Paul Van Benschoten, SE

Principal Advisor, Structural Engineering

LEED AP

Los Angeles

Meet paul

Paul is a principal advisor and structural engineer in our Los Angeles Woodland Hills office responsible for building and maintaining client relationships, expanding into new markets, mentoring engineering staff, and promoting Coffman’s vision and values throughout Los Angeles. Before that, Paul was the general manager of Coffman’s former Encino office (now Woodland Hills) for a decade and was promoted to his current role in 2019 as part of a strategic plan to expand our markets in Southern California.

Paul began his career in structural engineering after working for 18 years in general contracting. Because of this experience, he approaches structural engineering design through the lens of constructability. This unique set of practical construction and analytical structural engineering skills has brought significant savings to clients over the years.

Paul has worked on many landmark projects throughout his career including the Disney Concert Hall, Eiffel Tower II in Las Vegas, Getty Villa Office and Laboratory Building, MGM Grand Convention Center, The Mansion at MGM Grand, and the UC San Diego Eleanor Roosevelt Campus. Paul specializes in seismic retrofits and nonlinear analysis of viscous damping systems.

Professional Organizations

  • Structural Engineers Association of Southern California (SEAOSC).
  • Society of American Military Engineers (SAME).

Publications

  • “Viscous Fluid Damper Retrofit of Pre-Northridge Steel Moment Frame Structures”, 2006, Proceedings of the 75th SEAOC Annual Convention, Long Beach, California.
  • “Buckling Restrained Braced Frame (BRBF) Structures: Analysis, Design and Approvals Issues”, 2006, Proceedings of the 75th SEAOC Annual Convention, Long Beach, California.
  • “Performance Based Seismic Retrofit of the Los Angeles Downtown Women’s Center Project”, 2009, ATC & SEI 2009 Conference on Improving the Seismic Performance of Existing Buildings and Other Structures, San Francisco, California.
  • “BRB Seismic Retrofit of Pre-Northridge Steel Moment Frame Building”, 2010, 2010 SEAOC Convention Proceedings, Indian Wells, California.

Awards

  • 2008 USACE Award, Seismic Rehabilitation of Two Existing Hangers, Edward’s Air Force Base, California.