Cornell Engineers
If you own an older elevated house in Brisbane, you may have noticed vertical cracks in the brickwork underneath, usually where the brick walls meet the original concrete stumps. Is the house sinking? Do the foundations need repairing? Should you be worried? Not necessarily. I recently inspected an older Brisbane home where the owner had […]
You need a structural engineer when a building problem or proposed change requires engineering judgement rather than simply following a standard construction detail. Sometimes that means designing a structural element. Sometimes it means investigating cracking, movement or damage. In other cases, an engineer may be needed to assess whether an existing structure is suitable for […]
Seeing cracks in a relatively new house can be worrying, but not every crack means the building is structurally failing. Buildings move. Concrete shrinks. Timber moves with changes in moisture. Foundations respond to changes in the ground beneath them. The important question is whether the cracking and movement are within the expected tolerances for the […]
Understanding what has happened to a property over time can be extremely useful when investigating structural damage, drainage problems, retaining wall failures, previous alterations or unexplained building movement. At Cornell Engineers, we regularly use public mapping, aerial photography, development records and service information to help understand how a site has changed. No single source tells […]
Buildings do not suddenly become unsafe when they reach a particular age, but older structures deserve closer attention. Many buildings constructed in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s are now several decades old. During that time, materials have weathered, structures have been altered, maintenance has varied and construction practices have changed. The important question is not […]
Steel reinforcing mesh in a concrete driveway does not stop the concrete from cracking. Its main job is to control cracking by holding the slab together after cracks form. For reinforcement to work properly, it needs to be the correct type, positioned at the correct level in the slab and supported so that it stays […]
Cornell Engineers provides structural engineering advice for existing buildings, damage investigations, cracking and movement, insurance matters, repairs and selected structural projects across Brisbane. Our Brisbane office is based in Hendra and we regularly inspect houses, commercial buildings and other structures throughout Brisbane and South East Queensland. We are particularly well suited to situations where the […]
An engineer inspects an existing building and identifies an uneven floor, cracked plasterboard and damp ground near the footings. Those observations might all be correct. But do they establish that the foundations are moving? Has the movement been measured? Is the moisture causing the cracking, or is it simply another condition found during the inspection? […]
I’m Matt Cornell, a structural engineer (RPEQ 06598) and Director of Cornell Engineers in Brisbane. I’ve been working as a structural engineer for more than 30 years and started Cornell Engineers in 2003. Today, most of my work starts when something has gone wrong with a building: a crack that keeps growing, a floor that’s […]
A vapour barrier, also called a moisture barrier, damp-proof membrane or concrete underlay, is the sheet of 0.2 mm polyethylene plastic laid under a concrete slab before it is poured. Its main job is to stop moisture in the ground rising up through the slab and into the building. Under Australian houses it is not […]
Cornell Engineers / Project Archive Besser Block Swimming Pool – Kedron, Brisbane A look inside the construction of a reinforced concrete masonry swimming pool, including the structural engineering and construction-stage inspections undertaken by Cornell Engineers. This project involved a Besser block swimming pool forming part of a residential outdoor recreation area in Kedron, Brisbane. Cornell […]
Cornell Engineers / Technical Resources Sample Structural Engineering Drawings A closer look at the engineering documentation behind a building — from foundations and framing to bracing, connections and construction details. Understanding how a structure was intended to work is often the starting point for understanding why it has failed. Structural engineering drawings do more than […]
This week’s live Q&A was a by-request topic: retaining walls, angle of repose, and zone of influence. Specifically — how close can you build to a retaining wall before it starts putting extra load on it? Thanks to Rob Dontis for the question. Here’s the rundown. What a Retaining Wall Actually Does Retaining walls hold […]
TranscriptHere is the timestamped transcript, broken down into chapters based on the discussion topics. Chapter 1: Introduction & Technical Difficulties (00:00 – 01:50) Matt: G’day, this is Matt Cornell, and I really apologise. We’ve just started our video, and I got 14 minutes in to discover that you couldn’t hear a thing I was saying, […]
Causation: The word that sits at the centre of almost every disputed building insurance claim. It is not a complicated word. But once you understand what it means, and how structural engineers use it, you will understand why some insurance claims are accepted, reduced or denied. The word is causation. In plain English, causation is […]