Modern

STEEL CONSTRUCTION

December 2014

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December 2014
features
24

The Center of Humanity

30

Rescue Mission

36

Music Box

44

The Gem of the Big Apple

48

Working Well with Others

50

Full Circle (or Square)

58

A Direct Lift

24

columns

in every issue

steelwise

departments
6 EDITORS NOTE
9 STEEL INTERCHANGE
12 STEEL QUIZ
60 NEWS & EVENTS
66 STRUCTURALLY SOUND

15

The Right Connection

BY LARRY MUIR, P.E.
A look at some recommendations and
requirements related to connections in
structural steel framing systems.

economics

21

Leading Out of the Recession

BY JOHN CROSS, P.E.
My economic forecast was right?
Of course it was! It was wrong?
Oh, well; mistakes happen.

resources
64 MARKETPLACE
64 EMPLOYMENT

BY NEB ERAKOVIC, P.ENG., AND

TIM VERHEY, P.ENG.
A new museum in the middle of Canada
stands as a beacon for human rights,
construction collaboration and grand, natureinspired design.
BY MATTHEW J. DAW, P.E., AND
AMANDA GIBNEY WEKO
Carefully restoring a historic building in the
wake of a devastating earthquake.
BY PETR VANCURA
Steel-framed sails, clouds and pods define the
inspiring interior of the center of music in
South Beach.
BY STEPHEN V. DESIMONE, P.E., AND
JAMES J. BONANNO, P.E.
A faceted faade, creative cantilever and
tightly spaced top define the structural
system of Manhattans new center of trade for
diamonds, gems and jewelry.
BY JASON FARRIS
Being aware of your surroundings goes a long
way in making your job site a safer place to
work for all.
BY GEOFF WEISENBERGER
A roundabout look at the process of making
hollow structural sections.
BY JIM TALBOT
A bridge in Washington states first town is
now the last of its kind in the U.S.

ON THE COVER: Oh, the humanity! The steel-framed pony truss pedestrian ramps of Winnipegs new Canadian Museum for Human Rights, p. 24.
(Photo: Patrick Coulie Photography)
MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION (Volume 54, Number 12) ISSN (print) 0026-8445: ISSN (online) 1945-0737. Published monthly by the American Institute of Steel
Construction (AISC), One E. Wacker Dr., Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60601. Subscriptions: Within the U.S.single issues $6.00; 1 year, $44. Outside the U.S. (Canada
and Mexico)single issues $9.00; 1 year $88. Periodicals postage paid at Chicago, IL and at additional mailing offices. Postmaster: Please send address changes to
MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION, One East Wacker Dr., Suite 700, Chicago, IL 60601.
DISCLAIMER: AISC does not approve, disapprove, or guarantee the validity or accuracy of any data, claim, or opinion appearing under a byline or obtained or
quoted from an acknowledged source. Opinions are those of the writers and AISC is not responsible for any statement made or opinions expressed in MODERN
STEEL CONSTRUCTION. All rights reserved. Materials may not be reproduced without written permission, except for noncommercial educational purposes where
fewer than 25 photocopies are being reproduced. The AISC and Modern Steel logos are registered trademarks of AISC.

DECEMBER 2014


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editors note
Editorial Offices
1 E. Wacker Dr., Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60601
312.670.2400 tel

Editorial Contacts
EDITOR & PUBLISHER
Scott L. Melnick
312.670.8314
melnick@modernsteel.com

THE VIEW COULDNT BE BETTER. Last month Nik Wallenda (the seventh-generation
progeny of the famed Flying Wallendas circus family) walked across a steel cable strung
over the Chicago river. Right outside AISCs offices.

SENIOR EDITOR
Geoff Weisenberger
312.670.8316
weisenberger@modernsteel.com
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Tasha Weiss
312.670.5439
weiss@modernsteel.com
DIRECTOR OF PUBLISHING
Areti Carter
312.670.5427
areti@modernsteel.com
GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGER
Kristin Hall
312.670.8313
hall@modernsteel.com

AISC Officers
CHAIR
Jeffrey E. Dave, P.E.
Alana Krohn

As thrilling as the walk was, stringing the

steel cable was, for some of us, even more
fascinating. The 750-ft.-long wire was threequarters of an inch thickabout the size of a
nickeland stretched from the Leo Burnett
Building to the west Marina City tower. A second, shorter cable (about 100 ft. long) was also
stretched between the two Marina City towers.
Anyone watching the Discovery Channel
broadcast (or online at skyscraperlive.com,
where you can still see highlights) was treated
to a detailed look at how they strung the
cables (despite terrible weather with mixed
snow and hail and wind gusts up to 40 mph).
And it detailed the use of guy wires to prevent
sway and dynamometers to make sure the
exact amount of tension was reached. If you
missed the walk, check out the videos; its a
great structural engineering story.
Of course, if you enjoy a great technical
story, the best ones are told by the recipients of the T.R. Higgins Lectureship Award.
Unlike other AISC awards, which are given
in recognition of an individual or project, the
Higgins Award also includes a lecture (or as I
prefer to call it, a story).
The 2015 recipient is Chia-Ming Uang,
a professor in the Department of Structural
6

DECEMBER 2014

Engineering at the University of San Diego

(UCSD). According to Charlie Carter,
AISCs vice president of engineering and
research, His model for determining forces
in stiffeners in columns at moment connections will allow us to stop using arbitrary
methods with prescriptive sizing requirements for plates and welds, making the
plates and their welds far more economical. His lecture will be based partially on
his third-quarter 2013 Engineering Journal
paper A Flexibility-Based Formulation for
the Design of Continuity Plates in Steel
Special Moment Frames.
Uang will deliver his Higgins Lecture at
various locales during 2015, starting with the
2015 NASCC: The Steel Conference (March
2527 in Nashville). If you want to be one
of the first to hear this great structural story,
you can register at www.aisc.org/nascc.
I hope you enjoy this steel story as much
as Im sure I will. See you in Nashville!

SCOTT MELNICK
EDITOR

VICE CHAIR
James G. Thompson
SECRETARY & GENERAL
COUNSEL
David B. Ratterman
PRESIDENT
Roger E. Ferch, P.E.
VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER
Charles J. Carter, S.E., P.E., Ph.D.
VICE PRESIDENT
Jacques Cattan
VICE PRESIDENT
John P. Cross, P.E.
VICE PRESIDENT
Scott L. Melnick

Advertising Contact
Account Manager
Louis Gurthet
231.228.2274 tel
231.228.7759 fax
gurthet@modernsteel.com
For advertising information,
contact Louis Gurthet or visit
www.modernsteel.com

Address Changes and

Subscription Concerns
312.670.5444 tel
312.893.2253 fax
admin@modernsteel.com

Reprints
Betsy White
The Reprint Outsource, Inc.
717.394.7350
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INTRODUCING THE

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FULL JOINT ANALYSIS

Instead of choosing a connection from a library, SDS/2 designs
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at the beginning of a project.
All connections SDS/2 automatically designs will comply with
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SDS/2 provides long-hand calculations

of all designed connections, which simplies the verication process. Scan the
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CLASH PREVENTION
SDS/2 checks for interaction with other connections within
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connections are automatically veried based on selected
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Be part of
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*Free Autodesk software licenses and/or cloud-based services are subject to acceptance of and compliance with the terms and
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Autodesk, the Autodesk logo, Revit and AutoCAD are registered trademarks or trademarks of Autodesk, Inc., and/or its subsidiaries and/
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responsible for typographical or graphical errors that may appear in this document. 2014 Autodesk, Inc. All rights reserved.

If youve ever asked yourself Why? about something

related to structural steel design or construction,
Modern Steels monthly Steel Interchange is for you!
Send your questions or comments to solutions@aisc.org.

steel
interchange

Bolt Entering Direction

Partial Thread Engagement

According to the specification for our project, the bolt

head should be placed on the outside of the flange. Is this
an AISC requirement?

Please explain the basis of this statement in Section

2.11.3 of the 2nd Edition of AISC Design Guide 1: A
conservative estimate of the resulting nut strength can be
made based on the percentage of threads engaged, as long
as at least half of the threads in the nut are engaged.

No, it is not an AISC requirement. There are no requirements

for orientation of the bolt in the AISC Code of Standard
Practice, the AISC Specification or the RCSC Specification.
Note, however, the scope statement in Section 1.1 in the Code
of Standard Practice, which states:
This Code sets forth criteria for the trade practices involved
in steel buildings, bridges and other structures, where
other structures are defined as those structures designed,
fabricated and erected in a manner similar to buildings,
with building-like vertical and lateral load resisting
elements. In the absence of specific instructions to the
contrary in the contract documents, the trade practices that
are defined in this Code shall govern the fabrication and
erection of structural steel.
Thus, the specific instructions in the contract documents
govern. Since the contract documents state that the bolt heads
should be placed on the outside of the flange, this is a requirement per the contract documents for this particular project.
Carlo Lini

Limiting the Number of Field Splices

The erector on our project is insisting that conditions
indicated as field-welded splices in the contract documents should be shop welded for economy. Can we shop
weld these splices?
Section 6.7.4 of the AISC Code of Standard Practice states:
Unless otherwise specified in the contract documents, and
subject to the approved shop and erection drawings, the
fabricator shall limit the number of field splices to that
consistent with minimum project cost.
The key phrase here is: Unless otherwise specified in the
contract documents The contract documents call for field
splices, and those requirements govern the project and must
be adhered to unless a change to the contract is agreed to by
the parties.
Toward that end, you could submit a request to the
engineer of record (EOR) to modify the connection such that
this would result in reduced field welding. Or, if you think the
field weld symbol may have been a mistake, you could submit
an RFI to clarify this.
Ultimately, however, you cannot change the condition shown
in the contract documents without approval from the EOR.
Carlo Lini

Its a statement based upon judgment, but I can add some

science as well.
At full thread engagement, we know the threads will not
strip before the bolt fractures through the net tensile area.
Of course there is some factor of safety on this, so that
somewhat less than what is defined as full engagement is
required, but we define full engagement as existing when the
nut is at least flush with the end of the bolt. If full engagement
does not exist, then there is the possibility that the full tensile
strength of the bolt cannot be developed.
When the nut is stronger than the boltthe normal case
the strength of the threads relative to stripping is usually
calculated as:
Fs Ats
where
Fs = shear strength of the bolt threads
Ats = area of the threads at the stripping failure plane
Ats can be calculated as: nLeDmin [1/(2n)+ 0.577(Dmin-Emax)]
where
Dmin = minimum major diameter of the bolt threads
Le = length of thread engagement
Emax = maximum pitch diameter of the nut threads n is the
threads per inch
As it turns out, fasteners are configured such that nLeDmin
[1/(2n)+ 0.577(Dmin-Emax)] > 1.0. So the strength relative to
stripping always increases faster than the increase in thread
engagement. So if we simply assume that the strength relative
to stripping always increases at the same rate as the increase in
thread engagement, we will have a conservative estimate of the
strength.
Some caution must be exercised when applying these
equations, since there are other factorssuch as friction, the
relative nut-to-bolt strength, etc.that can affect the stripping
strength of the bolt. Therefore, it is advisable to err on the
side of caution, as has been done in the guidance presented in
the design guide.
It should also be noted that though exceptions relative
to full thread engagement are sometimes made for anchor
rods, it is generally not considered appropriate to make such
exceptions for bolted connections.
Larry S. Muir, P.E.
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

steel interchange
Eccentricity on Coped Beams

Splices in Bent Edge Plate

I am designing connections for a project in which the

EOR has delegated the design of connections using
Option 3 in the AISC Code of Standard Practice. When
checking coped beams, the definition of "e" on page 9-6
of the AISC Steel Construction Manual allows the point of
inflection to be assumed some distance from the face of
the supporting member. I have opted to assume that the
point of inflection is located at the bolt line in the beam
end rather than at the face of the support. Is this acceptable?

At splices in bent edge plate (pour-stop) the inspector

is insisting that the vertical legs of pour-stop be welded
with butt welds. Are we required to weld the splices?

The information you noted in the AISC Manual explicitly

allows the use of an eccentricity less than the distance from
the face of the support to the end of the cope. However, in my
experience the inflection point is almost universally assumed
to be at the face of the supporting member. If you were to
assume instead that the inflection point is at the bolt line,
then you would have to ensure that the other elements in the
connection could resist the moments consistent with your
chosen model. The change would also potentially add moment
to the supporting members, and these members would have to
be designed for the additional moment.
It is generally safe to assume the inflection point is located
at the face of the supporting member because this assumption
is consistent with common design practices. Some structural
analysis and design programs assume an inflection point away
from the face of the support, but this assumption would have
to be confirmed or the adequacy of the members otherwise
determined before the assumed inflection point could be
moved away from the face of the support.
A further consideration is that rotational ductility per
Specification Sections B3.6a and J1.2 must be satisfied.
Moving the assumed inflection point could produce
additional demands on the connection that would increase
the size of some of the elements and make satisfying the
rotational ductility requirements difficult. The move you
are contemplating, from the face of the support to the bolt
line, should not cause any problems in this regard, but other
locations, such as assuming an inflection point at the end of
the cope, could present issues.
The main points here are:
1. You cannot unilaterally change the assumption about
the location of the inflection point. The EOR must be
consulted.
2. Consistent assumptions must be used throughout the
design and all design considerations must be properly
addressed.
Larry S. Muir, P.E.

