about

Larry S. Muir, PE

Larry Muir is a licensed engineer with more than two decades of engineering and structural steel fabrication experience. As Chief Engineer of Cives Steel Company, Mr. Muir oversaw connection design for 6 steel fabrication plants with a combined annual capacity of over 100,000 tons. Mr. Muir has participated in the design of numerous large-scale, high profile projects, including high-rises, stadiums, and power plants. As a member of AISC, AWS, RCSC and ASCE committees, he has had the opportunity to be at the cutting edge of structural engineering while developing contacts throughout the industry.

Employment & Education Timeline

1994 Pruitt, Eberly, Stone ~ Atlanta, GA ~ Engineer ~ Duties: Project management, Structural design and drafting of buildings in steel, concrete and wood. Supervisors: Robert Stone, PE, Peter Pruitt, PE, and Michael Planer, PE.

1994-1996 University of Tennessee ~ Knoxville, TN ~ Graduate Teaching Assistant ~ Duties: Grading homework, assisting students, and occasional teaching in Statics, Strength of Materials, and Steel and Concrete Design courses, Researching and preparing expert witness testimony involving a structural collapse. Supervisor: Dr. David Goodpasture, PE.

Publications

& Presentations

2010

2011

2012

2013

1997

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

Click on Year to View List of Publications and Presentations.

Selected Projects

One Lincoln ~ Cives New England Division ~ Boston, MA ~ Owner: Kingston-Bedford ~ Engineer: Jung Brannen Associates ~ General Contractor: Beacon Construction Company ~ Tonnage: 14,900 ~ Designed the roof truss connections and the vertical bracing connections on this high-rise project.

Millennium Place ~ Cives New England Division ~ Boston, MA ~ Owner: Millennium Partners/ MDA Assoc. Inc. ~ Engineer: Desimone Consulting Engineers ~ General Contractor: Lehrer McGovern Bovis ~ Tonnage: 14,200 ~ 38 story high-rise. Designed all of the connections for the roof and the transfer trusses at the fifth floor which supported the remaining floors of the structure. $35,650,700 contract completed 2001.

Due to unforeseen circumstances five trusses at the fifth floor each had to be reinforced with two - 2" thick plates about 8 feet side and 12 feet deep. This repair was designed by Larry Muir. Since this reinforcement occurs at the truss ends and doubles as the connection to the column, these plates might be viewed as the world's largest single plate shear connections.

A significant number of changes and unusual design requirements made this an especially challenging project.

Comcast Building~ Cives Northern Division ~ Philadelphia, PA ~ Owner: Liberty Property Trust ~ Engineer: Thornton-Tomasetti ~ General Contractor: L.F. Driscoll Company ~ Tonnage 12,500 ~ 60 story High-rise. Developed a value-engineering alternative, which included moving the splices in the Veirendeel truss to the inflection points, thereby saving time and money in both erection and fabrication.

Hearst Magazine Building ~ Cives Northern Division ~ New York, NY ~ Owner: Hearst Communications Inc. ~ Engineer: Cantor Seinuk Group ~ General Contractor: Turner Construction Company ~ Tonnage: 12,000 ~ 42 story high-rise, with innovative diagrid framing system, which included no vertical exterior columns. Designed or supervised the design of a majority of the connections including the blast-loaded façade and loading dock, and the “diagrid” node detail, which required the analysis of 35,000 pages of loading information. Completed 2005.

This project involved erecting a steel high-rise inside a building originally constructed in 1928.

Connection design for this project involved evaluating the diagrid connections for over 35, 000 pages of loading conditions provided by the Engineer of Record. The Engineer of Record originally suggested a connection which transferred the significant compressive forces through direct steel-to-steel bearing. There were, however, problems with the original detail related to erection, so the connections had to be redesigned. For more information about steel-to-steel direct bearing connections see the Modern Steel Construction article, "Bear It and Grin".

Connections also had to accommodate blast loads in some areas of the structure.

Plants Wansley and Bowen SCR Units ~ Cives Southern Division ~ Carrolton and Cartersville, GA ~ Owner/ Engineer/ General Contractor: Southern Company ~ Tonnage: 5,600 each ~ Designed or supervised design of all connections for the SCR Units for these 1,140 megawatt coal-fired power plants. $25,140,000 contract completed 2002.

On this project we employed single-plate connections for all the connections to the heavy (jumbo) columns near the base of the structure. This included vertical brace connections. At the weak-axis of the column the single-plate connections were extended outside the column to simplify the erection. The single-plate connections eliminated drilling at the jumbo columns and eliminated the potential need for reaming in the field. The design method used was similar to that used in Example A.1 of AISC Design Guide 29.

The threads-excluded condition was assumed whenever the geometry was such that the threads could not possibly be uincluded in the shear plane. This approach is discussed in the handbooks published by McGraw-Hill cited in the Publications section of this web page.

Innovative flat bar connections were used at the horizontal bracing.

