Healthcare Construction 2010
8Mar
2010
No Egos in Engineering
9Feb
2010
WCF Corporate Office Tower Building will provide optimum safety, immediate occupancy after seismic event.
17Sep
2009
| One of the last major projects using the original SidePlate configurationbefore the advent of SidePlate FRAME™Article featured in Intermountain Contractor http://intermountain.construction.com/features/archive/2009/0909_C_WCFCorporateOffice.asp Cover Story – September 2009 | ||
 |
||
|
||
WCF Corporate Office Tower Building will provide optimum safety,immediate occupancy after seismic event.
By Brad Fullmer Terry Wright,an executive vice president with Jacobsen Construction Co. of Salt Lake City, doesn’t mince words when describing the toughness of Heather Talenah, project manager for Jacobsen on the new $48-million Worker’s Compensation Fund Corporate Office Tower at Towne Ridge Parkway in Sandy, Utah.  SidePlate technology was incorporated into the structural design of the new Worker’s Compensation Fund Corporate Office Tower in Sandy, Utah. (All photos by B. Fullmer) “She eats nails for breakfast,” Wright says. “You have to be tough to be a project manager in the construction industry, and she certainly is that.” Talenah laughs about Wright’s description of her. “I think that comment means I’m pretty tough, as in firm but fair, is how I like to view it,” says Talenah, a Minnesota native and 20-year construction industry veteran who was hired by Wright five years ago to manage the Zion’s Bank Tower re-skin project in downtown Salt Lake. “In construction, with potential hazards all around, you’ve got to be firm in your goals and priorities every minute and not compromise. But I think Terry really hired me because I ride a Harley.” Wright’s “eats-nails-for-breakfast” comment is also notable because the WCF project Talenah is managing has a unique steel aspect to it. The structural system on the six-story, 198,417-sq-ft building incorporates SidePlate technology, one of only a couple of projects in the Intermountain region to utilize such a system, according to structural engineer Paul McMullen of Salt Lake-based Dunn Associates Inc. McMullen says the SidePlate system was used because the owner wanted a building that could be immediately occupied after a major seismic event. “It’s the most robust, highest-capacity connection for a blast or progressive collapse incident,” says McMullen, a principal with Dunn Associates who served as project manager on this job. “WCF desired a building that was immediately usable after a large seismic event. It was, and still is, of concern to them that they are able to provide services to their clients continuously. To satisfy this goal, we looked at a variety of seismic performance levels and the costs associated with them.” McMullen says that with input from Jacobsen on the cost, the design team was able to arrive at the following performance criteria: Immediate occupancy for a once-in-1,000-year event; and life safety for a once-in-2,500-year event. “The force levels are 3.5 times higher than a typical office building,” McMullen says. “We designed a building that will work through, and after, a major seismic event – it was critical that (WCF’s) business is not interrupted. Secondly, it only cost them about 3% more than a normal structural system.” He adds that for the lateral system, the design basis was ASCE 41 Seismic Rehabilitation for Existing Buildings. The IBC 2006 and associated material codes do not provide design criteria for performance levels other than that identified above. “To our knowledge, this is the first time ASCE 41 was applied to the design of new buildings in Utah,” McMullen says. It has been used on 20 or 30 buildings in California.”  This interestingly-shaped, curved steel structure at the top of the building highlights some of the architectural detail of the WCF project. Lateral forces in the building are resisted by a dual concrete shear wall core and perimeter special steel moment frame. Another advantage is that the special concrete shear wall reduced the steel column and beam tonnage to below 400 lbs per ft, so the steel was available in a timely manner. Less steel is used because the SidePlate system stiffens the joint. (Reductions in steel tonnage of 1.5-3 psf can be realized by using the SidePlate connection). SME Steel of West Jordan, Utah, fabricated and erected all the steel on the project. SME project manager Damion Strain says it’s a unique structural-steel system. “The major challenge for us was we had to match up the beams with the sticks because the beam stubs are embedded in the SidePlate connections,”  A view of a the SidePlate connection. Strain says. “The steel had to be cut in such a way that the flanges and the webs had to match up perfectly. We had to have the SidePlate pieces mill marked so we could do that.” Strain says SME utilized 32 total crane days during the erection of the steel, with a total of 33 employees working on the project during peak construction. “It was a challenging project, but we do a lot of those kinds of jobs all over the West,” he adds.
