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only an engineer can tell you what your factor of safety is. Your other option is not knowing how sufficient what you built is at all.



Anyone can run numbers. You only need a license to do it for above the table pay.


Anyone can do anything, if they spend a bunch of time studying the ins and outs of it and maybe had an an experienced mentor, but someone who thinks they understand enough to just 'run the numbers' is more dangerous than someone who knows they don't know.

And thats why running numbers has nothing to do with experience and judgement, something you don't seem understand. If you've never built a bridge you don't really understand anything about building a bridge, even if you've been to engineering school.

It's like putting out the firmware for someone's pacemaker because you can 'run the numbers'. You sure can, if you don't mind killing a few people and spending time in prison.


Did you have a professional install a dimmer switch, connect your gas stove, install your washer drain, change your flat tire? Where does it end? Not everything needs to be done by a credentialed professional. The average bridge is a relatively simple I-beam and footing structure spanning a stream or similiar and is not deserving of more than the "plug your max load in here and consult the table in appendix A for footings" treatment that similiar structures get.

I think our world views diverge irreconcilably.


I see you've edited out the comment about not speaking out about putting me in a boxcar because I think people who design bridges should be certified.

I recommend you take some time off the internet and do some mental self care. Whatever it is you think you're doing, it isn't good for you or anyone you interact with, throwaway or not.


I didn't say I'd put you in a box car, just that I wouldn't extend my neck or burn my political capital vouching for someone like you to keep you out. There's a big difference.


re-read my comment - I accurately states what you wrote. You're objecting to something I never said, and splitting a hair that doesn't matter.




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