Duck Penetration

One of several "duck" cartoons drawn by a humble structural engineer in honor of mechanical engineers and mechanical contractors everywhere.

It Really Does Flow Downhill

I've always believed it flows downhill, but it doesn't hurt to verify.

A Surprise Visit From OSHA

I thought it would be hilarious to show a superintendent who misunderstood a phone message tipping him off about a surprise visit from OSHA standing on the job site trying to explain to the straight-faced OSHA inspectors why he's dressed for the beach.

In My Day You Didn't Need A Sign

Sometimes without a sign it really can be hard to tell.

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Where I grew up we called these guys "city workers".  The city road crew would show up, five guys would get out of the truck, and four of them would lean on their shovel and watch one guy work.

Actual Size

I borrowed the idea for this one, but it's not too far from a real event that happend a few years back...

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I was called to a job site to look at a steel column that had been erected but just didn't look right to the contractor. When I arrived, the first thing I saw was what looked like a giant stiff steel flag hanging off of the side of a 30 foot tall column - like something you would see in 'Toon Town at Disneyland. It looked so ridiculous all I could do was laugh. It turned out that due to a CAD error, the dimensions for an 8 inch x 10 inch steel gusset plate were shown on the drawings as 8 feet x 10 feet. Amazingly, no one ever thought to question anything until the "flag" column was erected.

Lame Bobcat

The bobcat may not be the only thing lame about this cartoon, but sometimes this is the best I can come up with.

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No actual bobcats were harmed in the making of this cartoon.

Extra Special Inspection

This was inspired by what felt at the time like excessive inspection requirements being proposed for wood-framed construction. It was accompanied by an article questioning the need for a "special" inspector instead of just making sure the "regular" inspector inspected properly. I envisioned a time in the future when there would be "super special" and "extra special" inspectors all inspecting and re-inspecting the same thing.

Who Ordered the Change Order?

They're so common everywhere in Las Vegas, it seems, that I don't really pay attention to whether they still wear an apron like this, but the inspiration for this one came from grocery store slot machine change ladies. Maybe you have to be from Vegas to smile at this one.

See Architect for Depression

Let's just say that there's this engineer I know who snickers just a little whenever he sees the note on structural plans that was the inspiration for this cartoon.

A Couple Of Extra Kickers

More than once I've been called to the job site to observe walls that blew down in the wind because the contractor didn't use enough kickers.

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Kicker: a temporary brace used to hold up a wall during construction

Good-Size Red Heads

Everyone who knows what a Red Head is can appreciate this one. Inspiration came as I was thinking of a time back in the early 90s when I was standing on a narrow steel beam about 150 feet off the ground inside the central shaft of the under-construction Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas. I was watching a couple of iron workers install bolts to repair some misplaced anchors that held up the end of the beam I was standing on. To them, they were just putting in a couple of "good-size" Red Heads.

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Click here if you don't know what a Red Head is

This Side Up

His next call will be to the structural engineer for a "fix".