Aiming for LEED Gold From a design standpoint, architect Kenney Nichols of ASWN+ of Murray, Utah, says the building – which is aiming for a LEED gold certification – will have copious amounts of natural daylighting, highlighted by a unique stone and curtain-wall system that utilizes two types of granite, along with glass manufactured by Viracon’s St. George, Utah, facility.  Workers install part of the exterior skin, which utilizes two kinds of granite and a highly energy-efficient, low-E glass manufactured in St. George, Utah by Viracon. “We’ve incorporated 10-ft ceilings and 10-ft window walls in an attempt to get natural daylighting into the core of the building,” Nichols says. “We’re also holding private offices off the perimeter so as not to block out daylight. The high-performance exterior glass (a bronze glass with a low-E coating) also allows in daylight, but does not contribute to heat gain.” Nichols says all mechanical equipment will be in the basement, as opposed to on the roof, which could lead to a high-tech projection system being installed on the roof for WCF marketing/advertising purposes. Designing around the SidePlate system wasn’t overly complicated but did require some special considerations, Nichols says. “We went to great lengths to get a ‘bullet-proof’ building,” he says. “We had to understand how the SidePlate system interfaced with the building’s skin, which required some extra clearances. The sheer size of the columns is also a little out of the ordinary, but WCF will have a building that is highly sustainable and extremely safe.”  The WCF Corporate Office Tower is slated for completion in July 2010. The curtain-wall system, which was designed in collaboration between Salt Lake firms Steel Encounters Inc. and Kepco+, is being prefabricated offsite, so that once onsite, the pieces can be lifted into place and assembled on the spot. “It’s the first time we’ve used a screw spline construction process,” says Alan Mangum, project manager for Steel Encounters. “Additionally, the vertical mullions have a male-female connection, which allows us to shop fabricate in what we call ladders. We then take it to the jobsite, hook it on a crane, fly it into place and set it that way.” Mangum says another unique aspect of the curtain-wall system is that virtually all glass on the project is an inside glaze, meaning the glass is installed from the inside of the building, with the exception of some glazing on the building’s aluminum spandrel panels. Talenah says the building is expected to be 38% more efficient than the average office building. A three-level, 450-stall parking garage is also being constructed just north of the main structure on the 7.5-acre site. WCF Corporate Office Tower Cost: $48 million |
||
SidePlate Introduces New: SidePlate FRAME™ Technology, No Agreement Process & Online Webinars
20Aug
2009
SidePlate Introduces New:
SidePlate FRAME™ Technology
No Agreement Process
Online Webinars
The New SidePlate FRAME™
We are proud to announce our New SidePlate FRAME™ system which now
Requires 50% less shop labor than before
Eliminates all CJP welds
Still saves 1-4psf in steel frame tonnage
Uses full length beams
eliminate beam stubs, welding and handling
eliminate escorted shipping of fabricated material
Shortens the construction schedule
Reduces the amount of moment connections required by up to 33%
Which means SidePlate FRAME now saves money on virtually any steel frame project- of any size, worldwide.
To learn more about SidePlate FRAME™
Call us at 800-475-2077 or
Go to: http://sideplate.com/frame
No Agreement Process
Engineers can now freely specify SidePlate without needing to get a license agreement executed with the architect or owner. The fabricator now pays for the license fee during the construction process.
To get your project started
Call us at 800-475-2077 or
Go to: http://www.sideplate.com/engineers_use.php
SidePlate is now offering an informative online webinar!
Go to www.sideplate.com/webinar.php to review the schedule and reserve your spot. Spaces are limited!
