Steel in the News

The largest project in Ohio DOT history replaces an historic Cleveland crossing - the Interstate 90 Innerbelt Bridge - with a new delta girder bridge. The above photo shows a perspective of the “knuckle” portion of a delta girder at AISC member fabricator High Steel Structures’ shop. The new westbound portion of the bridge under construction will use 20,000 tons of structural steel in all. Photo: Courtesy of High Steel Structures

Interstate 90 provides major east-west access over the Cuyahoga River and through downtown Cleveland via what has become a functionally obsolete 1959 deck truss, thanks to a nearly 40% increase in vehicular traffic. Originally designed to carry a maximum of 100,000 vehicles daily, it now handles more than 138,000 cars a day.

When it came time to replace the historic structure, citizens were asked to vote on three steel alternatives: a cable arch scheme; a design with the deck supported on a series of slender, parallel beams spanning from pier to pier; and a delta girder scheme (the latter won). According to Dave Lastovka, project manager for the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), the design is intended to complement Cleveland’s historic collection of steel river bridges while honoring steel’s role in the region’s economy.

At $640 million, which includes $79.4 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds, replacing the I-90 Innerbelt Bridge is the largest single infrastructure investment in ODOT history. And because the project is so large, ODOT broke it into two: a westbound bridge, which is under construction, and an eastbound bridge, scheduled to begin later this year.

The design-build team of Walsh Construction and HNTB Corporation (the latter also designed the original Innerbelt Bridge) was awarded the westbound bridge contract in September 2010.

The June issue of MSC (available June 1) will feature additional photos and detailed information about the Interstate 90 Innerbelt Bridge replacement project; stay tuned!

In less than two weeks, nearly 50 university teams will converge at the University of Washington in Seattle to compete in the 2013 National Student Steel Bridge Competition finals, which take place May 31-June 1.

The competition challenges student teams with building their own designed and fabricated steel bridges, one-tenth the size of a full-scale bridge, under the pressure of the clock. Bridge rankings are based on a variety of factors, including: display, construction speed, stiffness, lightness, construction economy and structural efficiency.

The 49 student engineering teams that have qualified for the national competition were the top finishers at 18 regional competitions that took place across North America between January and April and included a total of 210 teams. (Click on the left image to view the list of qualifying teams.)

For more information about the competition, visit www.aisc.org/steelbridge or www.nssbc.info.

Chicago’s bascule bridges are some of the city’s most iconic structures but many are in trouble, according to a recent Chicago Sun-Times article. These bridges have made Landmark Illinois’ “Ten Most Endangered Historic Places” for 2013.

While many of the moveable steel bridges are still in operation, others are no longer operable and are due to be replaced in upcoming years with new wider, fixed bridges, according to Landmark.

And despite the city’s $41 million Wells Street Bridge reconstruction project currently underway, other bascules, while not planned for replacement, are deteriorating due to a lack of capital repair funds.

The article says that the city’s Department of Transportation is preparing a bridge preservation plan in hopes that parts of those bridges in need of replacement could be salvaged.

AISC is offering the opportunity to dive into the topic of fatigue of welded connections with a two-part live webinar on May 23 and May 30 titled “Fatigue of Welded Connections - A Primer.”

Part 1, on May 23, will examine the basic concepts behind fatigue including the definition, application and causation, as well as welded connections and variables affecting fatigue. It will also review the aspects of the design model including fatigue testing, categories of connection details and predictive model.

Part 2, on May 30, considers weld geometries in detail with a practical focus on how to increase the fatigue resistance of welded connections. Fatigue enhancement methods will be presented and the role of material toughness on fatigue life will be discussed, along with case studies.

Both parts of the webinar are 1.5 hours long and will use AISC 360 Appendix 3. On both days they will begin at the following times, relative to time zone:

10:30 a.m. PDT
11:30 a.m. MDT
12:30 p.m. CDT
1:30 p.m. EDT

The cost of the two-part webinar series is $325 for AISC members, $500 for non-members and $270 for students and educators. (Fees are based on a per-site connection basis. Purchase one site connection and any number of members in your company or organization may view the webinar at that site connection. All attendees are eligible to receive CEUs/PDHs.)

Registrants will receive access to a PDF file of the presentation slides prior to the webinar, CEU/PDH certificates for all attendees upon completion of the live webinar (up to 0.30/3.0 CEUs/PDHs) and complete instructions for accessing the live webinar.

For more information and to register, go to www.aisc.org/webinars.

The final sections of the 408-ft steel spire for One World Trade Center were lifted to the top of the building earlier this month and installed this past Friday. The skyscraper now stands at a symbolic 1,776 ft high, making it the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere and the third tallest in the world.

Eighteen barrel-shaped sections of steel make up the spire, which weighs nearly 760 tons and will function as world-class broadcast antenna.

You can view videos and photos of welders installing the spire at WABC-TV’s website.

The steel for the building topped out last August when the last of the spandrel beams were installed between the parapet columns. The 104-story high-rise will open in 2014 on the northwest corner of NYC’s World Trade Center site — overlooking the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island — with 3 million sq. ft of office space.

More information on WTC’s construction progress can be found at www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress.

