Contact
Joelle NELSON
Professional Licenses
Professional Engineer (PE)
Expertise
Commercial Cultural & Entertainment Education Government Healthcare Hospitality Industrial & Manufacturing Infrastructure Mixed Use Residential Transportation Expert Witness Testimony Forensic Engineering Construction Engineering & Science Demolition Structural Engineering Crane Accident & Collapse Analysis Structural Engineering Flood Hurricane / Wind / Tornado Insurance Claims Due to Disasters Weld Structural Failures
+ See more Services
Advanced Engineering Analysis Engineering Design Consulting Fitness for Service Evaluations Root Cause & Failure Analysis Structural Analysis
+ See more About Joelle NELSON
Ms. Nelson is forensic engineer with 20 years of structural engineering experience. Her diverse experience includes the design, renovation, construction, and forensic investigation of structures of varying types, ages, and materials, including long-span, high-rise, historic, and temporary structures.
She has experience in the investigation of major structural collapses and has provided litigation and insurance claim support for projects of varying size and type. She has expertise in wind-related failures and crane collapses. She serves on code committees for both wind loading and loads on structures during construction.
In her role at SOCOTEC Engineering, Inc. Ms. Nelson provides full-scale investigation services for structures and heavy machinery. She works with a multidisciplinary team of engineers and metallurgists, with capabilities in material testing and advanced finite element and computational fluid dynamic modeling.
Professional Experience
2 Years with Firm | 20 Years in Industry
Joelle NELSON is a Vice President at SOCOTEC and has been with the organization since 2022. Ms. NELSON was previously employed at Thornton Tomasetti.
Qualifications
Education
- Master of Science in Civil Engineering – Columbia University – 2005
- Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering – Columbia University – 2004
Professional Registrations
- Professional Engineer in: FL, GA, LA, MA, NJ, NY, TX, WA
- OSHA 30 Certification
- NYC Qualified Parking Structure Inspector
Professional Affiliations
- NYC Department of Buildings 2023 Code Revision Structural Committee
- ASCE 37-24 Design Loads on Structures during Construction Standards Committee (member)
- ASCE 7-16, ASCE 7-22, and ASCE 7-28 Subcommittee on Wind Loads (associate member / Vice Chair Chapter 29 Task Force)
Practice Areas
- Root Cause Evaluation
- Expert Witness Testimony
- Engineering Design Consulting
Representative Projects
ROOT CAUSE EVALUATION
- Skip Hoist Collapse Investigation, South Beloit, IL - Investigation of skip hoist that collapsed during routine operation.
- Tower Crane Collapse Investigation, Toronto, ON - Investigation of a tower crane collapse during routine construction activities.
- Tower Crane Incident Investigation, NY - Investigation of tower crane auto-rotation incident that resulted in damage to the building under construction.
- Hurricane Irma Tower Crane Collapse Investigation, FL - Investigation of two tower cranes that collapsed during Hurricane Irma.
- Tower Crane Collapse Investigation, NY - Investigation of tower crane collapse during Sandy.
- 11 Times Square Building Maintenance Unit, New York, NY - Investigation into cause of a cracked weld on a BMU.
- Confidential Mobile Crane Collapse Investigation, NY - Investigation into cause of collapse of a mobile crane during operation.
- Indiana State Fair Stage Collapse Investigation, Indianapolis, IN - Investigation of a temporary stage that collapsed in a high wind event.
- Hurricane Katrina Building Damage Investigations, New Orleans, LA - Investigation into cause of failure, wind or flood, to two buildings during Hurricane Katrina.
ENGINEERING DESIGN CONSULTING
- Javits Center Expansion Project, New York, NY - Peer reviews to assist the design build team throughout the $1.5 billion construction project, included crane, temporary structure and loads imposed reviews.
- Confidential Stadium, Confidential location - Analysis and remediation of newly constructed stadium with design and erection issues.
- NYU Kimmel, New York, NY - Crane and erection engineering for 22-story healthcare facility on a confined site.
- 270 Park Ave - Peer reviews of cranes and temporary work platforms for the demolition of an existing high-rise building and construction of a new skyscraper over the Metro-North Railroad tracks.
- 341-347 Madison Ave Deconstruction - Deconstruction engineering of a block of buildings.
- 130 Liberty Deconstruction - Structural analysis for the demolition of a high-rise building damaged during the World Trade Center Attacks.
- US Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, MN - Structural design and mechanical coordination for 95-foot-high and 55-foot-wide pivoting doors.
- Waller Creek Pedestrian Bridge, Austin, TX - Structural design of curvy concrete pedestrian bridge connecting a new hotel to the convention center.
- United States Capitol Dome Rehabilitation, Washington D.C. - Structural analysis of the existing cast iron dome structure for modern building code-prescribed environmental loading and temporary scaffold loading.
- St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, New York, NY - Structural engineering for new Calatrava-designed church at the World Trade Center site.
- Roosevelt Island Tram Rehabilitation, New York, NY - Design of new headframes and review of the existing tower structure to support the new tramway system.
- 195 Broadway, New York, NY - Design of structural renovations to existing early 1900’s building with landmarked interior and exterior.
- Confidential Tornado Damage Assessment, Confidential location - Structural damage assessment for a steel-braced industrial building that experienced tornado damages to determine its strength in the deformed condition and the in-place column-to-beam connections to assess and prescribe reasonable repair schemes.
PARKING GARAGE PROJECTS
- 1111 Franklin Ave., Garden City, NY (Nassau County) - Assessment of corrosion and peer review of repairs in parking garage structure.
- Yonkers Parking Garage, Yonkers, NY - Repair / reinforcement of corroded parking garage slabs after partial collapse.
- 4 NY Plaza, New York, NY - Conversion of parking garage level to mechanical space post Hurricane Sandy.
- CBS BlackRock Building, New York, NY - Analysis for sidewalk shed loads imposed on plaza above parking garage.
- 30 Lincoln Plaza, New York, NY - Review of landscaping loading and design of reinforcement at plaza above parking garage.
- Sheraton Manhattan, New York, NY - Feasibility Study of potential vertical addition to structure which included an underground parking garage
Contact
Joelle NELSON
Professional Licenses
Professional Engineer (PE)
Expertise
Commercial Cultural & Entertainment Education Government Healthcare Hospitality Industrial & Manufacturing Infrastructure Mixed Use Residential Transportation Expert Witness Testimony Forensic Engineering Construction Engineering & Science Demolition Structural Engineering Crane Accident & Collapse Analysis Structural Engineering Flood Hurricane / Wind / Tornado Insurance Claims Due to Disasters Weld Structural Failures
+ See more Services
Advanced Engineering Analysis Engineering Design Consulting Fitness for Service Evaluations Root Cause & Failure Analysis Structural Analysis
+ See more