Secrets of Steel Design
with SidePlate FRAMETM
The easiest way to learn about our products and services is to attend a Secrets of Steel Design with SidePlate FRAMETM presentation. It is an informal and very informative presentation that every structural engineer involved in steel design should see.
GoStructural.com Feature Article | Posted: Monday, June 01, 2009
High-tech community hospital comes to Virginia—SidePlate Systems enables architectural and structural design
By Michael G. Paczak, P.E.
By Michael G. Paczak, P.E.
| Design and construction team:Owner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Architect: Joint Venture Team Comprised of HDR, Inc. and Dewberry Structural engineer: HDR, Inc. Connection technology Consultant: SidePlate Systems, Inc. General contractor: Joint Venture Team Comprised of Turner Construction and Gilbane Building Co. Fabricator: Banker Steel Company Erector: L.R. Wilson & Sons, Inc. |
Notwithstanding the challenges of implementing rigorous Federal government anti-terrorism security design criteria for the mitigation of progressive collapse, the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital in Northern Virginia is truly a living testimony that architectural excellence and design freedom have been achieved to the fullest extent, and within budget.
HDR, Inc. and Dewberry teamed together to design this new 9-story environmentally friendly Community Hospital complex that will be a signature landmark for the area, thanks to the latest in steel frame connection technology. A structural steel frame structure was selected over reinforced concrete because of its faster construction schedule, greater cost efficiency, reduced foundation costs, and because of its easier accommodation of complex building forms. When completed in the spring of 2011, this state-of-the-art 120-bed healthcare facility will provide primary and secondary-level care in more than 1.2 million square feet of floor space.
HDR, Inc. performed the structural engineering for this new Hospital. The structural engineering team faced two major challenges—the two extending wings on the main body of the hospital with very limited room for any lateral load resisting elements, and compliance with vertical tie force requirements for progressive collapse mitigation per the USACE’s Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) Design of Buildings to Resist Progressive Collapse, UFC 4-023-03. While these building configuration challenges would clearly not be a ‘piece of cake’ when designing to typical building code criteria for natural hazards such as earthquake and extreme wind, they in fact would introduce even greater and unique complications to the design of a federal healthcare facility which must also address malevolent threats; in particular direct bomb blast attacks and subsequent progressive collapse load conditions.
The architects developed a column grid layout to optimize the functional design and future flexibility of the hospital. As such, it was determined early on that the lateral load resisting system would consist of a steel moment frame, as is commonly used in healthcare facilities. Because of the limited quantity of columns available in the extended wings of the main hospital, it became extremely difficult to provide enough lateral stiffness in the steel moment frame system using traditional steel beam-to-column welded moment connections to control the lateral story displacements induced by the IBC/ASCE 7 building code prescribed wind forces.
In addition, there were several locations throughout the building where it physically was not possible to satisfy the vertical tie force requirements as prescribed by the UFC due to the presence of several transfer girders precluding the columns from going all the way to the ground level. In order to satisfy the progressive collapse design criteria at these locations, the UFC allows the use of the Alternate Path (AP) method “to prove that the structure is capable of bridging over the deficient element.” AP typically requires the use of moment connections and can result in deeper and heavier frame beams in order to minimize the large beam and column rotations. Upon recognizing these impediments, a decision was made by HDR’s Structural Engineer to change design direction by investigating the latest advances in steel frame connection technologies capable of multi-hazard mitigation, in order to retain the advances achieved by the building’s architectural design.
SidePlate Systems was contacted to see if they could help. The wide range of design freedoms and connection stiffness provided by SidePlate steel frame connection technology, as well as the extremely high joint rotational capacities demonstrated in the recently completed GSA full-scale blast and progressive collapse testing, would prove to be ideally suited for resolving all of the project’s steel frame design challenges, while still allowing the use of smaller/lighter beams and columns compared to the those required with a traditional moment connection. Even more surprising, the design of the building using this proprietary connection technology would prove to be more economical than the design with traditional moment connections. Collectively, the technical and cost efficiencies of the SidePlate system would ultimately become the winning combination to rescue and fulfill the project’s architectural design excellence and provide the client with a higher level of protection.
