Engineering

I have experience in design of new structures as well as structural assessment of existing ones. The areas in which I am most experienced are listed below:

  • Structural design of reinforced concrete structures;
  • Structural seismic assessment of existing reinforced concrete buildings and bridges;
  • Assessment of load-bearing capacity of existing reinforced concrete bridges;
  • Structural design and assessment of steel lattice towers for overhead power lines.

In addition, I have some experience in site management and detailing of steel structures.

Structural assessment

Hospital building in Tirana

The four story reinforced concrete hospital building in Tirana was affected by the November, 26, 2019, earthquake. The main structure of the building consisted of reinforced concrete prefabricated beams and columns. As part of the Structural Engineering team I performed linear and non-linear analyses of the building in accordance with Eurocode 8, Part 3.

Structural assessment of an existing hospital building in Tirana
Bridge in Kukës

A new bridge is being built near the existing bridge over Drini river near Kukës. I was involved in the structural assessment of the existing bridge. Being located in a seismic region, the assessment included seismic safety assessment for the bridge.

Ura e Kukesit.
Photo credit: Jetnor Elezi, CC BY-SA 4.0

As part of the Structural Engineering team, I was involved in the development of linear and nonlinear structural analysis models, analysis of results and writing of a detailed report.

Analysis of an existing reinforced concrete bridge in Albania (the image does not show the entire model)
Assessment of existing bridges and design of new ones for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline

I worked under the supervision of the lead Structural Engineer responsible for the structural assessment of existing bridges and design of new ones in the framework of project Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). The structural assessment consisted in the assessment of the existing damages and deterioration, the structural assessment to ensure safe passage of heavy vehicles and the design of rehabilitation measures for approximately 200 bridges. The bridges were of varying spans, structural schemes and materials (with the majority being reinforced concrete).

Design of a new reinforced concrete arch bridge in Albania
Structural assessment of 400 kV Steel Lattice Towers in Portugal

In Portugal, I was involved in the structural assessment and optimization of steel lattice towers for 400 kV overhead power lines. I used PLS-CADD/Lite, PLS-Tower, Autodesk Robot as well as my own custom made tools (using VBA and Python).

Structural design

Reinforced concrete buildings

I have been part of the design team of several multi-story reinforced concrete buildings of various sizes in Albania, ranging from single family villas to multi-family buildings with up to 12 stories above ground.

Reinforced concrete 12 span viaduct

The viaduct was designed as part of the new road from Elbasan to Banjë. It has a total length 266m and simply supported girder decks. I was involved in all stages of the design, from concept to detailed design and detailing.

Other activities

M6.4 Albania 2019 Earthquake

After the November 26, 2019, earthquake in Albania, I joined a team of engineers and researchers from Serbia and Albania and I visited the affected areas (Durrës, Thumanë, Tirana, Bubq). A paper published in Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering can be found here. I shared my observations with an international team managed by EERI and I co-authored a detailed report (read here). Here are some photos from the visit.

Translation of Eurocodes into Albanian

I worked as an employee and as a consultant for the Albanian company UTS-01 on three different projects related to the translation of various Eurocode Parts into Albanian, the preparation of National Annexes and training materials. My main contribution was on the following parts:

  • Eurocode 0: Basis of structural design
  • Eurocode 8, Part 1: Design of structures for earthquake resistance – Part 1 : General rules, seismic actions and rules for buildings.
  • Eurocode 8, Part 3: Design of structures for earthquake resistance – Part 3: Assessment and retrofitting of buildings.
  • Eurocode 9: Design of aluminium structures – Part 1-1 : General structural rules.
https://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu/doc/250news/TC250_Newsletter_7.pdf
https://eurocodes.jrc.ec.europa.eu/doc/2014_11_WS_Balkan/presentations/03_Eurocodes_Balkan_WS_SK_CR_Albania.pdf

Read more:

Tools

I use or have used the following tools in my work as a Structural Engineer: