Position: Senior Structural Engineer/Principal

Licenses:

  • Civil Engineer, California
  • Structural Engineer, California
  • Structural Engineer, Arizona

Background:

Bill Allen is directly responsible for engineering several hundred projects since going into private practice in June, 1987. The scope of these projects include residential remodels, custom single-family residences, multi-family dwellings (apartments and hotels), commercial, industrial, medical and industrial structures. The most notable projects are in four categories:

  • Single Family Residences
    Bill "cut his teeth" on residential remodels and still finds them challenging.
  • Wood Framed Hotels
    Bill has designed several 3 and 4 story wood framed hotels in California, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona.
  • Medical Office Facilities
    These projects include new medical office buildings, remodels and equipment installation.
  • Commercial and Industrial Buildings
    Bill has designed a large number of these projects consisting of wood framed, concrete masonry and tilt-wall construction and has provided excellence service in preparing structural documentation for smaller projects (5,000 SF to 30,000 SF) when the larger firms are unable to do so because they usually put junior level staff on these types of projects.

Education:

  • Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, The University of Texas at El Paso, 1977
  • Masters of Science in Civil Engineering, special designation in Structural Engineering, University of Southern California, 1983

Skills:

  • MS Excel
    I use Excel on every project. Until recently, I included everything within the structural scope of work in one workbook. I now use other software for framing and foundation work in order to keep up with code changes.
  • Enercalc
  • Clear Calcs
  • RISA 2D and 3D
  • AutoCAD
  • Revit

Materials:

  • Wood
    The majority of the work I currently do is with wood framed structures, mostly residential new construction and remodels. I work a lot with contractors and have a good relationship with most of them. It helps to respect their craftsmanship, which I do.
  • Concrete
    Most of the concrete work I do today is with foundations, both new and remodel construction.
  • Steel
    Mostly gravity framing (beams, columns, etc.), but sometimes moment frames.
  • Masonry
    Currently, most of my masonry work is in the design of retaining walls, but I have designed several masonry buildings in the past.