The joint venture construction team comprised of Turner Construction and Gilbane Building Co. awarded the structural steel contract for the project to Banker Steel Company of Lynchburg, Va. Banker developed unique rotating fixtures in its shop for mass production of the column trees, capable of allowing each of the fillet welds in the SidePlate connection to be easily accessed and deposited in the flat or horizontal position for both speed and weld integrity.
The construction of the SidePlate connection system uses all shop fillet-welded fabrication, configured with simple unrestrained fillet welds for increased reliability and robustness of all critical connection welds affecting connection performance. Fillet welds require only visual inspection. All fillet welds are made in either the flat or horizontal position using column tree construction for maximum quality control. Shop fabricated column trees and link beams are then erected and joined in the field using standard AISC/AWS erection tolerances with CJP welded flanges and a bolted web to complete the moment-resisting frame. It should be noted that during construction of the fifth and final building of this project, SidePlate Systems introduced their latest innovation to the marketplace called SidePlate FRAME. This resulted in the elimination of the field beam-to-beam CJP welding because the frame beams are now full-length, and joined to the side plates with six bolts and four horizontal fillet welds. According to Banker Steel, using SidePlate FRAME on the final building would have resulted in a 33 percent reduction in shop labor and an even faster completed steel erected time. Though the fast-track nature of this project precluded the implementation of SidePlate FRAME on the final building, it is now being implemented on numerous government and non-government projects throughout the country.
Throughout this project, the SidePlate Connection Technology has been able to accommodate multiple architectural and mechanical challenges. SidePlate is very beneficial to the dynamically changing design which continues even during the construction phase of the project.
Michael G. Paczak, P.E., is structural section manager with HDR, Inc., in the Alexandria, Va., office. He can be reached at Michael.Paczak@hdrinc.com. Learn more about SidePlate Systems at www.sideplate.com.
Press Release
The Structural Engineering Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), commenced the 41st Structures Congress from April 30 – May 2, 2009 in Austin, Texas in partnership with the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin.
The laboratory, named after Professor Phil M. Ferguson, is located on the Pickle Research Campus of the University of Texas at Austin and is an integral part of the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. Students and faculty conduct large-scale tests of a broad range of civil engineering structures in this facility, including steel bridge girders and steel frame structures for buildings and industrial structures.
Hirschfeld Industries works in partnership with the Ferguson Structural engineering Laboratory by fabricating advanced structures designed and tested by the Lab. The 41st Structures Congress held a tour of the Lab, that included Texas Barbeque and Texas musicians. The event, called, “Beams Barbeque and Blues” created awareness of the Ferguson Lab’s collaboration with Hirschfeld Industries to hundreds of civil engineers and structural engineers from all over the U.S.
The theme for the partnership between the Ferguson Lab and Hirschfeld Industries is “Building Bridges Together for the Present and the Future.” Beyond advances for steel bridges, the Lab also houses the Maglev Guideway Research Center in collaboration with Hirschfeld Industries for the deployment of the Transrapid Maglev for the California-Nevada Interstate Maglev Project – a JV including Parsons, General Atomics, Hirschfeld Industries and M. Neil Cummings, President.
Also debuted for the first time before this international body of structural engineers at the Ferguson Lab was an 8-ton full-scale multi-story steel frame mockup fabricated and erected by Hirschfeld Industries to exhibit the new SidePlate FRAME™ system which was recently developed by SidePlate Systems. This cost breakthrough in steel frame fabrication and erection retains all of the same performance attributes of SidePlate® technology that have become internationally recognized over the past 15 years, including a steel tonnage savings of 1-4 psf depending on local load conditions, while eliminating all CJP welds and achieving a significant reduction in both fabrication and erection man-hours when compared to traditional connection systems.
Hirschfeld was the first major fabricator to recognize SidePlate FRAME’s unmatched economy, multi-hazard prowess, and unparalleled spectrum of design applications for both traditional buildings and heavy industrial structures. SidePlate® technology is ideally suited and proven through actual testing to protect structures against terrorist bomb blast, progressive collapse, earthquake and extreme wind events, and other disasters. Recent applications include the new San Antonio Military Medical Center now under construction; where Hirschfeld is currently fabricating and erecting.