The winning steel sculpture in AISC’s second SteelDay Sculpture Competition - “Steel Life-Cycle”  - designed by Bruce Helmreich of Michelmann Steel Company (an AISC member). Photo: Michelmann Steel Company

Entries for the second annual SteelDay Sculpture Competition were on display at NASCC: The Steel Conference last month in St. Louis, where attendees voted for their favorite. The only rules for the competition are that entrants must be AISC Full and Associate Members and entries have to fit into a 2-ft x 2-ft x 2-ft box and be made entirely of steel.

Five sculptures were entered into the competition this year, and this year’s winner is “Steel Life-Cycle.” Designed by Bruce Helmreich of Michelmann Steel Company, the sculpture illustrates the various stages in the life of a structural steel assembly, from design to pouring molten steel into a cast to tightening the bolts on the final assembly.

More information about the winning sculpture and its designer will be featured in the June issue of MSC.

You can view all five entrants at SteelDay’s Facebook page (visit www.aisc.org/steelday and click the Facebook link or login to Facebook and search on “SteelDay”) or on AISC’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AISCdotORG.

Looking for an educational program that enhances your professional development and accommodates your busy schedule? AISC offers Night School, an evening curriculum of online courses that focus on relevant structural steel design and construction topics. Registration is open for the second course in the program, “Fundamentals of Stability for Steel Design,” which begins June 3.  

The course will provide a comprehensive overview of the behavior and design of compression, flexural, beam-column and bracing members, as well as an introduction to system stability. Examples illustrating stability analysis and design concepts will also be included. 

The course consists of eight 1.5-hour webinar sessions on Monday evenings, beginning at 7 p.m. Eastern Time:

Session 1: June 3 - Course Introduction and Behavior of Compression Members
Session 2: June 10 - Design of Compression Members
Session 3: June 17 - Behavior of Flexural Members
Session 4: June 24 - Design of Flexural Members
Session 5: July 8 - Stability of Structural Systems
Session 6: July 15 - Design of Members Subject to Compression and Flexure
Session 7: July 22 - Fundamental Concepts of Bracing Compression and Flexural Members
Session 8: July 29 - Design of Bracing for Columns and Beams

For registration details and additional information about the course, visit www.aisc.org/nightschool.

Robert and Doug Snokhous, two Central Texas Iron Works (CTIW) employees who were also volunteer firefighters, sacrificed their lives trying to extinguish the fire that led to the explosion at the West, Texas, fertilizer plant last month. Fourteen people in all, including first responders, died in the explosion.

In honor of Robert and Doug, CTIW has established the Steel Industry West Relief Fund for victims of the disaster and the West community. For businesses and individuals who would like to make a financial contribution, checks can be made payable to Steel Industry West Relief Fund (c/o Central Texas Iron Works, Inc., P.O. Box 2555, Waco, Texas 76702-2555).

CTIW has also joined with the Waco Foundation to accept donations for the West Volunteer Fire Department. For those who wish to elect this option, checks can be made payable to Waco Foundation, West Texas Disaster Relief Efforts Fund/Firefighter Relief (In Honor of Robert & Doug Snokhous) (1105 Wooded Acres Dr., Waco, TX 76710).

For more information, contact CTIW at 254.776.8000.

In an effort to better communicate with its existing participants, AISC Certification will begin releasing Certification Bulletins communicating program updates and changes.

Certification Bulletin 2013-1: Current Participant Conversion to Standard Based Bridge Certification Program provides information required to convert bridge certified facilities with certifications expiring in August 2013 or after to the new standard based AISC certification program for steel bridge fabricators. Conversion is mandatory for all participants.

This bulletin can be found at www.aisc.org/bridgecertification. If you have specific questions or concerns regarding Bulletin 2013-1, please contact AISC Certification directly at conversion@aisc.org.

ConXtech announced that its ConXR and ConXL Chassis Based Modular structural steel building systems have been Cradle to Cradle Certified at the Silver level. These systems are the first Cradle to Cradle Certified structural steel framing systems in the world, according to the company.

Both ConXR and ConXL can be designed as special moment frame connections (SMF) or ordinary moment frame (OMF) structures. ConX connections are inherently bi-axial, capable of handling challenging seismic loading.

The systems offer architects and engineers the opportunity to design multi-story structures for future disassembly and re-use without compromising structural integrity.

“This product represents innovative systems thinking and provides not only a fantastic assembly system but also a brilliant way to eventually disassemble a building to recover materials that are precious for our future,” said Bridgett Luther, president of the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

Administered by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, the Cradle to Cradle Certified program is a multi-attribute program that assesses products for safety to human and environmental health, design for future use cycles and sustainable manufacturing processes. Each product is evaluated in five categories: Material Health, Material Reutilization, Renewable Energy Use, Water Stewardship, and Social Responsibility.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) includes Cradle to Cradle Certified products in its Environmentally Preferable Purchasing (EPP), a database of products and services with reduced environmental impacts. In addition, Cradle to Cradle Certified products are recognized by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building certification program and are eligible to contribute to a variety of LEED credits.

Cradle to Cradle Certified is a certification mark licensed by the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute.

For more information, see ConXtech’s press release.