Structural Engineering

Adventure Projects

If your goal is to capitalize on your space and activate adventure, the Cushing Terrell structural team has the expertise to make it happen. From obstacle courses in just about any kind of environment to climbing walls and ziplines, we work with clients to enhance amenities, create destinations, enable physical training, and deliver exhilarating experiences for users.

Known for delivering out-of-the-box solutions, our structural team’s clients for adventure projects include those in the hospitality, government, education, commercial, and civic/cultural markets. As this industry has evolved quickly over the past 20 years, our team’s expertise has also continually evolved into a specialized service we’ve become known for.

Bridge Design

Whether you’re looking to incorporate a bridge structure to connect buildings, trailheads, shores, or roadway infrastructure, our team has experience designing bridges for a variety of project types including those for pedestrians, multi-use, vehicles, and specialized use. With the goal of ensuring safety, functionality, and pleasing aesthetics, we can help you realize a successful project through knowledge and services that include: site analysis, load assessment, material selection, seismic analysis, codes and standards, maintenance and durability, and environmental impacts.

Our clients include federal and non-federal government, military, commercial, healthcare, and residential.

Mass Timber

Relatively new in North American building design, mass timber is rapidly growing in popularity. Architecturally, mass timber is aesthetically pleasing, has biophilic qualities, offers excellent acoustic control, and is sustainable with a low-carbon footprint. Structurally, mass timber weighs less than traditional building materials, is robust in strength, and naturally fire-resistant. From a construction standpoint, mass timber can be erected faster, shaving months off construction schedules.

With a variety of types, mass timber is suitable for many different structures. And with expertise in all types, our team provides feasibility studies, cost analyses, and help with decision making to pair the building type with the best building material choice.

Material Handling and Racking

When it comes to shipping and manufacturing facilities, industrial warehouses, retail stores, and distribution centers, material handling and racking systems are key features. These systems often comprise shelving, racks, mezzanines, walkways, and conveyors, and must be designed for optimal and efficient storage and movement of goods of all shapes and sizes. 

Our material handling team is made up of structural engineers who can handle jobs large and small and understand the need to deliver solutions and systems within tight timeframes. Licensed in all U.S. states and most of Canada, this team can meet you where you are and thrives on the challenge of designing cost-effective systems and workflows to help keep your businesses operating at optimal speed. 

Seismic Design

Critical for the majority of projects across the Western United States, seismic assessments are not limited to a particular project type, size, or material but are based on the different seismic classes and soil types for each location. While many of our structural engineers have geotechnical backgrounds, we have the added bonus of geotechnical engineering support through our civil group, as well as our multidisciplinary team’s expertise in areas with high fault activity.

When it comes to ensuring your project can flex where needed, protect occupants, and quite literally stand up to what Mother Nature throws your way, our team has the intricate knowledge of how to design for safety and longevity, while partnering with architectural leads to realize the aesthetic vision for each project.

Tilt-Up Concrete

A “tilt-up” building is a type of construction where concrete wall panels are cast onsite then lifted (or tilted) into place. The finished product is similar to precast concrete, which is manufactured off-site. The advantages of tilt-up concrete construction include speed, cost savings, efficiency, and durability.

Our structural team can serve as the Engineer of Record on projects as well as take on specialty work. We come in as the specialist, for example, when a client wants a composite wall panel system in which EPS foam is sandwiched between two layers of concrete to increase a building’s thermal performance. This type of product also reduces the amount of concrete required and is becoming more popular with an increasing awareness of the need to reduce embodied carbon.