10

DECEMBER 2014

There is no specific AISC provision that requires this, but what

is shown in the contract documents? Are there any details or
notes on the structural drawings or specifications that call for
the vertical legs of the pour-stops to be butt welded?
On projects in which I am the EOR, I do not typically
provide any requirements or details for how to splice the bent
plates and I have seen the vertical legs welded, the vertical
legs butted together snugly with no weld and the vertical
legs adjacent with a gap that gets covered with duct tape.
Personally, I have no preference and will accept any of these
approaches for a typical bent plate pour-stop splice.
In general, independent third-party inspectors should be
inspecting the structure for conformance with the contract
documents and not interpreting or modifying the contract
documents. Under this assumption, if there are no details on
how to treat the bent plate splice in the structural drawings
or specifications, the inspector should not be commenting,
and I would recommend the contractor submit an RFI to
the EOR asking them to confirm your proposed detail is
acceptable. On some projects, the inspector will be acting
more as an agent of the EORbut again, if theres no detail
in the contract documents, you should still be able to seek
written confirmation of the EORs intent.
Susan Burmeister, P.E.

The complete collection of Steel Interchange questions and answers is available online.
Find questions and answers related to just about any topic by using our full-text search
capability. Visit Steel Interchange online at www.modernsteel.com.

Larry Muir is director of technical assistance and Carlo Lini is staff engineer technical
assistance, both with AISC. Susan Burmeister is a consultant to AISC.

Steel Interchange is a forum to exchange useful and practical professional ideas and
information on all phases of steel building and bridge construction. Opinions and
suggestions are welcome on any subject covered in this magazine.
The opinions expressed in Steel Interchange do not necessarily represent an official position of
the American Institute of Steel Construction and have not been reviewed. It is recognized that the
design of structures is within the scope and expertise of a competent licensed structural engineer,
architect or other licensed professional for the application of principles to a particular structure.
If you have a question or problem that your fellow readers might help you solve, please
forward it to us. At the same time, feel free to respond to any of the questions that you
have read here. Contact Steel Interchange via AISCs Steel Solutions Center:
1 E Wacker Dr., Ste. 700, Chicago, IL 60601
UFM
"4,"*4$
t
GBY

solutions@aisc.org

Complete Project Support

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steel quiz

This months Steel Quiz is a Twitter contest!

Solve the December Steel Quiz

and tweet AISC your answer for
a chance to win a Bolse External
Battery Pack! All you have to do
is decode all 13 characters. The
contest starts December 1 and
ends December 15. For complete
contest rules, visit www.aisc.org/
SteelQuizContestRules.
Discover the code here:
www.aisc.org/SteelQuizContest

12

DECEMBER 2014

Instructions (using Q13 as an example):

1 Use the AISC Specification to

line will intersect with the correct

character. Pay attention to units.

determine that the required depth

of the concrete above the steel deck
must be equal to or greater than two
inches per section I3.2C (3).

4 Place the character in the matching

2 Place the answer (2 inches) in the

5 Tweet @aisc using the decoded

correct box.

3 Draw a line matching up the correct

answers (dot-to-dot) to discover
the corresponding character. The

blank space. Repeat for all 12

remaining questions until you find
the Twitter hashtag.
hashtag
and
#contest.
Example: Code solved! @AISC
#^^^^^^^^^^^^^ #contest.

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steelwise
A look at some recommendations and
requirements related to connections in structural

THE RIGHT
CONNECTION

steel framing systems.

EDITED BY LARRY S. MUIR, P.E.

AISC IS UPDATING the Frequently Asked Questions section of its website (www.aisc.org). As these updates are created,
selected sections will be published as SteelWise articles. This
months installment covers connections.
5. Connections
The AISC Specification for Structural Steel Buildings covers
requirements for the design of structural steel connections. Additional recommendations can be found in the AISC Steel Construction Manual. The FAQs in this section include a discussion
of portions of these provisions and subsequent recommendations with regard to general issues in connection design, fabrication and erection. For bolting- and welding-specific issues,
refer to the FAQs in Section 6 and Section 8, respectively.
5.1. Bolt Holes
5.1.1. Maximum hole sizes for bolts are specified in the
Specification Table J3.3. What if an actual hole dimension
is between two of the values?
AISC Specification Table J3.3 is based upon the RCSC Specification Table 3.1 and contains the maximum dimensions of
standard, oversized, short-slotted and long-slotted holes. If an
actual dimension exceeds the tabulated maximum, it must be
treated as the next larger hole size. For example, a 1316-in. by
1-in. slotted hole for a -in.-diameter bolt must be treated as
a long-slotted hole because it exceeds the maximum short-slotted hole size (1316 in. by 1 in.). Note that the RCSC Specification,
in the footnote of Table 3.1, allows a 132-in. tolerance on these
maximum hole sizes as discussed in 2.4.2 and 2.5.5.
5.1.2. Alternatives are provided in the AISC Specification in Section J3.10 for the calculation of bearing strength
at bolt holes with deformation considered or not considered. What is the philosophical difference between these
options?
When deformation is a design consideration, the design
strength is limited to the force at which the hole edge has deformed by a maximum of in. When deformation is not a design consideration, larger hole ovalization is permitted as the
material attains its maximum bearing strength.
5.1.3. Does flame-cutting of bolt holes affect connection strength and performance?
Generally, no. Iwankiw and Schlafly (1982) investigated the
performance of double-lap joints with holes made by punching, punching with burrs removed, sub-punching and reaming,
drilling, flame-cutting and flame-cutting and reaming. The

comparison of 18 samples using -in.-thick ASTM A36 steel

plates with standard holes indicated that there is no significant
variation in connection strength according to the method of
hole formation under static load. Additional considerations
may be warranted for much thicker plates, steel grades other
than those tested and cyclically loaded structures.
Iwankiw, N.R. and Schlafly, T.J. (1982), Effect of HoleMaking on the Strength of Double Lap Joints, Engineering
Journal, Vol. 19, No. 3, (3rd Qtr.), AISC, Chicago, IL.
Last modified August 23, 2002.
5.1.4. AISC Specification Section J3.8 requires that bearing limit states be checked for slip-critical connections.
Why is this check necessary? If the bolts go into bearing,
hasnt the connection failed?
Although slip-critical connections are designed to resist slip,
a target reliability is established similar to that used in main
member design, as opposed to the higher reliabaility associated
with most connection-related limit states. This is allowed since
slip would not result in the loss of the connection between the
elements. The language in Specification Section J3.8 is to preclude a rupture failure that could result in the loss of the connection between the elements if slip were to occur. In other
words, it is intended to provide a consistent level of relaibility
against a rupture failure.
5.2. Single-Plate Connections
5.2.1. In the design procedure for single-plate connections in the AISC Steel Construction Manual, the plate
thickness is limited relative to the bolt diameter and the
fillet weld size is required to be 5/8 of the plate thickness.
What does this accomplish?

Larry Muir (muir@aisc.org)

is AISCs director of technical
assistance.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

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steelwise
It ensures the plate will be the critical element of the connection and that the connection will possess sufficient rotation
capacity to accommodate the simple beam end rotation as required by Section B3.6a of the AISC Specification. Bolt bearing
will occur before bolt shear and plate yielding will occur before weld rupture; thereby, a ductile limit-state will control the
strength of the connection.
5.2.2. Are through-plates always required for singleplate connections to HSS columns?
No. Sherman and Ales (1991) demonstrated that local yielding of the support was not a concern due to the self-limiting
nature of simple-shear connection end rotation and that the
compressive strength of the HSS column was unaffected by the
associated local deformations. However, this same research indicated that punching shear may be of concern for relatively
thin supporting material thicknesses. Punching shear can be
prevented by selecting an HSS with a wall thickness tw that
meets the following criteria:
tw is greater than or equal to (Fy pl)(tpl) / Fuw
where Fy pl = the yield strength of the single plate
tpl = the thickness of the single plate
Fuw = the tensile strength of the HSS wall
Note that this equation differs slightly from that given in
Sherman and Ales (1991). Here, the expression is derived at
the design strength level (omega factors included) whereas it
was previously derived at the nominal strength level (no omega
factors). If the actual maximum stress is known, it can be substituted for Fy pl in the above equation for a less conservative result.
The above minimum thicknesses would also be applicable to
a welded plate tension connection (uniform stress distribution
assumed). However, for cantilevered bracket connections, which
do not have self-limiting rotations, yielding must also be checked.
Sherman, D.R. and Ales, J.M. (1991), The Design of Shear
Tabs with Tubular Columns, Proceedings of the 1991 AISC
National Steel Construction Conference, AISC, Chicago, IL.
5.3. Other General Information
5.3.1. Are shop assembly requirements, such as subpunching and reaming or reaming to a template, necessary
in contract documents?
The use of modern punching and drilling equipment consistently produces and duplicates hole patterns with excellent
dimensional accuracy. Some specifications fail to recognize this
capability and still require that matching hole patterns be produced by drilling or reaming through a steel template.
In lieu of a template or assembly drilling or reaming, the
fabricator should be allowed to demonstrate the capability to
fabricate component structural members to the tolerance and
accuracy specified so that further shop assembly to assure proper fit can be eliminated. In some cases, such as large trusses or
plate girders, shop assembly may be advisable to reduce the occurrence of field fit-up problems. In any case, responsibility for
final fit still rests with the fabricator.
5.3.2. How much of a joint must be in contact to be
considered to be in full contact?

Projecting elements of bolted connection attachments, such as

clip-angles or end-plates, often are not flat in the plane of the connection because of profile variations due to as-rolled mill tolerances or welding distortions. In double-angle connections, for example, the outstanding legs tend to bend back toward the centerline
of the span. Any resulting gaps are usually drawn together when
the bolts are installed, except in relatively thick material.
The additional tension in the bolts produced by pulling the
plies together is not a concern. High-strength bolts must comply with AISC, RCSC and ASTM requirements, which ensures
proper matching of the nut and bolt. One reason for this is to
ensure that, if the bolt fails in the tightening operation, the failure will be a torque-tension fracture in the bolt shanknot a
thread-stripping failure. When this happens, the bolt fractures
completely and must be replaced. If the bolt is pretensioned to
a higher value than the specified pretension, tests have shown
that there are no negative effects on the bolt during service.
Neither bearing nor slip-critical connections require continuous contact between the plies. Therefore the RCSC Specifcaiton defines firm contact as the condition that exists on a
faying surface when the plies are solidly seated against each
other, but not necessarily in continuous contact.
When firm contact exists between the connected elements,
bolts in shear, or shear and tension, will not be subjected to additional bending stresses.
The slip resistance of slip-critical connections is not dependent on the contact area. It is only a function of the pretension
and the slip coefficient of the faying surface. Whether the pretension results in a low clamping stress over a large area, or a
higher clamping stress over a smaller area is immaterial.
5.3.3. Is lamellar tearing a signficant concern?
AISC Design Guide 21 states: The incidence of lamellar
tearing today is significantly reduced as compared to the past,
due mostly to proper joint selection and better steel chemistry. Current steelmaking practices have helped to minimize
lamellar tearing tendencies. With continuously cast steel, the
degree of rolling after casting is diminished. The reduction in
the amount of rolling has directly affected the degree to which
these laminations are flattened, and has correspondingly reduced lamellar tearing tendencies.
Research (Melendrez and Dexter [2000]) demonstrates
that W-shapes are not susceptible to lamellar tearing or other
through-thickness failures when welded tee joints are made to
the flanges at locations away from member ends. Special production practices can be specified for steel plates to enhance
through-thickness ductility and assist in reducing the incidence
of lamellar tearing. For further information, refer to ASTM
A770. However, it must be recognized that the specification of
premium-quality steel does not itself eliminate the potential for
lamellar tearingor the need for careful design, detailing and
fabrication of highly restrained joints.
Melendrez, M.I. and Dexter, R.J. (2000), ThroughThickness Properties of Column Flanges in Welded
Moment Connections, Journal of Structural Engineering,
Vol. 126, No. 1, pp. 24-31, ASCE, Reston, VA.
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

17

steelwise
5.3.4. What is shear lag and when must it be considered?
Shear lag describes behavior at an end connection of a tension member where some but not all of the cross-sectional elements are connected; the area that is effective in resisting tension may be less than the full calculated net area. Procedures
for treatment of shear lag and determination of the effective
net area in bolted and welded connections are provided in the
2010 AISC Specification Section D3.3. Alternatively, shear lag
concerns can be addressed by selecting a connection length that
mobilizes the entire load-transmitting capability.
5.3.5. What column stiffening requirements apply at
beam-to-column-flange moment connections?
Column stiffening requirements are covered in the AISC
Specification Section J10 for concentrated flange forces and panel
zone shear. Generally, the use of larger columns to eliminate column stiffening, particularly web doubler plates, is recommended.
For seismic applications, see the AISC Seismic Provisions.
5.3.6. In many design examples in the Manual of Steel
Construction, yielding and buckling in a gusset plate or
similar fitting are checked on a Whitmore section. What is
a Whitmore section?
A Whitmore section identifies a theoretically effective crosssectional area at the end of a connection resisting tension or
compression, such as that from a brace-to-gusset-plate connection or similar fitting. As illustrated in Figure 5.3.7-1 for a WT
hanger connection, the effective length for the Whitmore section Lw is determined by using a spread-out angle of 30 along
both sides of the connection, beginning at the start of the connection. It is applicable to both welded and bolted connections.
Last modified January 1, 2006.

