May Runkle Consulting Keep Your Buildings Safe

A common dilemma in any large metropolitan area is keeping up with housing demand while simultaneously ensuring that no matter what a renter’s budget is, the available housing is structurally sound and safe for occupation. Fortunately, large corporations are able to offer full-service solutions in the multi-family residential industry that allow a housing complex to be in multiple stages of life simultaneously. One of our clients, which is a large company headquartered in the Midwest that has been in business for almost 40 years, is currently harnessing its sheer size and experience to conduct structural upgrades to some of their older properties without disrupting the housing market or forcing residents to find a new property management company. 

One of this company's values is to create beautiful places with lasting value for the communities they serve. We have been working with this company since the beginning of 2024 on an apartment complex located in the Atlanta Metro area that was built in the late 1970s and features 494 apartment units of various sizes spread across more than a dozen buildings. With Atlanta Metro Area projected to surpass the ten-year high in terms of apartment construction that it reached in 2023, the current rental housing market cannot afford the loss of inventory while older buildings are demolished and replaced. Rather, these older units need to be repaired to avoid displacing hundreds of residents for 2-3 years at a time. And that is where Runkle Consulting comes in. 

While we are normally associated with the engineering of structures built with shipping containers, we are also experts in the use of forensic investigation and developing affordable, efficient structural engineering solutions. And this project has required us to call upon all our experience in both fields so that several buildings can remain habitable for the foreseeable future. 

This project is being done from the ground up... or, perhaps more accurately, from under the ground [going] up. After mapping out the crawlspaces under the buildings in order to determine the sizes of and spaces between the supporting columns, we began inspecting the beams and joists - specifically looking for signs of rot and mold. This inspection revealed the problem was much more confined than we initially feared, thus offering significant cost savings to the client.

Of course, a project like this includes other disciplines. We are working with two other firms on this project to cover areas that aren’t our normal focus. Genesis Engineering Collaborative (https://www.genesiseng.net) is responsible for the civil work due to drainage issues on the site, while David Moore at Structures (https://www.mystructures.net) has been performing the role of General Contractor. Additionally, Chris Roney, who used to work for us as an intern, is handling the plumbing design aspects of this project.

Perhaps the greatest part about this project is that it is allowing our junior engineer, Ian Remlinger, to manage his first large-scale project. Ian began management of this project during his final semester of college, balancing it against senior projects in engineering and all of the other schedule demands as someone approaches graduation.

It's been meticulous work, as we can only inspect one building at a time and must prioritize repairs so that buildings requiring the least amount of work are completed first. So, while this project is far from over, it's been a great experience for all involved.