Wednesday, August 10, 2016

WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Praise the Lord from the heavens; praise him in the heights, praise him, all you his angels; praise him, all you his hosts. – Psalm 148:1-2

Two weeks ago, I shut down my social media connections and went offline. As someone who purposely reads the news every morning, I had become fearful of the current events that littered the Internet. Plane crash. Outbreak of disease. War and retaliation. I began to ask so many questions. Why was this happening? Is this the kind of world that God envisioned?

Disturbed by my own lack of faith, it took a few days before I realized that you must first face the problem to find a solution. So I came back online and the bad news didn’t disappear. But in between, friends got married. Beautiful babies were born. Celebrations were shared and achievements proudly applauded. And then I saw it. The same line, although phrased in different ways, was always visible somewhere within the captions of these posts. Thank You, God, for this blessing. And it all made sense. He creates both small and great miracles every day.

So do not doubt Him. Praise Him instead for the good that is present in this world because, together, we can make this world a better place. Eleanore Teo

Reflection: Do you focus on the sins of the world or the beauty by God’s hand?

Lord, I place my hands together not only in prayer but in applause and glorification of Your work.

NINETY-NINER...

He rejoices more over it than over the ninety-nine that did not stray. – Matthew 18:13

It looks like a harmless and stylish wristwatch, but it’s actually a device that tracks steps, distance and calories burned. My husband and I immediately wore it and started a bond that’s extremely difficult to break without feeling a sense of defeat. With the use of LED lights, it shows us how we stack up vis-a-vis a daily goal — steps, calories or distance. It automatically syncs the data to my laptop and smartphone, giving real-time access to our stats, 24/7. Knowing how close I am to reaching my goals gives me the motivation to reach for them and aim higher.

If this is the kind of commitment that I am willing to make to my health, how much more can be expected of me as a follower of Jesus? On my own, it’s difficult. But by God’s grace, I have committed myself to be counted as one of the 99 who chose not to wander off. Faith lights up like the scoreboard on my wrist, challenging me to be more committed day after day. Mari Sison-Garcia

Reflection: What can you do on a daily basis to deepen your commitment as a follower of Jesus?

Lord, give us the grace to get closer to our goal of attaining eternal life with You.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

Design for Seismic Tie Beams...

Design for Seismic Tie Beams

Per ACI 318-08 section 21.12.3.2 – “Grade beams designed to act as horizontal ties between pile caps or footings shall be proportioned such that the smallest cross-sectional dimension shall be equal to or greater than the clear spacing between connected columns divided by 20 but need not be greater than 18 inches. Closed ties shall be provided at a spacing not to exceed the lesser of one half the smallest orthogonal cross-sectional dimension and 12 inches.”

But ACI is not telling us that what force these tie beams should be designed for, so here is the IBC 2009 section to tell us that:

IBC2009 section 1809.13 for shallow foundations and 1810.3.13 for deep foundations:

for SDC C, D, E or F, ties shall be capable of carrying, in tension or compression, a force equal to the lesser of the product of the larger pile cap or column design gravity load times the seismic coefficient, Sds,divided by 10, and 25 percent of the smaller pile or column design gravity load. (there is more in this section so please read the code before applying this to your case)

In simple words Tie beam force; FT = Larger of ( Pu_large x Sds /10 , Pu_small x 25%)

https://ztwocents.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/design-for-seismic-tie-beams/