Lw

30

30

Fig. 5.3.7-1

5.3.7. How can adequate flexibility be maintained in

double-angle simple shear connections subjected to combined shear and tension load?
As the tensile force component increases in a double-angle
shear connection subjected to combined shear and tension,
18

DECEMBER 2014

prying action and/or bending require that the fitting thickness

be increased or the bolt gage be decreased, thereby decreasing
the available flexibility. Thornton (1995) assesses the ductility
of bolts in the outstanding legs of double-angle and similar
simple-shear connections.
This study validates the long-standing AISC Manual recommendation that maximum angle thickness be limited to 58 in. for
usual gages (4 in. to 6 in.) in double-angle simple-shear connections. For welded connections, a parallel examination can be
made as illustrated in Thornton (1996). It should be noted that
an alternative connection detail, such as a single-plate connection, may be more feasible for shear-tension applications.
It is important to realize that Section B1.6a in the AISC
Specification requires only that a simple connection have sufficient rotation capacity to accommodate the required rotation
determined by the analysis of the structure. This may not dictate that bolts must be stronger than the angles. In some instances the beam may be deep relative to its length or lightly
loaded in the vertical direction. In either case the required rotation will be small.
Thornton, W.A (1995), Treatment of Simple Shear
Connections Subject to Combined Shear and Axial Forces,
Modern Steel Construction, September, pp. 9-10, AISC,
Chicago, IL.
Thornton, W.A (1996), A Rational Approach to the Design
of Tee Shear Connections, Engineering Journal, Vol. 33, No.
1, (1st Qtr.), pp. 34-37, AISC, Chicago, IL.
5.3.8. What are some AISC resources for connection
design?
Parts 7-14 of the AISC Steel Construction Manual provide a
wealth of information related to connection design. Additional
information can be found here:
Design Guides 4 and 16 address the design of end-plate
moment connections.
Design Guide 8 addresses one type of partially-restrained
connection.
Design Guide 13 addresses the stiffening of wide-flange
columns at moment connections.
Design Guide 24 addresses HSS connections.
5.3.9. What are some AISC resources for steel detailers?
Detailing for Steel Construction (3rd Edition, 2009) is an excellent reference that discusses some common detailing practices
and has many sample detail drawings. Among other things, the
reference has a section on drafting, structural steel, detailing
and fabricating of steel, some structural engineering fundamentals (stress and strain), bolted connections, welded connections,
columns and framing for industrial buildings.
AISC also has a web-based Detailer Training Series. Originally developed by AISC and the National Institute of Steel
Detailing, it is now being made available as a free web-based
service thanks to funding from IMPACT (the Ironworker Management Progressive Action Cooperative Trust). See it online at
www.aisc.org/dts. Note that it also is a great introduction to
steel construction for anyone with an interest in steel construc
tion, not just steel detailers.

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economics

My economic forecast was right?

LEADING OUT OF
THE RECESSION

Of course it was! It was wrong?

Oh, well; mistakes happen.

BY JOHN CROSS, P.E.

Millions of Square Feet

5050
0

-5050
-10000
-15050
-20000

During the third quarter of 2014, the incremental growth of

construction activity compared to the same quarter of the prior
year spiked significantly. Construction starts on a square footage basis in the third quarter of 2014 are estimated to be 333
million sq. ft compared to 270 million sq. ft in the third quarter
of 2013. This is a growth of 64 million sq. ft compared to a
growth of 40 million sq. ft between the third quarter of 2013 to
the third quarter of 2012. The bottom line is that the pace of
the construction recovery is certainly quickening.
But the real question isnt whether this column was right
or wrong. The real question is what we can learn about construction trends that will help us better manage future business cycles. Perhaps the most important trend to recognize in
coming out of this recession is the sequence of recovery in different construction segments. Conventional wisdom has always

1.2
1.2

Single-Family
Single

11

Multi-family

0.8
0.8

MultiResidential
Reside

0.6
0.6

Nonresidential
Non-R
Buildings
Buildin

0.4
0.4

Indust
Industrial

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

00

2005

0.2
0.2
2004

10000

Construction Cycle by Project Type

1.4
1.4

2003

Change in Construction Volume Compared

to the Same Quarter of the Prior Year

been that single-family housing leads the recovery of all other

sectors (multi-family housing, commercial and industrial) in
coming out of a recessionary period. The lead-lag relationship
between single-family and commercial construction has been
traditionally pegged at two years. But is that the case in this
recession?
Growth
Index(2006
(2006 Activity
= 1.0)
Growth
Index
ActivityLevel
Level=1.0)

ACCOUNTABILITY IS AN INTERESTING CONCEPT

particularly when it comes to economic forecasts.
When forecasts are wrong they are never remembered or
spoken of. But when forecasts are correct they are trumpeted as
great triumphs of the dismal science of economics.
In the May issue of Modern Steel, this column forecast that
employment would return to prerecession levels on July 4, an
event that would result in a point of inflection in the current
growth rate of building construction. As it turns out, U.S. fulltime, non-farm employment did surpass prerecession levels.
That happy event actually occurred a bit earlier than anticipated, in early June rather than on July 4, but the real question
was whether it would trigger an uptick in the rate of building
construction activity. And the answer is yes (!) and the truth is
that I probably wouldnt be writing this column if the answer
had been no. So much for accountability.

The answer is no. It appears that in coming out of this

recessionary period, single-family residential construction did
not lead and that there is not a two-year lag between singlefamily recovery and nonresidential building recovery. The drivers coming out of this recession have been industrial activity
and multi-family housing. Industrial construction did not dip
as far as the other categories, declining only 21%, and is now
running above the 2006 level. Multi-family housing did drop
precipitously by 80% but has recovered a significant portion of
that loss to be only 35% below 2006 levels. Both of these markets picked up sooner and stronger than either single-family
housing (which remains down 50%) and nonresidential, which
remains 42% below 2006 levels.

John Cross is an AISC vice

president. You can reach
him at cross@aisc.org.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

21

THE PROVEN
STEEL BRIDGE
DESIGN SOLUTION

So where has industrial and multi-family

residential recovery been the strongest?
Industrial construction activity has been
strongest in the Gulf states of Texas and
Louisiana, who between them account for
25% of all industrial activity.
Industrial Activity by State

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Texas
17%

All other
states
combined
46%

South
Carolina 3%

Tennessee 3%
Michigan 3%
Kentucky 3%

Pennsylvania 3%

Multi-family housing has also been

strongest in the Gulf Coast region, with
Texas and Florida accounting for 24% of
all construction activity.
Multi-family
Construction by State

Texas
13%
Florida
11%

All other
states
25%

3%
ona

Ariz

hi

New
Jersey 3%
Pennsylvania
3%
Washington
3%

ifor

ar

3%

3%

g
or

Cal

yl

%
o4
ad
lor
Co ginia 3%
Vir

ia

New York 9%

an

nia

7%

5%

North
Carolina 3%
Tennessee 3%

So what will the future bring? This is

the time of year when the construction
economists come out of their year-long
hibernation and share their predictions
for the coming year. So be sure to check
this column next month for the 2015 construction forecastfor which will we be

accountable.
22

DECEMBER 2014

The

CENTER

of Humanity
A new museum in the middle of Canada stands as a beacon for human rights,
construction collaboration and grand, nature-inspired design.

BY NEB ERAKOVIC, P.ENG., AND TIM VERHEY, P.ENG.

THE CANADIAN MUSEUM FOR HUMAN RIGHTS

is far from the familiar.
When it opened earlier this fall in Winnipeg, Manitoba, near
the east-west center of the country (and roughly 50 miles north of
the U.S. border), it was the first national museum to be built since
1967and the first ever outside of the National Capital Region
(Ottawa). The architectural design for the museum was selected
from an international competition that included 62 submissions
from 12 countries in a judicial review that stretched over a period
of 18 months and included three levels of detailed submissions.
Built at a cost of $351 million (Canadian)funded by private donations and public contributionsthe 24,500-sq.-m
(260,000-sq.-ft) museum is envisioned to be an iconic symbol
of Canada, and Antoine Predocks winning design draws inspiration from the countrys natural scenery and open spaces. It
will serve as a national hub of human rights education and an
inspiring forum for human rights issues, as well as a landmark
building with its unique structure. Visitors will experience a
museum articulating powerful stories in 11 themed galleries
that bring human rights ideals to life.
24

DECEMBER 2014

CH2M HILL was selected to provide structural engineering

consulting services for the building and helped the architects to
support their vision of organic forms with rational structural
solutions. From a structural perspective, the project highlights
the benefits and importance of modern tools and technology
associated with 3D modeling of complex geometric forms and
the development of interfacing details for building interwoven
components. It also emphasized the adaptability and limitless
advantages of structural steel framing, which resulted in smaller
gravity load carrying members, more economical foundations,
compact connections and linkages between various building
components, lightweight long-span floor framing with large
column-free areas (up to 100+ ft) and greater overall flexibility
in terms of adaptability to future space reconfiguration.
Natural Beauty
The buildings components are reminiscent of natural forms
and include icebergs, tree roots, dove wings and mountainsall
with the goal of symbolizing hope for a better world. Translation
of the complex geometry of these forms into structural solutions

The Canadian Museum for Human Rights opened earlier

this fall.

was achieved by breaking the structure into separate components that could be modeled independently and sequentially
integrated into the overall structural model of the building.
The structure is generally composed of four base Roots
radiating out from a central great hall and a Garden of Reflection beneath a suspended Mountain, a Cloud and
what is known as the Tower of Hope. A 50-m-tall (164 ft)
Hall of Hope atrium at the back of the building cuts into
the mountain and roots like a canyon and houses circulation ramps between the galleries. The roots contain the
functional spaces of the museum and are constructed of
sloping, segmented, reinforced concrete walls with sloped
steel roof framing. The diagrid-framed mountain contains
the bulk of the exhibition spaces, and the vertical and horizontal steel truss-framed cloud encapsulates office spaces
and a large atrium. Projecting above the cloud roof, the
steel-framed Tower of Hope, which soars to 100 m (328 ft)

Antoine Predock Architect

Graham Dunk, Architecture 49

Assembly of the primary programmatic zones.

Neb Erakovic (neb.erakovic@ch2m.com) is a principal of the

Global Buildings Group of Toronto-based ofce of CH2M HILL.
Tim Verhey (tverhey@waltersinc.com) is vice president of
engineering and production with Walters, Inc.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

25

high, houses an observation gallery to provide visitors

with a stunning view of downtown Winnipeg and the
surrounding landscape. The museum is also traversed
by 1,000 m (3,280 ft) of steel-framed pony truss pedestrian ramps. All of these elements are supported
by structural steel framing interconnected with spatial concrete shells and a multi-faceted curved glass
faade. Altogether, this framing system is made up of
5,100 metric tonnes (5,622 tons) of structural steel,
16,000 steel assemblies and 165,000 bolts.

included highly stressed contact points between various

forms, large column-free spaces, irregularities in geometry
of sloping surfaces and unconventional load paths. (While
ordinary structures transfer loads more or less directly to
the groundi.e., slab/beams to columns down to foundationsthe museums complex geometry results in floors
that work as membranes or diaphragms/axial elements
and flexural and plate elements. Its sort of like flying
from Los Angeles to New York via Mexico City.)
Design issues were further aggravated by the
fact that the entire lower mountain form was massively cantilevered with a disproportionately short
back span. The floor diaphragms at the top and
bottom floors performed as a horizontal force
couple to provide a supplemental resistance to
the overturning effects.
The connection of
the cantilever (more
than 50 ft long) form

Making Mountains, Creating Clouds

The mountain galleries consists of a randomly
stacked array of five stone-clad irregular forms suspended 18 m (59 ft)
above the ground-floor level. This
structural component proved
to be the most challenging design task and

Architect Antoine Predocks initial vision for

the museum.

Antoine Predock Architect

Mountain assembly A being connected to

the concrete core.

Walters, Inc.

Walters, Inc.

A shared node with a 19.7-in. 23.6-in. laminate diagrid member.

CH2M HILL

26

DECEMBER 2014

to the concrete vertical shaft also proved to be a challenging task

that required complex tie-in connection details. The steel elements
were designed to physically engage the concrete through a series of
shear transfer elements that protruded into the concrete. The massive supported weight of the stone cladding, along with the heavily loaded exhibition and plant floorswith the cloud roof and the
Tower of Hope rested at the toprequired the mountain form to
be superelevated during erection to ensure flat floors in the final
condition. Extreme loads also require six 500-mm 100-mm (19.7
in. 3.9 in.) solid steel plates to be built up to form a solid 500-mm
600-mm (19.7 in. 23.6 in.) steel diagrid member. The structural
steel that cantilevered off this core was also cambered to ensure that
it would be level once the dead loads were applied. This area of the
structure was erected on shoring towers with hydraulic jacks carefully released once all steel was erected and concrete floors poured.
The glazed cloud encapsulates the large central atrium, the museum offices and the Garden of Reflection. The cloud curvature is
framed with a series of curved 610-mm-diameter (24 in.) HSS supported by raking built-up HSS columns that span over 30 m (98.4 ft)
from the roots up to the cloud roof. Balcony-like partial-perimeter
office floors encircle the atrium at three levels and act as diaphragms
to provide lateral stability to the raking columns.
Connection design for these assemblies had to take into account the mix of section types, the magnitude of the forces and
the sheer number of members that converged together, as well
as the constraints imposed by architectural finishes and building
services. After being modeled in 3D space (using Tekla Struc-

tures) the assemblies were presented as traditional 2D shop

drawings for further use in the fabrication and fitting process.
The complexity of the steel framing also required extremely
high-precision fabrication. Various surveying and measurement
techniques were used to ensure that the complex 3D curves and
other geometrically sensitive components were fabricated accurately, and the overall geometry was carefully monitored during construction. Maintaining the vertical and lateral locations of the key
structural steel elements necessitated the use of three mega-shores
supporting up to 4,500 kN each (500 tons) per location and secondary temporary shoring/bracing, and also governed the methods for
building construction including super-elevations and cambering of
the steel frame, sequence and timing for placing the floor concrete
and the installation schedule for the building finishes and cladding.
Owing to the local climate, it was anticipated that the structure will
experience a temperature differential of at least 60 C prior to being
enclosed. As expansion joints for the building in its final condition
were not possible due to the structures inherent need for continuous floor diaphragms, locking various steel components within the
supporting concrete walls during construction was not possible due
to unacceptably high thermal restraint forces. As such, temporary
steel slip connections with slab separation strips were used to disconnect selected structural elements and release thermal stresses until the building was environmentally enclosed and ambient temperature controlled. The steel structure was successfully erected over 16
months and met all objectives required to ensure structural stability
and dimensional control during construction.