David Houghton, S.E. is the Inventor of SidePlate® technology
Dr. Karl H. Frank is a Warren S. Bellows Centennial Professor in Civil Engineering, Director of the Maglev Guideway Research Center at the University of Texas in Austin and formerly Director of the Ferguson Structural Engineering Laboratory.
Jesse Karns, S.E. is the Director of Research & Design Development, SidePlate Systems
MiTek Acquires SidePlate Systems Inc.
7May
2009
NEWS RELEASE
Date: May 7, 2009
MiTek Acquires SidePlate Systems Inc.
CHESTERFIELD, Mo. – MiTek Inc. announced today the acquisition, through its subsidiary MiTek Holdings Inc., of SidePlate Systems Inc., an innovator of proprietary high-performance steel frame connection technologies used in a wide range of construction applications. MiTek, the world’s leading supplier of state-of-the-art engineered connector products, equipment, software and services for the building components industry, is a subsidiary of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
“The acquisition of SidePlate further extends the MiTek group’s field of interest into the commercial, institutional and heavy industrial construction markets and is a terrific addition to the MiTek family,” stated Gene Toombs, chairman and CEO of MiTek. “The planned enhancements to infrastructure in the U.S., along with more stringent requirements for resilient structures, make this a current and forward-thinking solution for multi-hazard design applications.”
All SidePlate associates will remain with the company, and Henry Gallart will continue to serve as president, along with Jared Adams remaining as senior vice president. SidePlate will operate as a separate company.
“We are delighted to be part of the MiTek and Berkshire Hathaway team. SidePlate’s combination with MiTek will allow us to accelerate the commercialization and development of SidePlate’s connection technologies,” stated Gallart.
Developed in direct response to the devastation caused by the 1994 Northridge earthquake, SidePlate’s technologies are ingeniously designed to protect structures against natural and manmade disasters, including earthquakes, blast attacks and progressive collapse. SidePlate’s solutions are backed by full-scale laboratory testing for earthquake applications, as well as unprecedented testing for blast and progressive collapse.
SidePlate Systems Inc., based in Laguna Hills, Calif., is known for its product innovation, unique engineering solutions, and outstanding business relationships. SidePlate’s solutions have proved to make steel-frame construction faster, more robust, safer and more cost-effective. Visit www.sideplate.com for additional information.
MiTek is the world’s leading supplier of state-of-the-art engineered connector products, equipment, software and services for the residential building components industry. MiTek’s component fabricators lead the industry in delivering prefabricated trusses and wall panels to the residential housing industry. With operations on five continents, MiTek is a global operation serving customers in more than 90 countries. Headquartered in Chesterfield, Mo., it is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. For more information about MiTek, visit www.mii.com.
SidePlate Moves into Larger Office
6May
2009
SidePlate is pleased to announce our move into expanded offices.
Our new corporate address is:
23332 Mill Creek Drive, Suite 225
Laguna Hills, CA 92653
SidePlate Updates Website and Logo
20Mar
2009
We are proud to announce the launch of our New Website. We have expanded our website to make it an excellent resource for Engineers, Architects, Owners, Contractors, Steel Fabricators and Erectors to choose the best Connection System for their projects. We have also re-designed our corporate logo to have a fresh and new look.
Change in Officers
17Jan
2009
On Thursday, January 15, 2009, the Directors of SidePlate Sytems elected new officers. We are proud to announce the following changes in our orporate officers:
Henry A. Gallart President
Jared J Adams Senior Vice President
- March 2010 (1)
- February 2010 (1)
- September 2009 (1)
- August 2009 (1)
- June 2009 (1)
- May 2009 (3)
- March 2009 (1)
- January 2009 (1)
- April 2008 (2)
- January 2008 (1)
- February 2007 (1)
- May 2006 (1)
- January 2006 (1)
