Tips & Tricks

July 2, 2026

Celebrating 250 Years of Innovation in American Structures

Happy 4th of July from RISA! Wishing all our U.S. neighbors a happy holiday weekend! As we commemorate the United States’ 250th birthday, RISA celebrates the country’s longstanding spirit of innovation. This spirit is clearly visible in the evolution of our structures and city skylines. Over the past 250 years, advancements in materials, construction methods, and structural analysis have transformed how buildings are designed and built. Today, finite element analysis (FEA) tools, including RISA, allow engineers to analyze complex behavior, iterate quickly, and design more efficient structural systems with confidence. Long before modern computing, engineers were already achieving remarkable feats. One of the most iconic examples of pushing the boundaries is the Empire State Building. The Empire State Building was the tallest building in the world when completed in 1930. The structure consists of a steel moment frame which was the primary structural system used in the early 20th century. It was the first building to exceed 100 stories, 10 times the height of the first modern skyscraper built just 50 years earlier. The construction schedule also set records with 4-½ stories built per week resulting in only a 13 month construction schedule. For comparison, Chicago’s Willis Tower, another steel…