Olympic Stadium / Turner Field ~ Cives Southern Division ~Atlanta, GA ~ Owner: Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games, Inc. ~ Engineer: Atlanta Stadium Design Team ~ General Contractor: Atlanta Stadium Design Team ~ Tonnage: 10,000 ~ Reviewed shop drawings for the conversion of the Olympic Stadium to the baseball stadium. $19,800,000 contract completed 1996.

World Trade Center West Office Building ~ Cives New England Division ~ Boston, MA ~ Owner: Pembroke Real Estate ~ Engineer: Weidlinger Associates Inc. ~ General Contractor: Turner Construction Company ~ Tonnage: 6,900 ~ Designed all bracing connections for this 16 story structure.

11 Times Square ~ Cives Northern Divisions ~ New York, NY ~ Engineer: Thornton-Tomasetti ~ General Contractor ~ Plaza Construction Company ~ Tonnage: 6,600 ~ Designed the North Truss and oversaw all connection design and shop drawing review.

131 Dartmouth Street ~ Cives Northern Division ~ Boston, MA ~ Owner: 131 Dartmouth Street, LLC ~ Engineer: McNamara/ Salvia ~ General Contractor: Suffolk Construction ~ Tonnage: 6,000 ~ Supervised design of all moment connections. $14,295,000 contract completed 2002.

Knoxville Convention Center ~ Cives Southern Division ~ Knoxville, TN ~ Owner: Knox County / City of Knoxville ~ Engineer: Ross Bryan Associates ~ General Contractor: Clark/Denark-Smith, A Joint Venture ~ Tonnage: 5,500 ~ Designed or supervised the design of all the bolted truss connection in this 212, 400 square foot facility. Also analyzed the plate girder value-engineering replacement for the shallow floor trusses. $12,640,000 contract completed 2002.

Austin Convention Center Expansion ~ Cives Mid-South Division ~ Austin, TX ~ Owner: City of Austin ~ Engineer: Architectural Engineers ~ General Contractor: Gilbane ~ Tonnage: 4,500 ~ Designed or supervised design of all truss connections for the expansion to this 811,400 square foot facility including the 300+ foot span, 65 foot deep “super-truss” which supported half of the roof and the second floor. $7,250,000 contract completed 2001.

Wellman Chemical, Plastic Recycling Plant ~ Cives Mid-South Division ~ Pearlington, MS ~ Owner: Wellman Chemical ~ Engineer/ General Contractor: Flour Daniel ~ Tonnage ~ 4,000 ~ Assisted Cives’ field representative in overseeing the erection and the handling field problems. Was required to re-detail incorrect members and guide the field fabrication and erection process.

Plant Gaston ~ Cives Southern Division ~ Wilsonville, Alabama ~ Owner/ Engineer/ General Contractor: Southern Company ~ Tonnage: 3,600 ~ Oversaw the work of a team of engineers and draftsmen to complete connection design on this coal-fired electric plant.

Colonie Center ~ Cives Northern Division ~ Colonie, NY ~ Owner: Feldman Mall Properties ~ Engineer: M.G. McLaren PC ~ Tonnage: 2,800 ~ Designed or supervised design of all two-story trusses in this elevated addition to an existing mall.

Reebok World Headquarters ~ Cives New England Division ~ Canton, MA ~ Owner: Reebok ~ Engineer: McNamara/ Salvia, Inc. ~ General Contractor: Turner Construction Company ~ Tonnage 2,800 ~ Designed all bracing and moment connections.

Kendall Square Residences ~ Cives MidAtlantic Division ~ Cambridge, MA ~ Engineer: McNamara/ Salvia, Inc.~ General Contractor: Bovis Lend Lease ~ Tonnage: 2,600 ~ Designed or supervised the design of the more complicated connections at the interface between the existing parking structure and the new residential tower, including transfer truss and girder connections.

Georgia Maritime Trade Center ~ Cives Southern Division ~ Savannah, GA ~ Owner: Maritime Trade Center ~ Engineer: Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback ~ General Contractor: Beers ~ Tonnage: 2,500 ~ Designed all typical connections and all welded truss connections

Schottenstein Center, Ohio State University ~ Cives Mid-West Division ~ Columbus, OH ~ Owner: Ohio State University ~ Engineer: Korda/Nemeth ~ General Contractor: P.J. Dick ~ Tonnage: 2,500 ~ Designed all 300+ ft span roof truss connections for this 70,000 square foot facility.

Xavier Cintas Center ~ Cives Mid-West Division ~Cincinnati, OH ~ Owner: Xavier University ~ Engineer: Opus North Architects & Engineers ~ General Contractor: Opus North Corporation ~ Tonnage: 1,320 ~ Designed all 300+ ft span roof truss connections. $3,633,000 contract completed 1999.

