Structural Engineer for the Oregon Coast
Johnson Broderick Engineering works as a structural engineer for the Oregon Coast from our Eugene office. Our work on the coast shows what a coastal project can involve, from soft soils to historic buildings.
Coos Bay: a stair tower on 120 feet of bay mud
The Hall Building in downtown Coos Bay dates from the 1920s. Its original fire escape had deteriorated to the point where it couldn’t safely carry people out of the building in an emergency, so the building needed a new egress stair.
The harder problem was underground. The building sits on timber piles in unconsolidated fill and bay mud. A soils report showed that mud extending roughly 120 feet before bedrock. Rather than found the new stair on the same poor soil, we designed micropiles driven through the mud to bedrock, with the stair’s structural slab bearing on them. The result is a stable, code-compliant stair tower that gives the building’s occupants a safe way out.
Otter Rock: replacing a tower that couldn't go dark
At Otter Rock, an existing tower needed replacing, but its antennas were in use and couldn’t be offline for the time it would take to take the old tower down and put a new one up. Working with Silke Communications, a new 150-foot tower, supplied by Valmont, was built around the existing one in 2015, and we designed the foundation system to carry the new loads. The antennas were then shut down briefly and moved across. Broadcasts were interrupted only for a short time, and the owners were very happy.
More on that kind of work on our Tower & Telecom Engineering page.
What a structural engineer for the Oregon Coast can help with
The kind of work we do regularly:
- Egress studies, fire escape evaluations and new egress stairs for existing buildings — see Building Envelope, Egress & ADA
- Deck and balcony replacement, including on occupied apartment buildings
- Foundations on difficult soils, working from a geotechnical report
- Seismic upgrades to existing structures
- Tower and telecom site development
- Storm damage assessment and repair drawings
We’d like to do more work in Newport, Coos Bay, Astoria and the communities in between. Other coast work includes fire repairs at a senior apartment building in Newport and a porte-cochere for the Florence Masonic Lodge.
Working from Eugene
Our office is in Eugene. Design, drawings and permit administration can happen remotely, and we travel to the coast for site visits when the project needs them. Depending on distance and scope, travel may add to the cost of site visits — we’ll show that in the fee estimate before you commit.
Call 541-338-9488 or email info@jbe.us.com with photos or plans. We return new inquiries the same day if possible, or by the next business day.