Coastal Construction - Constructing the Building

This online engineering PDH course discusses constructing buildings, including foundation, framing, building envelop, and electrical and mechanical equipment, in coastal areas. Individual sections cover construction items that will probably require the most care or attention on the part of the builder in order for the design intent to be achieved. Builders may find that the permitting and inspection procedures in coastal areas are more involved than those in inland areas. Not only must all Federal, state, and local Coastal Zone Management and other regulatory requirements be met, the design plans and specifications may need to be sealed by a design professional.

Construction of residential buildings in coastal zones presents challenges to the builder not usually found in more inland locations. For all coastal residential buildings, these challenges may include the following:

• Connection details require additional inspections
• The need for careful surveying to place the building within property line setbacks and above The Design Flood Elevation (DFE)
• The additional care required to ensure that all elements of the building will withstand the large forces associated with high wind speeds and coastal flooding
• The additional care that must be taken in constructing a building envelope that will withstand the intrusion of air and moisture under the effects of high wind speeds
• The difficulty of providing durable exterior construction in a moist, sometimes salt-laden, environment
• The requirement to protect and, usually, place utilities above the DFE

In constructing coastal residential buildings on elevated pile foundations, builders face additional challenges:

• The difficulty of constructing a driven pile foundation to accepted construction plan tolerances
• The difficulty of building on an elevated post-and-beam foundation, compared to building on continuous wall foundations

This 4 PDH online course is applicable to structural engineers, design and construction personnel, and other technical professionals who are involved in coastal construction projects.