Final answer:
Balconies, decks, and other platforms must be designed to carry both live and dead loads to ensure stability and safety. Live loads are transient, such as people, while dead loads are the weight of the structure and permanent fixtures.
Step-by-step explanation:
Balconies, decks, and other platforms must be designed to carry both live and dead loads. Live loads refer to the transient forces that can be expected to occur during the lifespan of the structure, such as people, furniture, and movable objects. On the other hand, dead loads consist of the weight of the structure itself, including the materials with which it is built and any permanent fixtures. In civil engineering, it is critical to design for both types of loads to ensure the structure's safety and stability. Moreover, engineers must also consider additional forces such as wind load, seismic activity, and thermal expansion in their designs, but for the purpose of this question, the focus is on live and dead loads.