that a few building surveyors have

been slow to pick up on this change

and are allowing what is clearly non-

compliant construction.

Chris Rozycki

to not collapse based on inher-

ent displacement capacity of

the structure in question (eg

Christchurch Earthquake).

This means that lightweight

structures that have greater

flexibility may have a much

better survivability then previ-

ously thought.

Nelson Lam spoke about re-

search he is doing into under-

standing dynamic impacts of

structures. He has determined

that in many cases, vehicular

impact design is greater than

needed as we do not consider

the rebound effect. This

means that in a horizontal

impact, the vehicular weight is

usually much less than the

receiving structure and there-

fore the vehicle will ‘bounce’

back as the inertia from the

vehicle cannot be transferred

to the structure. This reduces

damage to the receiving struc-

ture compared to a what is

designed for. For vertical drop-

ping of materials during con-

struction, the effect of gravity

can increase the force of the

impact quite dramatically. The

bounce effect is there, but is

greatly reduced as gravity

works against it. An example

of this was the major damage

caused by the partial collapse

of the Melbourne Star ferris

wheel during re-construction.

A worthwhile seminar indeed.

You only have to walk into the e-struct

office to see how his love of the job is

reflected in everything around him. He

is a collector of old and antiquarian texts

& instruments about engineering.

An avid member of a plethora of associ-

ations and societies, Chris always seeks

to be at the forefront of developments in

the profession. Chris prides himself as

an early adopter of the latest in technical

innovations and statutory compliance.

He provides his clients a better outcome

to meet the ever changing landscape of

Building in Australia.

E-struct News Issue 01 September 2014

Residential Soil Testing

Commercial Soil Testing

Distressed Footing Assessments

Tree Effects Assessments

Bushfire Attack Level (BAL)

Landslide Risk Management (EMO)

Percolation Testing (Soaker Drainage)

Land Capability Assessments (LCA)

Feature & Level Surveys (inc AHD)

DCP Testing

Flood Hazard Assessments

Residential & Commercial Rating

6 Star Assessments

FirstRate5 Energy Rating

NCC, Vol 2, Sec 3.12 DTS

NCC, Vol 1, Sec J DTS

Artificial Lighting Rating

WERS Glazing Spec.

Bushfire Management Statements (BMO)

Waste Management Reports

Site or Environmental Management Plans

Tree Root Protection Works Specifications

Structural Assessment for Planning Compliance

Erosion Management Overlay (EMO) Reports

Standard & Waffle Slabs

Strip Footings

Tree Effects Footings

Timber, Steel & Concrete Design

Tecbeam & Tecslab

Masonry & Hebel Design

Retaining Walls

Bracing Design

ICF Design

Swimming Pool Design

Basement Structure Design

Drainage Design

Retention Systems

WSUD

Soakage Systems

Pumps Systems

Driveway Designs

Easement Drains

Outfall Drains

Culverts

Basement Drainage

Car Park Design

Open Channel Energy Rating & PlanWay

Geotechnical

& Soil Testing

Civil

estruct

@estructengineer

www.e-struct.com.au

(03) 9770 1738

1300 E STRUCT (1300 378 782)

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mail@e-struct.com.au

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