piers

huangyhg

piers
we have two different philosphies in our office as to whether we should draw concrete piers or to schedule them.
any thoughts?
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depends on the type of project and whether there are a lot of revisions.  client may also have a requirement.  a 'hard and fast' rule may not be practical.  it's often easier to modify a schedule than to modify notes on a plan if there are a lot of revisions or a lot of common pier types.  you can still have p-1 typ u/n for both plan notes and schedule and the pier type can be referenced in a foundation schedule.  as a personal preference, i prefer plan notes unless the project becomes 'larger', then a schedule... the pier schedule can reference typical cross-sections as reqd.
dik
i always try to use notes and schedules, instead of drawing details, because i have found this to be more efficient.  i use details when something can't be explained with notes or schedules.
daveatkins
i think it depends on who will be using the drawings.  our office normally provides individual detail drawings for each pier with rebar details as often the user needs and wants that level of information.  i have had clients that were used to working from schedules and that is the way their people wanted it.  i think the schedules are more efficient for a designer to prepare, but they are not there for my benefit, they are there for the guy who has to build it.
we have used both ways. we have had some projects where we have used a schedule and the contractor did not know how to layout the piers so he wanted us to provide details of each. we have had many others jobs where a schedule was sufficient.
if a project does not have more then 2 or 3 piers, they can be put in the notes instead of providing a schedule.
i have worked on several large projects that were designed and constructed on the "fast track". scheduling numerous piers was an advantage:
1. it allowed both design & issue of bid documents to expedited.
2. it gave bidders specific quantities of concrete, rebar & anchor bolts to include in their pricing.
3. cost control - as the owner, we knew to expect change orders anyway. at least we had a base bid for each pier, even if it's design changed significantly.