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Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

27

Walters, Inc.

HSS and wide-ange framing for the exterior

shape.
Development of the early structural concept for the
mountain diagrid.

CH2M HILL
Walters, Inc.

Patrick Coulie Photography

Walters, Inc.

AESS cloud roof framing details (in the 3D model and erected in the eld).

Sharing Information
The high-tech collaboration tools and virtual models used for
the project were unconventional in the beginning but were quickly
recognized as essential elements in developing the design for this
unique building. By now the advantages of BIM are well documented in the construction industrybut at the time of design initiation
this technology was relatively unfamiliar to the design team and introduced a cultural change to the consulting design and client review processes. For the complex 3D curved and sloping geometry of
the building, CH2M HILL developed a sophisticated workflow to
capitalize on BIM software, in-house custom programs and expertise developed on past projects of similar complexity.
Starting with CATIA in 2004 and moving toward full Revit
integration in 2008, various building models were used as contract documents along with conventional 2D drawings and specifications. As design moved into construction, the BIM process
28

DECEMBER 2014

carried forward by the steel fabricator, Walters, Inc., continued

to capitalize on the firms expertise gained in executing complex
buildings in the past and supported by reliance in capabilities of
Tekla Software to define and control geometry, evaluate structural steel connection solutions, develop temporary construction
engineering solutions, optimize the erection and fabrication process and coordinate work with other parties. Using 3D models
from the design team as the sole source of geometric definition
minimized the tedious process of geometric model rework and
coordination through the typical RFI process, which significantly increased efficiency when producing thousands of steel shop
drawings. Tekla-generated 3D models of the structural steel
frame were used to accompany the shop drawing submissions.
This workflow allowed the design team to efficiently verify the
structural steel frame conformance with the design intent and
also to expedite shop drawing review.

Completed structural frame.

Overall Tekla model.

Antoine Predock Architect

Walters, Inc.

PCL Constructors

The museum uses more than 5,600

tons of steel.

The HSS pony trusses of the

pedestrian ramps as they begin to
span the Hall of Hope.

Walters, Inc.

A key detailing consideration was ensuring that the ramp connections did not show through the alabaster cladding when backlit from within.

Ultimately the benefits of BIMexcellent 3D visualization, sharing of information for coordination and clear contract
documentationwere realized by all parties. Not only was it
the best approach to managing the design phase, it also demonstrated the true power of models in the construction phase by
addressing all aspects of preconstruction planning, estimating
and procurement, project management and actual site implementation. As a result, the museum has been recognized as the
first large-scale Canadian project of extreme complexity where
interdisciplinary, real-time collaboration throughout design
and construction was successfully achieved using virtual models. This collaboration took place between groups from different geographic locations40 companies located in eight cities
in North America and Europeall with the goal of making a
magnificent building worthy of representing the advancement

of human rights.

This project was the focus of a 2014 NASCC session (N63), which you
can access at www.aisc.org/2014nascconline.
Owner
Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg
Design Architect
Antoine Predock Architect, Albuquerque, N.M.
Executive Architect
Smith Carter, Winnipeg
Structural Engineer
CH2M HILL, Toronto
Construction Manager
PCL Constructors Canada, Inc., Winnipeg
Steel Fabricator, Erector and Detailer
Walters, Inc., Hamilton, Ontario
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

29

RESCUE Mission
BY MATTHEW J. DAW, P.E., AND AMANDA GIBNEY WEKO

Carefully restoring
a historic building
in the wake of
a devastating
earthquake.

All photos Keast & Hood

The renovated Sherman Building, a piece of national

history and a safe haven for veterans, was heavily
damaged in a 2011 earthquake.

Matthew J. Daw (mdaw@keasthood.com) is a principal with

Keast & Hood and directs the rms Washington, D.C., ofce. He
served as principal in charge of the Sherman Building earthquake
repairs. Amanda Gibney Weko (aweko@keasthood.com) is a
writer and communications consultant based in Philadelphia and
has collaborated with Keast & Hood since 2003.

30

DECEMBER 2014

IN AUGUST 2011, a 5.8-magnitude earthquake centered in

Mineral, Va., inflicted significant damage to numerous buildings
throughout the Mid-Atlantic region.
One of these was the Sherman Building. Constructed from 18521891, the three-story building and its iconic clock tower form the
heart of the Armed Forces Retirement Home. The 272-acre federal
campus in northwest Washington, D.C., provides a fully operational
retirement community for U.S. military veterans, and since 2007
has been designated a historic district on the National Register of
Historic Places and the D.C. Inventory of Historic Sites.
The earthquake impacted many of the 85 buildings on campus,
but few as seriously as the Sherman Building, where it collapsed
walls, destroyed interior finishes, fractured timber roof trusses and
left the masonry exterior with significant cracks, holes and fallen
stones. Furthermore, masonry displacement indicated major structural damage.
Over the next two years, a design-build team collaborated to
assess, stabilize and restore the building. They worked closely
with the U.S. Department of the Treasury Bureau of the Public Debt and the Armed Forces Retirement Home to keep the
fast-track project on schedule and under budget, and Veteran
residents returned to the building just six months after construction began.

Steel was used to reinforce damaged heel joints in the

attics timber roof trusses.

Reconstruction Time
Much of the structural recovery scope focused on reconstructing the iconic 130-ft clock tower, which suffered
the most damage. Additional structural work included assessment and reconstruction of retaining walls, ornamental
parapets, chimneys and timber roof trusses.
The team performed a digital point cloud laser-scan
survey in the field to understand the buildings geometry
and displacements. The survey documented existing conditions within the towers unique configuration and the
buildings unusual geometry to ensure accuracy in repairs.
In response to the extent and severity of the observed
distresses, partial deconstruction of the tower was required.
Over 20 courses (rows of bricks) of the masonry tower
were dismantled and rebuilt around a new structural steel
eccentric braced frame (EBF) assembly in conjunction
with selective internal reinforcements. Existing conditions

Based on the teams extensive evaluation, the building

required reinforcement and seismic upgrades as well as
restoration. Structural steel intervention into the fragile
unreinforced masonry structure played a crucial role in
the process. Using RAM Elements software to design and
detail the new steel structure, structural engineer Keast &
Hood sensitively and strategically wove roughly 10 tons
of new steel framing elements into the historic building
fabric, strengthening the existing structure and bracing the
masonry for long-term seismic protection. The steel came
in the form of roughly 40 pieces, most of them in the 10-ft
to 15-foot range: W1448, W1253, W1230 and W616.
The 26-ft-tall columns were made of HSS1010.
A steel braced frame was added to the open area of the
clock tower, with reinforced masonry shear walls added
below the deck. Existing parapets and chimneys were reinforced with concealed structural steel reinforcing and
Cintec anchors. Engineers provided positive mechanical
anchorage of the exterior masonry walls to the woodframed floors and bonded the dress stone to the structural
masonry backup with concealed helical anchors. Positive
anchorage was also provided at the original cast iron portico using concealed stainless steel fasteners.
Due to the design-build nature of the project and the
irregular building geometry, the structural solution incorporated very little conventional framing. The most common
pieces of structural steel were tube shapes and wide-flanges
used to frame the clock tower reinforcing and replace the
original ramps. Angle pieces were used to create new frames
for masonry support. A significant amount of cold-formed
plate was used where new steel strap anchors were introduced at the floor levels and wall intersections, and structural steel channel was used to repair roof trusses.

New internal steel framing in the partially deconstructed tower.

The partially deconstructed clock tower and the new

steel frame.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

31

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DECEMBER 2014

Internal reinforcements within the

reconstructed clock tower.
The steel frame was carefully constructed
and painted to be hidden from view
within the open clock tower.

such as rounded stone edges, tapering brick

backup and the varying cuts and sizes of
the original stone impacted the design.
Although engineers investigated alternative reinforcement options for the tower
(options included shotcrete, cast-in-place
concrete and reinforced masonry), steel
was chosen because it offered flexibility
for design and construction. This decision
also made sense from safety, schedule and
aesthetic perspectives. Steel could be fabricated off-site and installed quickly, benefitting the projects fast-track schedule.
Steel erection only took a few days,
and installation required scaffolding
the entire tower and deconstructing the
tower to a working level just below the
existing clock tower deck. New steel
was installed using a self-erecting tower
crane. A new CMU shear wall was built
to support the base of the internal steel
frame. A scaffold system was then erected
in the third floor office to the underside
of the clock level. Due to the tight confines of the existing spiral stair, which was
blocked by the scaffolding, a small opening was cut in the clock level floor to haul
block pallets and other construction materials up into the tower.
Tucked Away
New and innovative building designs
often express structural steel as part of
the architectural vocabulary. In the case
of the historic Sherman Building, the
structural steel insertion was carefully
sized and painted to be hidden from
the exterior view within the open clock
tower, while maintaining accessibility
within the tower interior. The effort represents the delicate balance of structural
reinforcement and historic preservation
required by the project. In addition, using steel at the upper open levels of the
tower allowed for the strengthening and
anchorage of unreinforced single-wythe
stone masonry without adding significant
weight to the tower or its foundations. It
also provided necessary support to new
CMU wall panels installed to offer additional strengthening of the fragile exterior stone shell.

Following the earthquake, signicant structural distress

was observed at the Sherman Building, with the most
damage evident at the clock tower. In the southwest
corner view of the tower, masonry displacement, gaps
and missing stones are visible.
Damage to the timber roof trusses was a result of both
the earthquake and years of deterioration from moisture
inltration and insect infestation.

The new structural steel frame and wood decking in the

clock tower as viewed from below.

Contractors assemble the new steel frame within the

masonry clock tower.

A 3D model of the tower steel, which was modeled

using point cloud data as a reference. The point cloud
was taken after the earthquake and documents the
stones in their displaced locations as well as stones that
were removed for safety. The steel in the tower was
placed to avoid conict with the reconstructed stone
elements.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

33

Within the attic, existing wooden roof truss distress was visually apparent, with damage related to both the earthquake
and years of moisture decay and termite infestation. Heel joints
at the exterior walls, already weakened by earlier deterioration,
failed during the earthquake and caused wall separation. Structural steel again made a suitable intervention. The existing timber trusses required an in-depth review using non-destructive
resistance drill testing. Since no two trusses were exactly alike,
structural steel made a suitable intervention.
Taking cues from the firms past historic intervention approaches, notably Philadelphias Academy of Music, Keast &
Hood engineers designed steel reinforcements that were carefully threaded into the attic to reestablish the truss heel-joint
connections with the wooden trusses. The design necessitated
a detailed survey by the fabricator and meticulous installation.
Carpenters from Oak Grove Restoration Company worked in
tandem with fabricator Crystal Steel to install each new piece
of steel by hand.
Large protruding corner turrets were repaired with a grouted sock anchor approach. Stainless steel threaded rods within
fabric socks were inserted into dry core-drilled holes in the masonry and filled with cementitious grout for proper bond and
compatibility with the historic fabric. This solution stabilized
the fragile masonry while providing permanent reinforcement
for the turrets and tower. The main chimneys also collapsed
during the earthquake and required new structural elements to
replace the fragile and flexible masonry structure. New stainless
steel armatures were installed to resist future seismic activity

and wind loads, with original stone masonry rebuilt around the
new frames.
In addition to structural reinforcement, masonry restoration,
railing and roof repairs and other preservation efforts were made
to bring the Sherman Building back from devastation. More that
3,000 stones in retaining walls, chimneys and parapets were salvaged, catalogued and rebuilt using nearly 100% of the original
hand-carved marble. The $14 million project not only restored
the building but also reinstated the home and sense of national
pride for 500-plus military veterans who reside in the Armed

Forces Retirement Home and the Sherman Building.

Owner
Armed Forces Retirement Home, Washington, D.C.
Contractor
The Christman Company, Reston, Va.
Architect
Quinn Evans Architects, Washington
Structural Engineer
Keast & Hood, Washington
Steel Team
Fabricator and Detailer
Crystal Steel Fabricators, Inc., Delmar, Del
(AISC Member/AISC Certied Fabricator)
Erector
Williams Steel Erection Company, Inc., Manassas, Va.
(AISC Member/AISC Advanced Certied Steel Erector)

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DECEMBER 2014

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Music BOX

BY PETR VANCURA

Steel-framed sails,
clouds and pods define
the inspiring interior
of the center of music
in South Beach.

Emilio Collavino

THE NEW WORLD Center indeed creates a new world of

music and light, and is right at home in South Beach.
The 100,641-sq.-ft facility is the new state-of-the-art home
of Miamis New World Symphony and was constructed as part
of the City Center Redevelopment Project in a public/private
partnership with Miami Dade County and the City of Miami
Beach. New World Symphony conductor and founder, Michael
Tilson Thomas, worked closely with renowned architect Frank
Gehry to create a space that would provide a nurturing environment for performers, foster a relationship between the performers and the community and spark an interest in classical
music from the public at large. The structural engineers, Gilsanz Murray Steficek, collaborated intensely with the designers to enable the architect to fully realize the vision of a new
frontier in the public relationship with musical performance.
Where the exterior looks to be a straightforward glass and concrete box, the interior holds the dynamic sculptural elements
that are the signature of Gehry Partners.
36

DECEMBER 2014

The building is comprised of three sections: a 29,600-sq.-ft

performance hall with seating for 756 and 14 distinct stage configurations; an atrium containing four freestanding structures
that house 26 individual and six ensemble rehearsal rooms; and
a five-story back-of-house office structure with practice studios
and mechanical rooms, which provides an anchor at the south
end of the building. The new facility also features a rooftop terrace that includes a garden, a music library and reception areas.
Steel Stalactites
The configuration of the performance space can be tuned
to accommodate full orchestras or solo performers. The concert hall ceiling uses 46 round HSS stalactites (4-in. OD)
suspended from the roof framing to support a curviform collection of five sails represented as 40-ft by 65-ft acoustical
walls and twelve acoustical ceiling facesthe clouds. The
sails and clouds are supported predominantly with 8-in. OD
round HSS.

