Buildings - Elegance and Economy

Civil and Structural Engineering; High-Rise, Long-Span, and Special Structures; Historic Restoration; Interior Renovation; Rehabilitation and Seismic Retrofit; Sustainability

Weidlinger designs structural systems for all types of buildings—courthouses, embassies, laboratories, museums, office headquarters, stadiums, and more—in the U.S. and abroad. The firm is known for producing quality structural designs that are sensitive to environmental impact and that offer economical protection against the consequences of earthquakes, hurricanes, and explosions.

A pioneer in high-rise, long-span, cable, and fabric structures, Weidlinger uses advanced analysis to optimize structural systems, resolve interdisciplinary conflicts, and guard the safety and comfort of users. We modify our approach or invent new technology to support architectural creativity. We also strive to balance the aesthetic and cost advantages of lightness against any potential loss in security or constructibility.

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Bridges - Reweaving the Urban Fabric

Bridge Engineering; Cable Strength Evaluation and Replacement; Cathodic Protection; Construction Supervision; Deck Replacement; Fender Protection; Inspection and Monitoring; Resident Engineering; Security Planning; Seismic Retrofit; Testing; Wind Analysis and Aerodynamic Stability

Weidlinger's innovations in bridge engineering result in part from experience in analyzing the problems of century-old structures and designing their reconstruction to correct original defects and diminish future fatigue and cracking. State and city transportation authorities rely on Weidlinger to monitor, upgrade, and design their long spans--suspension, truss, cable-stayed, and concrete segmental—and their highway bridges. In searching for the best design solution, our bridge engineers pay close attention to time and budget constraints, constructibility, and traffic maintenance.

Design of new bridges and R&D are as important to Weidlinger's practice as rehabilitation. Recently, Weidlinger engineers designed major structural elements of a new self-anchored suspended span for the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to withstand an 8.0-magnitude earthquake. Our engineers also designed a replacement deck for the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge and improved its aerodynamic stability with the addition of wind fairings, the largest application of FRP composite panels on a bridge to date. A third recent milestone was authorship of the first-ever guidelines for the inspection and evaluation of suspension bridge cables.

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Infrastructure - From the Underground Up

Airport Design and Security; Civil Engineering; Geotechnical Engineering; Road Layout; Site Engineering; Slurry Wall Design; Soil-Structure Interaction; Tunnels and Underground Engineering; Underpinning; Utilities Mapping and Relocation

Weidlinger designs and rehabilitates the transportation facilities and infrastructure crucial to the functioning of a modern city. By introducing new structural methods and strategies and by considering design in the context of security, maintenance, and traveler convenience, we have set new standards for the transportation industry and helped public officials hold the line on spiraling costs. Our advanced visualizations and risk analyses provide the highest level of security for airports, tunnels, and mass transit facilities for the least expense consistent with program goals and aesthetics.

Weidlinger's infrastructure engineers design new airport terminals, reconstruct subway stations and mass transit facilities, and redesign urban neighborhoods, laying out new roads and landscaping and relocating utilities. For Boston's Central Artery/Tunnel project, Weidlinger designed new ramps and tunnels, as well as structures for underpinning and support of excavation, and proved the benefit of combining soil, foundation, and structural analyses into a single nonlinear model. We are now using this approach on major infrastructure and building projects in downtown Manhattan.

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Applied Science - Models of Reality

Advanced Analysis; Advanced Material Models; Finite Element Analysis; Materials Science; Mathematical Modeling; Probabilistic Risk Assessment; Software Development; Technology Transfer

Applied science research and advanced analysis distinguish Weidlinger from traditional engineering firms. We take a leadership role in solving problems of national importance that concern the safety of tall buildings, infrastructure, and military installations. Mathematical modeling by our research engineers produces new ideas, such as shielding naval vessels against mine explosions with bubble screens and protecting loading docks against blast with lightweight composites. NLFLEX and other Weidlinger-licensed software have become the industry and government standard.

Military, public administrative, and corporate clients value the validation of Weidlinger's software and the critical insights gained from correlating analysis with testing. Weidlinger's programs simulate structures and devices to enhance design and to assess survivability and vulnerability. Some programs combine the effects of several load types. Other programs use imaging techniques to improve the manufacture of integrated circuits, predict the location of underground petroleum reservoirs, and streamline the design of ultrasonic probes for medical use.

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Security - Strength by Design

Blast Analysis and Design; Perimeter and Site Security; Physical Security Planning; Progressive Collapse Prevention; Protective Design; Protective Glazing and Curtain Walls; Window Systems; Vulnerability Assessment

September 11, 2001, heightened public awareness that buildings are vulnerable to terrorist assault. The 1983 attack on the U.S. Embassy in Beirut, however, was perhaps more significant in terms of engineering practice. In the aftermath of that event, Weidlinger developed engineering guidelines for the Department of State that form the backbone of all guidelines and protective designs used by the government and private industry today.

With more than 50 years of conventional design and protective design experience, Weidlinger is more qualified than any other engineering firm to provide physical security services. We have worked extensively with architects, building owners, developers, and public agencies to assess vulnerability to multiple hazards and provide balanced and economical mitigation for every type of structure—airport terminals, bridges and tunnels, courthouses, embassies, hospitals, museums, schools, stadiums, and tunnels. Intent on avoiding the bunker mentality displayed by others in hardening components, Weidlinger's blast engineers embrace their role in the aesthetic success of any project and strive to minimize the impact of their recommendations for protection on unique architectural features and on schedule and cost.

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Investigations - Safety in Numbers

Condition Survey; Expert Testimony; Failure Investigation; Feasibility Study; Forensic Engineering; Peer Review; Risk Assessment; Seismic Engineering; Value Engineering; Wind Engineering

Weidlinger's investigations and studies serve a variety of purposes. Our seismic, wind, and forensic engineers use the results of their investigations to determine the causes of structural failure, to establish the basis of expert testimony, and to influence the behavior of structures in high-risk earthquake and hurricane zones. Our risk analysis engineers help clients make objective decisions about purchasing insurance, planning upgrades, and responding to and recovering from natural disasters.

Weidlinger's extensive forensic engineering practice encompasses both routine disputes and major court cases. We offer litigators more than half a century of design and field experience plus advanced analysis capability for testing hypotheses and establishing the best course of action. Complex findings are presented in visually compelling formats that are easily understood by jury members and professionals. Weidlinger's models, for instance, played an important role in testimony before the Guam Supreme Court on the post-earthquake collapse of a three-week-old hotel and in decisions concerning the World Trade Center collapses. Our modeling capability is also vital to distinguishing between pre- and post-earthquake damage for insurance loss estimates and to designing state-of-the-art seismic retrofits with base isolators, structural dampers, and new composite materials.

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