Vivian Irene Svee

Congratulations to Marcus and Gretchen (Iman) Svee as they welcome in their new baby girl, Vivian Irene Svee.  20 1/2 inces, 7 lb 4 oz.  Reportedly, Vivian Irene was in the office early this morning wrapping up an finite element analysis.  Guess she “has the knack”. 

Bowling Trophy

Well, we certainly aren’t the type of people to easily let go of something we could otherwise make a spectacle of, so OF COURSE we ordered a bowling trophy for Lynn! Congratulations Lynn!

Company Bowling

Sometimes it’s intimidating working with such great athletes.  The Missoula office congregated for a company bowling extravaganza last week.  Lynn Gmeiner took home the most coveted trophy for Low Game…
…not only low game of the night, but low game in the history of bowling.  His 51 left those of us who witnessed it amazed at his uncanny in-ability to knock pins down with his bowling ball.  Troy Leistiko had the high 3-game series at 360.  A few beers and some tasty deep fat fried vittles completed a great outing.

How to Build a Straw Bale House

I’m usually interested in educating myself about alternative structural engineering topics, and straw bale structural engineering is no exception.  So, I bought a book on general straw bale house construction, researched the engineering aspects of straw online, put my education and experience of other structural systems in the mix, and came up with a design all my own, the Leistiko style.

Before I came along, there were two basic styles of straw bale structures, namely Standard and Nebraska.  A Standard style involves building a frame with wood or some other material and constructing non-bearing straw bale in-fill walls between the supporting posts.  A Nebraska style house has structural straw bale walls that directly support the roof framing.  Both of these styles of straw bale houses will have straw bale walls with a wood framed roof.

My style, a third sytle, the Leistiko style, begins as a Nebraska style house, then I pour an engineered structural concrete slab over the entire system of straw bale walls, then I add a layer of non-structural straw bales to cover the entire concrete slab.  Then I pin a layer of 20 ga. chicken wire to all sides of the straw bales to reinforce the plaster and make the wall assembly a legitimate structural shear wall.  Then I apply three coats of cement plaster which is about 1.5-inches thick when its done.  Finally, I slap a conventional wood-framed roof over all of it.

If you need structural engineering performed on your straw bale house, Eclipse Engineering can help you with it, whether it is Standard, Nebraska or Leistiko style.

Worm Sandwich

Ever wondered how to make a worm sandwich? If your curiosity is getting the best of you, watch and learn:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5hf-oWrhjE

Out of Ground

After a summer of working below grade the new Missoula Federal Credit Union has emerged from dirt! The foundation is substantially

complete and the main floor of the building is in place.  In the next two months we should see a majority of the structural system in place.  The steel columns in the left portion of this photo will support a clerestory that will be a featured architectural component of the project.

Football Season

The football season is right around the corner. As I’m preparing for our annual fantasy football draft I am realizing that, for the first time in my life, I have paid absolutely no attention to what’s happening in the NFL. 10 or 15 years ago I could tell you what Emmit Smith’s average yards per carry was for the last 4 years and now I can’t even tell you how many touchdowns Brett Favre threw for the Packers last year. Someone just told me that Brett plays for the Vikings now….what….I guess he doesn’t…..well, maybe he does. See, it just takes too much time to keep up with these things.

The question is, who should I be looking at for the top pick this year? Any suggestions?

Gearing up for the 4th!

As a public service to all those dedicated readers who save every single newsletter that we’ve ever sent out, but just don’t have the time to sort through the pile for the perfect 4th of July recipe – here you are…a reprint of the Rib Eye Delight from our Summer 2005 issue. Enjoy!

Missoula Federal Credit Union – South Brooks

Construction is underway for the Missoula Federal Credit Union – South Brooks office.  The first of the 13 foot tall foundation walls have been poured and crews are taking advantage of the great weather to make headway on the 35,000 square foot facility. 

Skank to Swank

On the first of June the Missoula branch office moved from the rough side of the tracks to the “you can work late and feel safe” side of the tracks.  I like to call it the “Skank to Swank Move”.  The building itself has a ton of history.  In 2002, Eclipse was the structural engineer of record for the buildings renovation and an exposed steel frame at the front of the space reminds us of that every day.  50 years ago, my father-in-law brought his haying equipment to this space for repair.  100 years ago it served as a warehouse for Missoula Mercantile.

To the west you will find The Trailhead, a top-end outdoors store, which funnels a steady supply of Subarus and Land Cruisers passed our front door.  To the east, a top wedding/anniversary dinner destination, which features a fine selection of French cuisine.  I think it’s French, but I’m not sophisticated enough to know for sure.  Sure smells good.

Sandwiched between you will find Eclipse Engineering where structural engineers grind from dawn until dusk….making the world a safer, albeit more expensive, place one seismic analysis at a time.

Our new address:

229 East Front Street

Missoula, MT 59802