The New World Center is comprised of three sections: a 29,600-sq.-ft performance hall, an atrium containing
four freestanding steel-framed structures and a five-story back-of-house office structure.

The curved light-gauge steel stud-and-track system for the

clouds and sails, supported by the stalactites, frames into curved box
beams shaped to acoustically specific curves. These surfaces dazzle
the audience visually through projection and light shows and acoustically through engineered resonance; 44 programmable, multidirectional colored theatrical lighting fixtures and fourteen 30,000-lumen projectors make these light shows comparable to those of a
planetarium. During daylight hours, the space is lit up by a skylight
above and a window behind the stage that is enhanced and shaded
by a knife-edge canopy structure.
Adjacent to the performance hall, the glass-clad atrium is a
135-ft by 180-ft expanse of open space across the building, from
the east faade to the west faade, allowing ample light in the daytime and creating a dramatic effect on the cityscape when lit from
within at night. To create the openness and transparency at the
atrium, W18258 columns spaced at 23 ft on center, with vertical
spans of 80 ft, essentially work as massive mullions that support
transparent glass walls. The horizontal elements for the curtain

A 3D model
of the various
building sections
and structural elements.

Gehry Technologies

Petr Vancura (petr.vancura@

gmsllp.com) is director of
communications with Gilsanz
Murray Stecek. (The partner
in charge of the project was
Philip D. Murray, philip.
murray@gmsllp.com).

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

37

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38

DECEMBER 2014

Steel stalactites in the concert hall.

wall system are 10-in. by 8-in. and 14-in.

by 10-in. rectangular HSS. The curtain
wall was engineered to accommodate deflection due to wind loads on average of
1.5 in. in most locations and more than 2
in. in others. While the glass and joints
could tolerate even higher deflections,
the resistance was governed by the door
framing, where movement was limited to
approximately 0.5 in. so that doors would
function correctly. The formidable lateral forces that result from the hurricanes
of south Floridathe design was based
on 146-mph windsare resisted by steel
braced frames that are tied to each other
by the roof diaphragm.
Top to Bottom
The building features interior clear
heights of 83 ft in the concert hall and 90
ft in the atrium, and the roof framing of
both the performance hall and the atrium
is supported by two box trusses between
the fifth and sixth floors that are up to 17 ft
deep and span 130 ft (bottom lateral-horizontal members are typically W1049 and
the top members are W2784). The first
seating level is formed with cast-in-place
concrete, as is the orchestra pit slab, which
also serves as part of the building foundation (in addition to piles drilled into a sand
stratum). The rest of the performance hall
and the entire back of house structure use
traditional steel framing with wide-flange
sections supporting metal deck and concrete floors.
Structural engineer Gilsanz Murray
Steficek value-engineered the design from
the outset and reviewed various alternative
approaches. Originally, a repetitive truss
built up from angles was proposed. However, such a system works less well with
isolated heavy loads, such as those found
at the margins of the performance halls
skylight. Instead, wide-flange steel used
for the 130-ft-long trusses, which not only
provide the clear spans, but also support
suspended footbridges that connect the
southern office structure to the northern
performance hall.
Inside the atrium is a village of four
stand-alone, twisting and turning interior
structures or pods that serve as classrooms,
practice spaces and offices for the symphony.
Single curvature, 8-in.-diameter HSS and
wide-flange beams form the skeletons of
the pods, the highest of which reaches 50
ft. These four structures accounted for 260

Element 2C
southwest atrium pod
Element 2D
northwest atrium pod

Element 2B
multi-purpose room

Gilsanz Murray Steficek

Element 2A
chamber ensemble
Gehry Partners

Inside the atrium is a village of four stand-alone

twisting and turning interior structures or pods that
serve as classrooms, practice spaces and offices.

Claudia Uribe

The concert hall contains a curviform collection of five sails, represented as 40-ft by
65-ft acoustical walls, as well as twelve acoustical ceiling clouds.

Claudia Uribe

A framing model of the atrium.

ADF International

Claudia Uribe

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

39

One of the roof

box trusses.

A baseplate detail.

ADF International

ADF International

Framing for one of the atrium pods.

tons of the buildings total 3,000 tons of steel.

Rather than erecting the freestanding
pods first and then enclosing the rest of the
building around them, the team decided to
sequence construction so as to first close
in the atrium against weather, which allowed for field welding within controlled
interior conditions. This strategy also had a
logistical advantage in that the site was unencumbered during the installation of the
primary steel above. The more complex of
the sculpted elements were shop assembled
to survey and confirm their fit, then were
dismantled, shipped to the site and reassembled using temporary bolted connections prior to welding. In all, the structural
steel package represented a price tag of $13
million, but only about ten pieces required
(minor) field alterations; the total project
budget was $160 million.
Distinctive Flair
Crucial to the success of the project was
the use of BIM, which allowed GMS and
Gehry Partners to develop and analyze the
organic shapes that give the finished product
its distinctive flair. To develop the layouts of
the freestanding atrium structures, based
40

DECEMBER 2014


ADF International

Gilsanz Murray Steficek

A preassembled rooftop component.

Behind the scenes in the concert hall.

Gehry Technologies

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

41

Gehry Partners

Framing for one of the atrium pods.

on Gehrys steel centerlines, the designers,

with GMS input, used Gehry Technologies
proprietary BIM program, Digital Project,
which is based on the French program CATIA (which was used for the design of the
Boeing 777 in the 1990s but was adapted
specifically for the building industry). These
layouts were then imported into a structural
analysis program for design of the steel and
concrete structure. The results were imported back into Digital Project and were
then sent, along with 2D construction documents of the more standard design elements,
to the general contractor, Facchina Construction, for bid and construction.
The modeling process helped communicate the design intent to all members
of the project team. Throughout design
development, a 2D drawing effort paralleled the Digital Project model. Illustrative
isometric views were exported into the 2D
issuances and shop drawings, with each
structural element given a unique identification tag. The designers also had a team of
programmers that translated the 3D models from Digital Project to Tekla. At build
time, few open questions remained and the
coordinate geometries of the dynamic ir42

DECEMBER 2014

regular forms fit together well.

Outside the building, the performance
halls eastern exterior wall provides a
7,000-sq.-ft screen that faces the adjacent
Miami Beach Soundscape Park, a 2.5-acre
urban open space. This space lets music
lovers spread out a blanket and enjoy the
Wallcast concert series for free.
In addition to the classrooms and practice spaces within the structure, the theater
is equipped with 17 miles of fiber-optic
cable for use as an Internet2 classroom
and transmission facility, enabling students
to receive instruction from around the
globeand bringing a new meaning to the

concept of new world music.

Owner
New World Symphony
General Contractor
Facchina Construction
Development Manager
Hines
Architect
Gehry Partners LLP
Structural Engineer
Gilsanz Murray Stecek LLP

Gerdau steel will help transform

the TCU Daniel-Meyer Coliseum.
Giving future generations
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A world of opportunity awaits.

Texas Christian Universitys Daniel-Meyer Coliseum is getting a face lift.
This $60 million renovation, containing Gerdau structural steel, will be a
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www.gerdau.com/longsteel

A faceted faade, creative cantilever

and tightly spaced top define the structural system of
Manhattans new center of trade for diamonds, gems and jewelry.

The GEM of the

Big Apple
BY STEPHEN V. DESIMONE, P.E., AND JAMES J. BONANNO, P.E.

THE DIAMOND District has a new jewel to weara big one.

Located at 50 West 47th Street in New York, the International Gem Tower (IGT) is a 32-floor, 520-ft-tall steel-framed
office building with a parapet elevation of 560 ft. and three cellar levels excavated to 45 ft below grade. Class A office space in
New York requires that the floor plates remain unobstructed
by structural columns so that floor plans can make the most
efficient use of the space. To meet this requirement, the structural bays were
laid out on a 30-

ft 40-ft grid, with W18 beams spanning in the long direction

between the perimeter spandrel beams and girders at the buildings core.
The steel framing was erected in two phases. The first included steel for two of the below-grade levels and the ground floor
and used 690 pieces of steel totaling 2,000 tons. The second consisted of superstructure erection, which
used 7,900 pieces of steel weighing a
total of 10,130 tons.
Going West
One of the projects more interesting aspects was how it maximized
floor area. Instead of constructing
an additional four floors at the top
of the building, the owner decided to extend the office floor
plates by cantilevering trusses
13 ft over a six-story building
immediately to the west of the
IGT, and as such purchased
the air rights to the building.
Since the trusses were too
deep to ship by truck and
too far from the street to
erect in one piece, they
were assembled in the
air in the narrow space
between the tower
and the adjacent
building.
The
trusses are between the sixth
and
seventh
levels of the
tower and extend over the

44

DECEMBER 2014

Banker Steel

DeSimone

Framing for the 520-ft-tall International Gem Tower was erected in two phases, the first of which included steel for two of the belowgrade levels and the ground floor; the second phase consisted of superstructure erection.

adjacent building to carry the towers western perimeter columns.

They are comprised of W14 chords and diagonals and were field
bolted while each piece was held in place by the crane. Although
the trusses took up a full week of crane time, the pace of erection
accelerated once the floors became typical. The decision to use
trusses did add to the steel fabrication cost, but since they allowed
for the decrease in building height, the corresponding reduction
in erection cost offset the truss premium.

Banker Steel

The faceted faade of the building is illustrated in this photo (left)

as well as this diagram (above) of a portion of the 17th oor.

The towers lateral force resisting system, designed to react

to wind loads, was provided by a stiff braced frame around the
central elevator core. As with the elimination of the gravity columns in the occupied floor space, the client required that none
of the lateral elements be located within the condominium
floor area. The solution was to supplement the core braced
frame system with six east-west outriggers at the sixth-floor
mechanical level and above the roof. These elements connected to the elevator core columns and engaged the perimeter columns, providing an efficient cost-effective means
of controlling the buildings deflections and resisting the
buildings overturning moment without adding large
amounts of steel tonnage and cost at the core. W14730s,

Stephen V. DeSimone is president and CEO and James

J. Bonanno is an associate principal, both with DeSimone
Consulting Engineers.
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

45

Banker Steel

Rooftop steel, including a stiff braced frame system

around the central elevator core.

DeSimone

Banker Steel

The project used 12,130 tons of steel.

The tower, in real life and in Revit.

DeSimone

built up with 2-in. plates across the flanges, and W14605s were
used as the outriggers at the sixth and roof levels, respectively.
Control of the geometry for the perimeter slab edges at each
floor was another interesting aspect and challenge. Given the
projects name and its Diamond District location, the architect
designed an exterior faade that simulates the appearance of a
cut diamond. The faade required close control of the concrete
slab edges, whose geometry alternated on each floor. And rather than forming slab edge to mimic the faceted shape, a 38-in.
structural steel plate was welded to the spandrel beams around
the building perimeter. This solution allowed precise control
of the slab edge dimensions since the geometry was imported
into fabricator Bankers Tekla model directly from the architects Revit model, thereby ensuring that no deviations would
occur. Additionally, this steel plate was designed to carry the
concrete slab loads, live loads and vertical curtain wall loads,
which eliminated the need to add expensive and labor-intensive
reinforcement to the concrete at the slab edges.
Rooftop Maze
Another challenge was integrating numerous programmed
spaces and usages above the roof level. Three two-story tall
cooling towers were located at the north side of the roof, three
46

DECEMBER 2014

emergency generators were located on the east side of the roof

and a water tank on steel dunnage was located near the south
side of the roof. In addition, the steel-framed parapet wall
rose 40 ft above roof level and was braced against wind loads
by horizontal steel members back to the elevator core, which
were supplemented by diagonal kickers down to the roof level at the corners. Lastly, the window-washing equipment was
mounted on a steel-framed catwalk level constructed 5 ft below
the top of the parapet and traveled on two steel wide-flange
W24 tracks along the building perimeter, with tight-radius elements at the four building corners. The coordination of these
numerous, closely spaced mechanical units on a roof also occupied by a 2,000-sq.-ft mechanical penthouse required needling
steel elements through any vacant spaces around equipment or
through the outriggers. Virtually all of the connections needed
to be skewed, which added additional out-of-plane loads and
moments to the already robust connection designs. The complicated interplay of structure, mechanical equipment and architecture at the top of the building was facilitated by the close
coordination of each consultants Revit model. As with the faceted slab edges, each piece was test fit into the model and the
geometry was imported directly into the Tekla model and used
directly for the production of shop drawings.

 An elevation drawing of the lower levels

of the tower.