Ave Maria Oratory ~ Cives Southern Division ~ Naples, FL ~ Owner: Ave Maria University ~ Engineer: Cannon Design ~ General Contractor: Suffolk Construction ~ The largest Catholic Oratory structure in the United States. A unique collaborative design effort involving the architect, engineer, fabricator, and erector. Produced preliminary connection design capacities which were incorporated into the structural model to provide a more economical design. Completed 2008.

Glass Waste Storage Building #2 ~ Cives Southern Division ~ Aiken, SC ~ Owner: U.S. Department of Energy ~ Engineer: Parsons Engineering ~ General Contractor: The Krog Corporation ~ Tonnage: 778 ~ In responsible charge of and stamped all the calculations for the connections in this facility subjected to seismic loadings and located at the Savannah River Nuclear Site.

Inbrand ~ Pruitt, Eberly, Stone ~ Kennesaw, Georgia ~ 260,000 SF distribution facility, including a 20,000 SF two story office. This facility won the American Concrete Institute Award for Outstanding Achievement for 1995. ~ Checked the design and detailing of the embedments to the exterior precast panels and designed the steel in the roof structure and the office atrium.

Fire at Cives Northern Division Shop ~ Cives Northern Division ~ Gouverneur, NY~ Participated in the evaluation and rehabilitation of the shop structure and craneways after a fire that caused significant damage of a 120’ x 50’ area of the shop. Coordinated with the demolition contractor to safely remove the damaged structure and designed the replacement structure. April – June 2007.

Committees

Larry Muir has served on the following committees :

AISC Committee on Specifications ~ Listed as a member of the Committee in 2010 and 2016 Specifications.
- December 2009 – Present ~ Chairman ~ AISC Technical Committee 6 - Connections
- August 2007 – December 2009~ Vice-Chairman ~ AISC Technical Committee 6 - Connections
- November 2005 – August 2007 ~ Member ~ AISC Technical Committee 6 - Connections

AISC Committee on Manuals ~ Listed as a member of the Committee in the 14th and 15th Edition Manuals.
- Chair, SC 3 - Bolts, Welds and Connection Elements
- Member, Sub-Committee M5 on Seismic Design

June 2006 – Present ~ Member (2 year cycles) ~ ASCE Committee on Design of Steel Building Structures

AWS D1A Subcommittee 1 on Design

May 2005 – July 2008 ~ Member ~ Research Council on Structural Connections (RCSC).
- July 2005 - July 2008 ~ Member ~ RCSC Specification Committee A1

April 2004 - July 2005 ~ Corresponding member ~ AISC Committee on Manuals and Textbooks

February 2004 - July 2005 ~ Corresponding member ~ AISC Technical Committee 6 concerning Chapter J of the Specifications: Connections, Joints, and Fasteners

1996 ~ Member ~ Committee on Bridge Failures Recent and Past, American Railway Bridge and Building Association.

Computer Programming

Authored a program to extract loading from 35,000 pages of raw data and design connections for the Hearst Tower

As President of Cives Engineering oversaw the development and updating of all Cives design programs.

Automated a number of administrative tasks including, time management and drawing flow, through the use of Excel, Visual Basic for Applications and Visual Basic programs.

Instituted an Object Oriented approach to the programming including classes and custom user controls to reduce the time required to update and maintain the existing programs.

Authored the inaugural version of the Windows-based Cives P-Sheet Chart Program which generates charts providing shear capacities of various beams connected with shop bolted framed connections, shop welded framed connections, shear end plate connections, single plate shear connections, double angle knife connections, and single angle connections with all possible combinations of shop bolting or welding.

Authored the inaugural version of the Cives Seated Connection Chart Program which generates charts providing shear capacities of various beams connected with stiffened or unstiffened seats.

Authored the inaugural version of the Windows-based Cives Shear and/or Axial Check Program which checks shear capacity of double angle knife connections, and single angle connections with all possible combinations of shop bolting or welding. Checks shear and/or axial capacities of shop bolted framed connections, shop welded framed connections, shear end plate connections, and single plate shear connections. Also can be used to check the capacities of top and/or bottom coped beams.

Authored the inaugural version of the Windows-based Cives Horizontal Brace Check Program which provides checks for typical configurations of horizontal bracing connections. Includes both text calculations and graphical output.

Authored the inaugural version of the Cives Eccentric Bolt Program which provides capacity of eccentrically loaded bolt groups. Can calculate capacity of any bolt group based on the theory of the instantaneous center of rotation.

Authored the inaugural version of the Cives Extended Shear Tab Check Program which provides capacity of extended shear tabs subjected to shear and/or axial loads. Includes innovative buckling checks which allow the top and bottom stabilizing plates to be omitted.

Authored the inaugural version of the Cives Bolted Truss Design Program which assists and automates the design of bolted trusses made up of wide flange members turned flange to view in elevation. Includes both text calculations and graphical output.

Authored the inaugural version of the Cives Graphics Viewer which allows the user to view, zoom and pan graphics files generated by the proceeding software.