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Aug 17, 2026

Structural engineering early phase: unlocking value through early decisions

  • Article

The early phase is crucial for any project, especially industrial, mining and infrastructure projects. From the earliest stages of engineering, decisions about foundations, superstructures, construction methods and interdisciplinary interfaces begin to affect project costs, schedules and risks. Every decision matters, and structural engineering expertise helps teams overcome these obstacles and improve the likelihood of project success.

  1. Defining the appropriate technical inputs

    One of the most important drivers of project value is access to high-quality information that meets project needs and is available at the right time. Early project data is often incomplete and may consist of a preliminary layout, rough equipment load estimates, limited geotechnical information or fragmented operational constraints. Involving structural engineering experts early helps identify the required information and supports clients in securing the necessary professional services, particularly for geotechnical studies. Depending on the nature of the project, a geotechnical report should provide usable bearing capacities, acceptable settlement criteria and applicable foundation recommendations. Bringing structural expertise into a project early helps teams assess new information effectively, compare alternatives, refine conservative assumptions and reduce rework and schedule risks.

  2. Identifying impacts before they become costly

    Uncertainty is inherent to the basic engineering phase. The goal isn’t to wait until every detail is finalized. Instead, it’s to determine what work needs to move forward now and what can be further refined in the next phase. This analysis helps identify risk factors that could affect schedules, costs or load fluctuations, layout adjustments or changes to ground conditions or performance criteria. These sensitive assumptions are then monitored closely to identify potential risks and support timely, informed project decisions.

  3. Verifying options at the right milestones

    The basic engineering phase isn’t simply about confirming an initial solution. It should also help in reassessing structural options as project data becomes more accurate. Engineers can then adjust quantities, validate multiple systems, analyze construction methods and explore optimization strategies. For some industrial projects, partially prefabricated components can shorten construction schedules, improve execution quality and reduce certain onsite risks. 

  4. Ensuring interdisciplinary consistency

    Structural decisions affect far more than the structural discipline. Foundation types, structural grids and construction methods influence process engineering, mechanical systems, electrical systems, geotechnical aspects, construction and future operations.  As a result, structural engineers play an active role in interdisciplinary collaboration to ensure proposed solutions remain aligned with the project’s economic, functional and constructability objectives.

  5. Laying the groundwork for project success

     During the basic engineering phase, asking the right questions, validating assumptions and guiding decisions in real time helps resolve both immediate and future challenges. A well-executed basic engineering phase helps prevent errors, improve estimate accuracy and reliability, guide planning, reduce costs and minimize rework.

  6. Key takeaways

    During the basic engineering phase, structural engineering adds value to a project by:
    •    identifying technical inputs early in the process.
    •    determining which assumptions affect costs, risks and schedules.
    •    ensuring consistency among design, constructability, other disciplines and client requirements.

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