This real-time BIM process afforded

the immediate resolution of any detailing
problems, eliminated the need to write any
RFIs and virtually eliminated the use of the
Revise and Resubmit approval comment
during the shop drawing review process. All
shop drawings and calculations were submitted and reviewed electronically, entirely
eliminating paper copies of erection plans,
piece drawings and calculations. As a matter
of fact, weekly design and construction coordination meetings were attended by Bankers
detailer throughout the project, where the
Tekla model was reviewed and coordination
issues were resolved. Between meetings, coordination continued between Banker and
DeSimone daily by video conference, with
the 3D model being manipulated in real time
by the detailer while the model was viewed
and coordinated by DeSimones engineers in
its New York office.
The construction of the building in the
middle of crowded Manhattan sidewalks
and streets added yet another dimension of
difficulty. Since there is no staging area available at street level, the building loading docks
were designed so that trailer trucks could be
backed in off of the street. One lane of traffic north of the building was closed so other
delivery trucks could feed the man-and-materials hoist at that location. Steel deliveries were shaken out on the deck below the
erection floor, and crane jumps were staged
at night and on weekends since those were
the only times streets could be closed to provide lay-down space. Finally, at the end of the
project, the dismantling of the crane required
the erection of a second temporary crane at
roof level, which lowered the tower crane in
pieces to the street below.
The collaborative spirit fostered by the
building owner and embodied by all of the
design team members, the steel fabricator
and the erector combined to create a flaw
less gem on 47th Street.
Owner
Extell Development Company
General Contractor
Tishman Construction

Architect
Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, LLP,
New York
Structural Engineer
DeSimone Consulting Engineers,
New York

Steel Fabricator
Banker Steel Co., LLC, Lynchburg, Va.
(AISC Member/AISC Certied
Fabricator)

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

47

WORKING

Well with Others

Being aware of your surroundings goes a long way in making
your job site a safer place to work for all.
BY JASON FARRIS

SAFETY IS AN ENDLESS JOB.

And this is partially due to the fact that its not all about you.
When you have done what you can to keep yourself and
your co-workers safe on a job site, the job continues as you also
need to pay attention to what other workers in your vicinity are
doing. And in turn, they have to be aware of what you and your
crew are doing. Planning and communication are essential for
safe work in the vicinity of other trades. Below is some practical
advice that can make for a safer, more productive job site.
Controlling the work area. There are so many situations
you can get into when working around other trades, so you really have to be able to assess each situation and try to handle it
in a way that is beneficial for everyone on site.
One of the most important actions to take is to establish
your work area with barricades and enforce them. Once your
boundaries are established, others are expected to remain outside that area unless they have a reason to be in it. For example,
when others have to be inside Cooper Steels work area on a job
site, they are told what is going on around them and about the
potential hazards of being in our area. In addition, our erection
crew is made aware other crews are in our work area. Absolutely
no one is permitted to work under the swing path of the crane,
the raising gang, under areas where decking is being spread and
welded or shot down or directly under crews that are detailing.
Of course, you will have the occasional wanderer that will
just walk right in under your area of operation. Its our practice
to come to a safe and immediate stop, explain the significance
of the barricades and ask the person to move outside of the
active erection area and then continue with erection when the
area is safe again. In addition, while establishing and enforcing
your work boundaries is important, it is just as important for
you to continuously adjust your barricades so that other trades
can complete their work. Strive to complete your work in each
area as you progress so you will not have to return to the area
when all other trades have started their work there. And do
your best to establish good working relationships with every48

DECEMBER 2014

one on the site. Besides the countless other benefits of having a

good on-site relationship, this creates an environment where all
teams are looking out for the safety of one another.
Avoiding hazards. Keep an eye out for hazards such as flammables under welding operations or objects that could prevent
fall protection from working properly. If most of your work is
done at heights, other trades may move in materials or equipment that may hinder your workers fall protection. For instance,
if someone parks a forklift underneath your work area, will your
employees fall protection device stop them before they impact
that equipment? (Keep this in mind when placing your own
equipment and materials as well.) Another thing to watch for:
materials left in the area by other trades that could cause fire
hazards (i.e., concrete forms, boxes, trash cans, fuel cans, etc.).
Good housekeeping by all trades is a must for a safe job site. Its
a matter of working with each other and not against each other.
Anticipating site changes. It is also helpful to observe activities in the direction that steel erection is advancing. Job sites
evolve throughout the project. Watch for trenches being excavated in areas where you will be using a crane, forklift or aerial
lifts. When these trenches are filled, they will most likely not
have the bearing capacity they did before and may not support
the weight of your equipment, which could cause aerial lifts,
forklifts and even cranes to tip over.
Watching for unstable structural assemblies or materials. Masonry walls, tilt panels and precast panels that have
not been yet connected to the structure should have a boundary established around them to prevent injury from collapse.
Workers should stay outside those boundaries until the wall is
adequately braced. When staging your materials, take care if
they are in close proximity to the wall braces. If a stack of beams
accidentally gets knocked over close to the braces, it could result in the wall collapsingand most likely the wall will be falling towards your workers. A good rule of thumb is to set stacks
of material no closer than two times the height of the stack
away from the braces or farther if it is feasible.

Keeping cranes contained. Another situation you may find

yourself in is having another crane working in close proximity to
your own crane. Again, this is a situation where good working relationships are key. If the two cranes are within each others swing
paths, there are certain procedures from OSHA that must be followed. OSHA Regulation 1926.1424(b) reads: Where any part of a
crane/derrick is within the working radius of another crane/derrick,
the controlling entity must institute a system to coordinate operations. If there is no controlling entity, the employer (if there is only
one employer operating the multiple pieces of equipment) or employers must institute such a system. The best practice is for the two
crane operators to be in constant contact with each other.
Avoiding dust clouds. Concrete cutting and other abrasive operations can cause a dust cloud, which may have toxic constituents
such as silica. While the masons workers may have respiratory protection, not everyone else might. We tell our workers to stay away
from that work, upwind and out of the dust plume. We know of at
least one instance where the contractor agreed to move his masonry
cutting operation away from the erectors access path to prevent exposure to this hazard.
Maintaining your guardrail system. If you are required to install a temporary cable guardrail system around unprotected edges or
openings, you must maintain this system daily. Be sure that the cables
are tight enough to comply with the proper deflection as prescribed
by OSHA. Remember: If you install the system you are responsible
for it until you remove it or turn it over in writing to another party.
Be sure the accepting party inspects the entire system and accepts its
condition in writing before turning over responsibility.
Clearly the planning and protection you provide for your own
workforce is a large taskbut even when youve got a good handle
on your own safety practices, you still need to consider other trades
working with you. But with all teams thinking about not only their
own safety but also the safety of others, a construction project is that

much more productive.

Control your work areaespecially in bad weather.

Clash of the cranes! (Not really, but good working
relationships are key when multiple cranes need to
operate in close proximity to one another.)

Jason Farris (jfarris@

coopersteel.com) is the
safety director with AISC
Member fabricator and
erector Cooper Steel.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

49

A roundabout look at the process of making hollow structural sections.

Full CIRCLE
(or Square)

STORY AND
PHOTOS BY GEOFF
WEISENBERGER

ON APRIL, 27, 2011, an F-5 tornado ripped through

northern Alabama and southern Tennessee, killing more than
100 and devastating several communities.
One of the towns hit was Decatur, Ala., home to one of Independence Tubes hollow structural section (HSS) mills. The
tornado destroyed much of the plant, but luckily none of the 25
employees in the facility at the time were hurt.
There was a Wrangler jeans plant 50 miles away that was
hit by a tornado that same day, recalls John Tassone, Independence Tubes marketing manager. And we found blue
jeans on our site.
One year later, the facility was rebuilt and running again. In
fact, the rebuild provided the opportunity to increase the mills
round HSS capacity from 14 in. OD (outer diameter) to 16
in. OD. The tragic event also provided unforeseen opportuni-

Geoff Weisenberger
(weisenberger@aisc.org) is
Modern Steels senior editor.

50

DECEMBER 2014

ties for employee development. In the aftermath of the tornado,

several Decatur employees stayed busy by helping with demolition, and the company also gave them the opportunity to come
to its Marseilles, Ill., and Chicago facilities to work in two-week
shifts, even covering all travel and living expenses.
They learned a lot up here, says Tassone. They were crosstrained on different jobs, made friends and learned the Independence Tube culture.
Down the River
And the Marseilles facility is a good place to learn, as
it houses not one but two mills. The first mill was built in
1997 to supplement the companys original Chicago location, and a second, adjacent mill line was added in 2009.
(Independence will be opening a second Alabama location
this month, in Trinity, to supplement the nearby Decatur
plant and produce smaller-diameter products.) The initial
Marseilles mill can produce HSS from 4 in. to 10 in. square
and 6.625 in. to 12 in. (OD) round, with walls from 1 8 in.
to 58 in. thick. The second mill produces from 2 in. to 4 in.
square and 1.66 in. to 5 in. (OD) round, with walls from
0.109 in. to 0.375 in.
While size ranges and logistics differ from location to location,
all four facilities produce HSS the same way. It all starts out as steel
coil. At Marseilles, coil typically arrives in rolls of up to 45 tons,
generally up to 74 in. wide. The facility generally receives its coil
via barge, as it is located on the Illinois River, and orders steel from
various manufacturers.

The slitter also creates a smoother edge, which facilitates

connecting the two edges to form a tube.

The steel is brought into the facility from the barge via
overhead crane.

The steel arrives in rolls of up to 45 tons.

This drum creates a buffer between the attening/butt welding

operation and the forming tools.

Steel that has been slit is rerolled before being transported

to the mill line.

Steel coils are joined together end-to-end to create an endless

ribbon of steel.

The slitter cuts the steel to the proper width.

Barges, bringing steel from up or down the Illinois River, can

pull right up to the plant. The river ooded in 2008, but the
plant sits on high enough ground that it wasnt affected.

This steel will become round or rectangular hollow structural

sections.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

51

Coil travels through one group of tool sets to become round tube, then
another group to become square (photos in left column).

The mill contains several sets of tools to gradually form the coil into tube.

The coil is brought into the facility from the barge via overhead
crane then awaits its transformation from flat steel to finished structural products. Unlike wide-flange beams, which are cast into dog-bone
shapes then gradually hot-rolled into the familiar I-beam profile, HSS
is gradually cold-rolled into round shapesthen rectangles or squares
as needed.
Trimming the Fat
First, the mill edges of the coil must be cut off to produce a clean edge for
the welding operation and to get the steel to the proper width for the tube
it will become. The coil is unraveled and fed into the slitter, where it travels
between two rollers with offset blades that edge-trim both sides of the roll;
these edge strips are collected and eventually recycled.
Now at the proper width, the coil is ready to be fed into the mill. It first
goes through the leveler, a series of rollers that flatten the steel, working
out any bumps or waves. But the mill isnt stopped each time a new roll
is ready to be fed through. Except for breaks, shift changes, maintenance
or when the plant is closed, the mill is constantly running. In other words,
the mill doesnt stop for each new coil of steel, but rather the steel has to
catch up to the mill. Its much like a relay race: While the runners change,
the baton is always in motion throughout the race. As such, the new roll
is attached to the one before it, via automated butt welding, to create an
endless ribbon of steel.
This is made possible by the accumulator, and each mill at the Marseilles facility uses a different type of accumulator. The main mills accumulator is a large drum, around which the steel is looped, that moves back
and forth along a set of tracks at the beginning of the mill and creates a
buffer zone or slack in the operation while a new roll is added; theres a
similar drum at the other end, beyond the welding operation. Sensors let
the operator know how much steel is left in the queue and how much
time they have to attach the coils before the mill would need to be shut
down. And a shutdown means having to bring the entire mill process to a
halt, resulting in unnecessary down time, more steel that cant be used as
final product and ultimately money.
Making Tube
From here, the steel goes through the heart of the HSS operation and
is gradually formed into a tube. It travels through a series of concave and
convex rollersthe number depends on the final product (the batch I
watched being made used 11 sets)that round it further and further into
a circle. Throughout the process, the steel is bathed in a mixture of cool52

DECEMBER 2014

Tube that doesnt meet the specications to be sold as a nal

product is removed from the line following cutting and is
eventually recycled.
Residual ash from the forging process is removed to create a
smooth seam.

After being made round but before being made square/

rectangular, the edges of the coil are seamed by induction
welding to complete the circle.

After being cut, HSS is routed into the packaging operation.

Tooling can be changed out based on the desired product

shape and size.

Steel coil is transported from the main mill to the smaller mill
via an automated train running on tracks between the mills.

One end of the bundle is raised to allow excess cooling/

lubricant solution to drain.

AISC Member HSS Producers

Atlas Tube: www.atlastube.com
EVRAZ North America: www.evrazna.com
Independence Tube: www.independencetube.com
Steel Ventures LLC DBA Exltube: www.exltube.com
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

53

The tube is marked after squaring and before cutting.

A 2-in. square tube is formed.

During the cutting operation, the saw attaches to the steel while
it cuts it, then releases it.

Equipment for the small mill is similar to the main one.

The accumulator for the small mill provides the same service
as the one for the main mill, though via different means.

Slit steel is fed into the accumulator (bottom strand) and

released into the mill line (top strand).

ant and lubricant, which regulates temperature and prevents

adhesion to the tooling. This mixture is cycled back through
the process and is replenished and recycled as necessary, and
tooling is switched out based on the desired diameter and
also when it reaches the end of its useful life.
At the end of the first set of rollers, the edges are fused
together using the induction method. The residual slag or
flash on the outside of the tube is skimmed off (and collected and recycled) to form a smooth seam. Now a complete circle, the tube is sent through a cooling trough before
going through the next set of rollers. If it is to remain round,
it only goes through a few more sets to further refine the
shape. But tube that is to become rectangular is fed through
three more sets of squaring rolls that apply precise pressure on all four sides to gradually flatten the steel into the
desired shape.
Independence prides itself on the smooth corners of its
rectangular shapes, and Tassone notes that the rounding portion of the rolling is just as important as the squaring portion.
Its essentially feeding a round peg into a square hole, he
says. In order to make a good square, you first need to make
a good round.
After shaping, the tube is friction cutthe Marseilles facility produces lengths of 20 ft to 80 ftusing a circular saw;
products that need to be shorter than the 20-ft minimum
length are cut in a second operation with a band saw. The
ever-moving nature of the mill is, of course, addressed at this
end as well, and the saw moves with the operation and cuts
the steel on the fly. The saw, mounted to a track, attaches
to the moving tube for the cut then detaches and retracts to
wait for the next cut.
The smaller mill is similar to the main mill, though the
packaging system is slightly different, and the mill line is
smaller and tends to use fewer sets of rollers since the products are smaller. The main difference in terms of equipment
is the accumulator, which is stationary and looks somewhat
like an inverted metal tornado. Essentially, instead of moving
to create slack in the steel, the slack is created inside the accumulator itself. The steel is then released from the accumulator
into the mill line.
Packing and Tracking
At this point, the tube is nearly done. After being cut
to length, it is stacked for packaging via magnetic cranes,
wrapped at three points with metal strips and lifted at one

54

DECEMBER 2014

Final product, ready to ship. Steel is bundled and tagged on a

per-customer basis.

The bead from the seaming process is left on the inside of the
tube, though it can be removed if a customer/designer so desires.

Tube is stacked into bundles.

Heading out!

Metal stripping is applied to the bundles for shipping.

Elongation, tensile strength and Charpy tests are performed

on the welds. This piece was measured to see how far it
stretched before breaking.

end to drain out the excess cooling/lubricant solution from It can be difficult to get an architect or engineer with years of
the inside. Employees perform quick measurements for experience to start designing with HSS later in their career. But
straightness. (Tube that doesnt make the cuttypically only if you can make the younger generation aware of the benefits
the first few tubes made whenever the mill is restarted or tube of HSS right from the start, theyll be able to implement those

that includes the butt weld from when two rolls are joinedis benefits in their designs.
rerouted and recycled.) It then travels through a machine that
sprays each batch with an anti-corrosion solution for transit For updated information on HSS shape availability, visit www.aisc.
(galvanizing, paint and other coatings systems are applied by org/steelavailability. And visit www.aisc.org/hss for general incustomers on a project-by-project basis), then is routed to formation on HSS.
storage where it awaits shipping by truck or train. Approximately 75% of product goes to service centers while the other
A1085
25% goes to fabricators.
Independence Tube produces HSS to ASTM A500,
Material is tracked through the mill via RFID and is tagged
ASTM A252, CSA G40.21 (350W) and the newest
at three points: upon arrival, after it is slit (because the first tag
HSS specication, ASTM A1085. Independence was
comes off during slitting) and when it is bundled for shipping
involved (along with other HSS producers and AISC)
(because the second tag comes off during the rolling process).
in the creation of A1085. This new specication
The facility also includes a testing lab, where tensile, elongaprovides enhanced performance to make designing
tion and Charpy testing is performed to verify that each heat
with HSS easier and more efcient for structural
of tubing meets the minimum standards of the ASTM speciengineers. Some of the benets of the new
fication it was produced to. The lab also has various pieces of
specication include:
equipment for the metallurgist to check the weld integrity of
Tighter material tolerances and a single minimum
the mills products.
yield stress of 50 ksi
Of course, Independence is not only interested in producing
Maximum specied yield stress of 70 ksi
high-quality HSS, but also in raising the overall awareness of
Standard requirement for Charpy V-notch toughness
HSSas early as possible.
Corner radius range
Were trying to get students familiar with HSS while theyre
in school and let them know that its an option, Tassone says.
56

DECEMBER 2014

THE STEEL
CON
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incorporating the
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A bridge in Washington states first town is now the last of its kind in the U.S.

A DIRECT Lift
BY JIM TALBOT

S TE

CE

NT
UR
IONS

STEEL CENTURIONS
SPANNING 100 YEARS

Our nations rich past was built on immovable

determination and innovation that found a highly
visible expression in the construction of steel
bridges. The Steel Centurions series offers a
testament to notable accomplishments of prior
generations and celebrates the durability and
strength of steel by showcasing bridges more than
100 years old that are still in service today.

Images: Nathan Holth/HistoricBridges.org

58

DECEMBER 2014

IN 1854, STEILACOOM BECAME the first incorporated town in what is

now Washington state.
At the turn of the century, with the approach of the Northern Pacific
Railway, the town leaders hoped Steilacoom would become its western
terminus. But the railroad just wanted a water-level route along Puget
Sound on its way south past Tacoma, so it bought up rights through
Steilacoom and continued south toward Olympia. In doing so, it had to
cross Chamber's Creek, which emptied into Puget Sound in northern
Steilacoom.
The U.S. Corps of Army Engineers considered the creek a navigable
waterway, which dictated a movable bridge. The railroad contacted the
Strauss Bascule Bridge Co. in Chicago, engineers and designers of trunnion, bascule and lift bridges. Joseph B. Strauss, Americas premier bridge
designer at the time, proposed and patented a radical new structure type
what has become known as the Strauss vertical direct-lift bridge.
The bridge depends not on tall towers and cables to lift the 97-ft movable
bridge section, but rather on a direct rack-and-pinion arrangement. (Apparently Strauss wanted to avoid the inevitable stretching of cables under load,
which would require adjustment and rail traffic interruptions.)
Two other vertical direct-lift bridges of similar design (though not
Strauss) have been built in the U.S.one across the Illinois River in Illinois
and the other across the Ohio River in Kentucky. But the bridge across
Chamber's Creek, built in 1914, is currently the only such bridge remaining
in the U.S. (A Strauss direct-lift rail bridge, also built in 1914, crosses the
Fraser River in British Columbia, Canada.)

According to the Historic American Engineering Record

(HAER) for this bridge (which goes by several names, including
the Chamber's Bay Bridge, Bridge 14 and the West Tacoma Bridge)
steel trusses mounted on the tower posts on either side of the movable span support concrete counterweights. A system of counterweights, trusses, hangers and links forms a jointed frame in the shape
of a parallelogram. Reportedly, the parallelogram has proportions so
as to be in perfect equilibrium in all positions. The lift span, a pony
truss, carries two rail tracks.
The HAER record states that each tower post contains a vertical rack that engages corresponding spur gears on the lift span.
At each end of the bridge, 25-hp motors connect to the pinions in
such a way that the four span corners always move together. The
operator resides in a cabin mounted on the lift span and in case
of a power failure, he can manually lift the span. The maximum
vertical lift of the bridge is 43.5 ft, and the bridge mechanism was
designed to lift a weight of 15 tons.
Information in an early Engineering News-Record article about the
Strauss design noted that direct-lift bridges with double-balance levers
are practicable and economical only for small lifts. Today, the structure
is designated Bridge 14 of the BNSF Railway, which represents the
result of more than 390 merged railroad lines. According to a BNSF
publication, the average weight of a rail car was 40 tons and the
average length of a train 50 cars in 1914. Now the average car weighs
142 tons with an average train length of 100 cars.

Steel trusses mounted on the tower posts on either side of the

movable span support concrete counterweights.

The Chamber's Bay Bridge is the last of its kind still

standing in the U.S.

A diagram of the Strauss vertical direct-lift bridge.

Years of increased tonnage from rail traffic eventually

caused the bridge's seats to founder. In 2004, BNSF refurbished the bridge, replacing its seats, saddles, cover plates,
some steel work and the rail tracks. During reconstruction,
trains crossing the bridge span had to travel at 10 mph or less
and several closures were necessary. The reconstruction project has allowed the BNSF railway's historic bridge to con
tinue to operate for many years to come.

Jim Talbot is a freelance

technical writer living in Ambler,
Pa. You can reach him at
james.e.talbot@gmail.com.

Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

59

news
AWARDS

Student Steel Design Competition

Winners Announced
Thirteen student design projects from
universities across North America were
honored in the 14th annual Steel Design
Student Competition for the 20132014 academic year. Administered by
the Association of Collegiate Schools of
Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by
AISC, the program challenges architecture students to explore a variety of design
issues related to the use of steel in design
and construction. A total of $14,000 in
cash prizes was awarded to the winning
students and their faculty sponsors.
This years Category I competition,
Border-Crossing Station, challenged
students to design a border-crossing station sited on a boundary between two
countries. Two projects received top

honors in this category: KygyzstanChina Border Crossing, by Donovan

Dunkley, Vail Nuguid and Alexia
Sanchez from City College of New York;
and Interjection, by Kyle Marren from
Ryerson University.
Category II was the open submission design option. First place went to
Searching for Daylight in a Diagonal
Urban Grid, by Zahra Hosseinabadi
from North Carolina State University.
To view the complete list of winners,
see AISCs news release (at www.aisc.
org), which includes links to the individual projects. Next year, the competition
celebrates its 15th anniversary. The full
competition program is now available at
www.acsa-arch.org.

Kygyzstan-China Border Crossing

Interjection

BOARD NEWS

Ritner Steel Receives Womens Business

Enterprise Council Certification
Ritner Steel, Inc., in Carlisle, Pa. (an AISC
Member/AISC Certified fabricator), has
received official certification from the
Womens Business Enterprise Council
PA-DE-sNJ.
Founded in 1997, the Womens
Business Enterprise National Council
(WBENC) works to certify and recognize businesses owned, controlled and
operated by women in the U.S. This
national certification places Ritner Steel
among the few structural steel fabrication
businesses in the country approved by the
United States Small Business Administrations Women Owned Small Business
Federal Contracting Program.

60

DECEMBER 2014

To earn the certification, the company

underwent a detailed process to validate that
it is 51% or more owned, controlled, operated and managed by a woman. From there
it completed a formal documentation and
site visit process administered by a Regional
Partner Organization of the WBENC.
Founded by Louis Dorbian in 1948 as
Carlisle Steel Supply, Ritner Steel is now
managed by CEO Babette Freund, who
also serves on AISCs Board of Directors.
I am proud of our team accomplishments and excellent management staff which
allows us to compete in the steel industry,
said Freund. This WBENC certification
takes our business to the next level, allowing
us to take on public projects while continuing to carry on our companys proud tradition of providing consistency, dedication and
value to all of our customers.
To learn more about Ritner Steel, visit
www.ritnersteel.com.

People and Firms

t
T h e
Steel
Market
Development Institute (SMDI)
has announced that Mark A.
Thimons will succeed Gregory
Crawford as vice president of
the Steel Recycling Institute
(SRI), a business unit of the
American Iron and Steel
I ns ti tute (AISI). Crawford
announced his upcoming
retirement earlier this year.
Thimons joined SMDI in 2010
as director of construction
sustainability.
t
"
GVMMTJ[FE
NPDLVQ
GSBNF
PG

AISC Member Star Seismics
buckling restrained braces
(BRB) is currently on display at
the Designing for Disaster
Exhibit located in the
National Building Museum in
Washington, D.C.; the exhibit
runs until August 2, 2015.
t
Casco Bay Steel Structures,
Inc. (an AISC/NSBA Member
and AISC Certified fabricator)
has won the inaugural Business
of the Year Award from the city
of South Portland, Maine.
t
SME Steel (an AISC Member
and AISC Certified fabricator) is
reopening its Pocatello, Idaho,
plant, which closed in May
2013. The company will hire
140 workers including welders,
fitters and drill press operators.
t
N e m e t s c h e k A G , w h o s e
Nemetschek Vectorworks,
Inc., is a producer of BIM
software, will acquire 100%
of Bluebeam Software, Inc.,
a p ro v i d e r o f P D F - b a s e d
workflow solutions for digital
processes and collaboration for
the AEC industry.

news
BOARD NEWS

Oregon Iron Works VP Elected to AISC Board of Directors

Patrick F. Leonard, P.E., vice president of
the Commercial Division at Oregon Iron
Works, LLC, Clackamas, Ore., (an AISC
Member and AISC Certified fabricator)
has been elected to AISCs Board of
Directors. Confirmed during AISCs
recent Annual Meeting in San Diego,
Leonard will immediately begin serving
on the AISC Board, assisting with the
organizations planning and leadership in
the steel construction industry.
Im pleased to announce Pat as the
newest member joining the AISC Board,
said AISC Board of Directors Nominating Committee Chair William B. (Brad)
Bourne, III, of Universal Steel, Inc., Lithonia, Ga. (an AISC Member and AISC
Certified fabricator). He brings 35 years
of experience in both bridge and building structures and is a professionally
registered civil engineer in the state of
California. Im excited to have Pat representing the West Coast region on the
Board and thank him for his time and
commitment.

Leonard has worked for Oregon Iron

Works for the past 20 years. He has extensive experience in the design and construction of steel bridges, buildings and
hydroelectric equipment/structures with
an emphasis on the overall management
of steel construction projects, including
high-rise buildings, hospitals, schools,
shopping centers, manufacturing facilities, arenas and seismic retrofit projects.
Oregon Iron Works has also been very
active with the National Steel Bridge Alliance (NSBA), a division of AISC, for a
number of years.
In addition, hes a member of the
American Society of Civil Engineers
(ASCE) and Structural Engineers Association of Oregon (SEAO). He served
as a Board of Directors Member for
the Structural Engineers Association of
Central California (SEAOCC) and was
a Safety Assessment Engineer on the Disaster Emergency Services Committee
of SEAOCC. He was also an Employer
Trustee and Chairman of the Board for

the Iron Workers Pension Trust and

a Board of Directors Member for the
Pacific Northwest Steel Fabricators Association (PNSFA). He holds a Bachelor
of Science degree in Architectural Engineering from California Polytechnic
State University, San Luis Obispo.
View all of AISCs Officers and Board
of Directors on AISCs website at www.
aisc.org/board.

BRIDGE NEWS

New Report Calls for Infrastructure Investment

A new report from Duke Universitys
Center on Globalization, Governance
and Competitiveness (CGGC) suggests
that the federal governments current
approach to addressing the countrys decaying transportation infrastructure costs
the U.S. 900,000 jobsincluding more
than 97,000 in the manufacturing sector.
Congress last passed a long-term
transportation authorization bill in 2005
and this past July was only able to pass
another short-term funding patch, which
expires next May. The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) says the new
Duke report demonstrates that delay and
underinvestment is causing a decline in
American competitiveness and reducing
potential employment. Each $1 billion
invested in transportation infrastructure
creates 21,671 jobs, the report found.
Congress top priority should be closing the gap between our infrastructure
needs and the investment required to reclaim lost competitiveness and put Ameri-

cans back to work, commented Scott

Paul, president of AAM.
Our economy requires a reliable, efficient transportation system to move goods
between American manufacturers and
customers both at home and around the
world, said Bill McEleney, NSBAs managing director. Additionally, maintaining
that infrastructure can provide employment for thousands of American workers,
further fueling the domestic economy.
The study concludes that a long-term
transportation bill of $114 billion annually would support upwards of 2.48
million American jobs and rebuild our
underperforming infrastructure. Other
findings include:
Every dollar invested in transportation infrastructure returns $3.54 in
economic impact
Deficient and decaying infrastructure
makes the U.S. less competitive than
many of our top trading partners,
with global assessments ranking the

U.S. 16 out of 144 nations and 6

among our top 15 trading partners
The U.S. invests on average $848
per person annually on transportation investments compared to the
European Unions $2,589 per person
The report also examines the ramifications of building large infrastructure
projects using foreign-made construction
inputs. The San Francisco-Oakland Bay
Bridge, whose center span was built with
steel made in China, faced numerous delays and cost overruns during its construction and now faces a potential government investigation due to serious safety
concerns. Meanwhile, the rebuild of New
Yorks Tappan Zee Bridge, which is using
domestic steel, is expected to come in on
time and under budget, and serve New
York for 100 years without major structural maintenance.
The report is available for
free at AAMs website, www.
americanmanufacturing.org.
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

61

news
AWARDS

Chia-Ming Uang Wins 2015 AISC T.R. Higgins Award

Chia-Ming Uang, Ph.D., professo r o f s t ru c t u r a l e n g in e e r in g a t
the University of California, San
Diego (UCSD), is the 2015 recipient of the AISCs annual T.R. Higgins
Lectureship Award. Uang is being
honored for his paper A FlexibilityBased Formulation for the Design
of Continuity Plates in Steel Special
Moment Frames, which he coauthored in the third quarter 2013 edition of AISCs Engineering Journal.
Uang is a research expert in seismic design, rehabilitation and testing of large-scale steel structures,
including buildings and bridges. He
studies seismic code design issues and
actively participates in code committees to ensure that structures perform well and withstand forces during
earthquakes. He has served in various capacities for professional engineering societies. He is a member of
AISCs Committee on Specifications,
Committee of Research and
Connection Prequalification Review
Panel, and in 2007 he was given an
AISC Special Achievement Award for
his research and service contributions to the structural steel industry.
He has also received three research
awards from the American Society

of Civil Engineers: the Raymond C.

Reese Research Prize in 2001 and
the Moisseiff Award in both 2004
and 2014. He is also a member of the
Earthquake Engineering Research

Institute, the American Welding

Society and the Structural Engineers
Association of California. He coauthored two textbooks on structural analysis and steel design, and his
research results are published in many

journal papers, conference proceedings

and technical reports.
Uang joined UCSD in 1993 after
serving on the faculty at Northeastern
University in Boston for six years. Prior
to entering the world of academia, Uang
was a structural designer in Taipei,
Taiwan.
Dr. Uang has been a tireless contributor to the success of AISC and
the steel industry through his research
and educational activities, said Charlie
Carter, S.E., P.E., Ph.D., AISC vice president and chief structural engineer. We
are all very pleased to see Chia-Ming
recognized as a recipient of this prestigious award.
The T.R. Higgins Award recognizes an outstanding lecturer and author
whose technical paper or papers, published during the eligibility period,
are considered an outstanding contribution to the engineering literature on fabricated structural steel.
The award, which includes a $15,000
cash prize, will be presented to Uang
at the 2015 NASCC: The Steel
Conference (www.aisc.org/nascc)
at Music City Center in Nashville,
Tenn., March 25-27. And for more
information on the award, visit www.
aisc.org/TRHigginsAward.

MARKET NEWS

Chicago Mayor Announces 1,000 Jobs Campaign at Atlas Tube Plant

Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, along
with World Business Chicago, Chicago
Federation of Labor and local business
leaders, announced 1,000 Jobs for Chicagoland Manufacturing, an initiative in
the mayors 2015 Budget that will place
workers in 1,000 open manufacturing
jobs over the next year. The announcement was made at JMC Steel Groups
Chicago Atlas Tube plant (an AISC
Member). The facility, which makes
more than 450,000 tons of product annually, is actively hiring 42 positions to
support this initiative.
The initiative will match at least
1,000 qualified job seekers with open
manufacturing jobs and link residents
who need additional skills to training and
62

DECEMBER 2014

apprenticeship programs that can result

in full-time employment. Over the last
three years, the manufacturing sector
has curbed a 30-year decline in jobs, but
there arent enough skilled workers to
meet current demand.
This program to connect 1,000
workers to manufacturing jobs builds
on the work that we have done to reestablish Chicago as one of the countrys
major manufacturing hubs, said Mayor
Emanuel. From working to bring the
Digital Manufacturing Lab to Chicago
to investing in College to Career manufacturing training programs at Richard
J. Daley Community College, attracting
new manufacturers to Chicago and training and supporting future manufactur-

ing talent, we are helping to ensure that

Chicagos economy will continue to grow
well into the future.
To learn more, visit
1000JobsCampaign.com.

www.aisc.org/nightschool
Class begins January 26, 2015

AISC

Night School
Stability Design of Steel Structures
Applying Modern Methods of Structural Analysis
Presented by Donald W. White, Ph.D. and Ronald D. Ziemian, P.E., Ph.D.
in collaboration with the
Structural Stability Research Council

Monday nights 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time

(90 minutes each)
Modern Methods of Structural Analysis,
from Linear to Nonlinear
Recognized Methods of Second-Order
Elastic Analysis
The Direct Analysis Method
Stability Design of Low and Medium-Rise
Steel Buildings and more...

Theres always a solution in steel.

American Institute of Steel Construction
One E Wacker Drive, Suite 700
Chicago, IL 60601
www.aisc.org
312.670.2400

marketplace

Search employment ads online at www.modernsteel.com.

AISC QUALITY CERTIFICATION

IT WORKS... DONT WAIT!
For fabrication or erection help
Call Jim Mooney
your Quality Certification Connection

JAMES M. MOONEY & ASSOCIATES

941.223.4332 s jmmoon94@aol.com

Contract Auditor
Quality Management Company, LLC is seeking contractors to
conduct audits for the AISC Certied Fabricator and AISC Certied
Erector Programs. Contractors must have knowledge of quality
management practices as well as knowledge of audit principles,
practices and techniques and knowledge of the steel construction
industry. If you are interested, please submit your statement of
interest contractor@qmconline.org.
Are you looking for software, products, or services for your next project?
You can find it in Modern Steel Constructions online product directory.

http://modernsteel.com/product_categories.php
If youre a provider of software, products, or services and would
like more information about being listed or enhancing your current listing,
contact Louis Gurthet at:

gurthet@modernsteel.com or 231.228.2274

Looking for something from an old issue of Modern Steel?

All of the issues from Modern Steel Constructions

first 50 years are now available as free PDF downloads
at www.modernsteel.com/backissues.

Like AISC on Facebook

facebook.com/AISCdotORG

Follow AISC on Twitter

@AISC

Looking for the latest information on

AISC Certication Programs?
Visit www.aisc.org/certification
Email certification@aisc.org
or call 312.670.7520

AISC Continuing Education Seminars

www.aisc.org/seminars.
64

LATE MODEL STRUCTURAL

STEEL FABRICATING EQUIPMENT
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Controlled Automation ABL-100-B CNC Flat Bar Detail Line, 143 Ton Punch,
400 Ton Single Cut Shear, 40 Infeed, 1999 #24216
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PC Ctrl (Upgrade 2005), 2000 #21739
Controlled Automation 2AT-175 CNC Plate Punch, 175 Ton, 30 x 60 Travel,
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(1) Oxy, (2) Hy-Def 200 Amp Plasma, 2002 #20654
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Phone: 631.249.5566 | Fax: 631.249.9494 | sales@prestigeequipment.com

To advertise, call 231.228.2274 or e-mail gurthet@modernsteel.com.

DECEMBER 2014

Search employment ads online at www.modernsteel.com.

Structural Engineers

Are you looking for a new and exciting opportunity in 2014?

We are a niche recruiter that specializes in matching great structural
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Theres always a solution in steel.

Visit our newly launched MSC on-line Job Board at www.modernsteel.com
to learn more about these exciting employment opportunities available at AISC:
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Join AISC and become part of the solution.

employment
RECRUITER IN STRUCTURAL MISCELLANEOUS
STEEL FABRICATION
ProCounsel, a member of AISC, can market your skills
and achievements (without identifying you) to any city
or state in the United States. We communicate with
over 3,000 steel fabricators nationwide. The employer
pays the employment fee and the interviewing and
relocation expenses. If youve been thinking of making
a change, now is the time to do it. Our target, for you,
is the right job, in the right location, at the right money.

Buzz Taylor

PROCOUNSEL
Toll free: 866-289-7833 or 214-741-3014
Fax: 214-741-3019
mailbox@procounsel.net

PROJECT MANAGERS
International Design Services is seeking project
managers to manage all aspects of detailing & connection design, including
coordination with the fabricator, design team, and other suppliers to the
project. Project manager is responsible for maintaining drawing quality,
project schedules and costs, and overall customer satisfaction.
IDS offers benefits package, competitive salary and relocation allowance.
Please call (314) 872-1791 or email your resume to msmith@ids-inc.net.

Manufacture Sales Rep WANTED

SEEKING Experienced Structural Steel and Miscellaneous Metal take off personnel.
Must have minimum of 20 years of experience. May work from your home.
Great part-time opportunity for retirees who seek additional income. Contact Jaime
Eby at Steel Fab Enterprises, LLC. 717-464-0330 or jeby@steelfabenterprises.com

Visit steelTOOLS.org
Join the conversation at AISCs new
le-sharing, information-sharing website.
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your peers
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then Flange Width
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s6IDEO"RIDGE%RECTIONATTHE3EA4AC!IRPORT
Got Questions? Got Answers?
Participate with us at steelTOOLS.org.
To advertise, call 231.228.2274 or e-mail gurthet@modernsteel.com.

Midwest manufacturing company of anchor bolts,

U-Bolts, threaded rods and more,
is looking for sales reps for exclusive territories.

 Been manufacturing for over 30 years

 VERY competitive and quick service
Please contact Darrin@Indianaanchorbolt.com

Advertise Your Job Openings in Modern Steel!

Modern Steel employment ads also appear online!

www.modernsteel.com/classifieds.php.
(Please note that these ads no longer appear at www.aisc.org.)

Contact: Lou Gurthet at 231.228.2274

or gurthet@modernsteel.com

Schuff Steel Company, a leader in the

fabrication and erection of structural steel,
is currently recruiting for Project Managers,
Estimators, Sales and several other positions for
its locations in Florida, Kansas, Texas, California
and Arizona. Schuff Steel offers competitive
salaries and a comprehensive benefits package. For a complete listing of
open positions, please visit our website at www.schuff.com.
Or you may email your resume to resume@schuff.com. EOE/AA
Modern STEEL CONSTRUCTION

65

structurally
sound

IN ORBIT

I RECENTLY TRAVELED to London for Bentley Systems

Be Inspired Awards, part of the companys annual Year in
Infrastructure Conference. When not attending sessions, jury
discussions, keynote presentations and, of course, the winners
presentation (you can visit www.bentley.com for a full list
of winners, many of which use plenty of steel!), I made a
point to photograph the steel story of London, old and new.
Theres plenty to tell (and unfortunately, only one magazine
page in which to do so), but one of the highlightsand one
of the most unique (and, I must say, bizarre) steel structures
Ive ever seen anywherewas the ArcelorMittal Orbit, which
towers over the Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park in east
London. At 376 ft tall and made of approximately 2,000 tons
of steel, it is Britains largest piece of public art. Depending

66

DECEMBER 2014

on the angle, proximity and time of day (at night, it is

illuminated and glows blood red) it looks like: a roller coaster
gone wrong, a giant serpent, a geyser of steel bursting forth
from the earth, a tripod from H.G. Wells War of the Worlds
(youve got to get up close for that one), two giant metallic
monsters locked in eternal battleand probably a whole lot
of other things. The number of opinions about the structure
is likely similar to the number of interpretations on what it
looks like, but its definitely a sight to behold and certainly
one heck of a conversation piece and structural engineering
achievement. If youre ever in London, its worth visiting and
making your own interpretations. And if youd like to know
more about it, see the August 2012 Whats Cool in Steel
item at www.modernsteel.com. Geoff Weisenberger

Strong Structures Come

From Strong Designs

With RAM, STAAD and ProStructures,

Bentley offers proven applications for:

Build it with Bentley! Integrated projects,

teams and software.
Bentleys Structural Software provides you the tools you need for strong designs and supports
an integrated workow all the way around. Having all the applications you need for the tasks
at hand, along with the ability to easily synchronize your work with the rest of the project team,
helps you get your job done right, fast and protably.

Visit www.bentley.com/Structural
to learn more!
2014 Bentley Systems, Incorporated. Bentley, the B Bentley logo, ProjectWise and MicroStation are either registered or unregistered
trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product
names are trademarks of their respective owners.

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