Steel in the News

The National Steel Bridge Alliance’s 2014 World Steel Bridge Symposium will be held in conjunction with AISC’s NASCC: The Steel Conference in Toronto, March 26-29, 2014. The symposium brings together design engineers, construction professionals, academics, transportation officials, fabricators, erectors and builders to learn and discuss state-of-the-art practices for enhancing steel bridge design, fabrication and construction techniques.

The organizers of the 2014 event are interested in papers that deal with all aspects of steel bridge design and construction. If you’re interested in presenting, please submit an abstract, 500 words or less, summarizing your paper.

Abstracts are due by July 1, 2013, and should be sent to abstracts@steelbridges.org; the preferred format is PDF. Authors of accepted papers will be notified by August 15 and completed papers must be received by November 18 for final review.

For more information about the World Steel Bridge Symposium, visit www.steelbridges.org/wsbs.

Only two more days until the opening of the 2013 NASCC: The Steel Conference, which takes place April 17-19 at America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis! Here are some last-minute updates that you won’t want to miss as you plan your trip:

• View the Final Program for the latest updates on sessions and exhibitors, registration desk hours and other key scheduling information. And if you have not yet received your conference materials in the mail, you can pick them up when you check in at the registration area at the convention center.

• Planning your conference experience is now easier thanks to the new 2013 NASCC mobile app! By using this interactive digital show guide, you’ll be able to see detailed information on each session (you can even designate sessions by attendee interest for future reference), information about exhibitors, and even chat with other attendees. To download this free app, simply search for “NASCC” in Google Play or the Apple App Store (or download from http://crwd.cc/nascc2013).

• On April 17, the first day of the conference, Kansas radio station 95.5 FM The Rock will be airing an interview with AISC’s Scott Melnick about The Steel Conference on its new weekly show, “On the Mark with Mark Hamade,” hosted by Mark Hamade. The show will air at 5:30 p.m. (CST) and will also be streamed online through the radio station’s website, www.salina-radio.com. If you’re unable to catch it live, the recording will be available online as a podcast at http://thetip.podomatic.com/.

• Can’t make it to St. Louis for the conference? You can still participate and receive PDH credit by watching selected sessions online in real time. AISC has devoted two rooms for NASCC LIVE! and 22 sessions will be offered during the conference. Watch one or watch 11, it’s up to you. Registration for AISC members is $225 ($350 for non-members) for the first person from your firm and each additional registrant is only $10 (and since each participant can log in at their own computer, multiple people at the same firm can attend different sessions). To view the list of conference sessions that will be streaming live and to register, visit www.aisc.org/nascclive.

• If you will be in St. Louis for the conference, we’re looking forward to seeing you there! Stop by and say hello to MSC staff (booth #1545) and AISC staff (booth #1045) in the exhibit hall. The editors and AISC will also be sharing information and photos from the show via Twitter @ModernSteel, and @aisc, respectively. We encourage you to tweet your conference experiences and chat about the show using the hashtag #NASCC. Also look out for conference photos and videos on AISC’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/AISCdotORG.

See you in St. Louis!

We’ll be back here with a new news post on Monday, April 22.

Ultrasonic pin inspection experts from bridge engineering firm Modjeski and Masters will be implementing an advanced inspection technique to “see” inside critical steel pins on the eastbound span of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge. The above photo shows Michael Januszkiewicz, P.E., an associate at Modjeski and Masters, shooting a pin on the bridge. Photos: Courtesy of Modjeski and Masters

Bridge engineering firm Modjeski and Masters is currently inspecting the 3,200-ft. eastbound span of Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay Bridge as part of a joint venture with RK&K Engineers. The Modjeski and Masters team will be inspecting part of the floor system, superstructure, railing anchor bolts, roadway deck, light poles and steel truss structural members.

Ultrasonic pin inspection experts from Modjeski and Masters will be implementing an advanced inspection technique to “see” inside critical steel pins. Ultrasonic testing (UT) technology will enable the team to evaluate structural integrity and conditions of bridge components that are not visible, aiding in the identification of irregularities within the structure. It is expected that the team will shoot approximately 15 pins throughout the duration of the inspection.

The Chesapeake Bay Bridge is a vital traffic link that connects the Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area with eastern shore cities, including Ocean City, Md. The bridge also serves as an alternate route for I-95 between northern Delaware and Washington, D.C. Because it is such a heavily traveled route, maintaining bridge traffic throughout the inspection is critical. Inspection teams will leverage access vehicles to minimize travel disruptions. Bridge traffic will remain open throughout the duration of the inspection, with one of the bridge’s two eastbound travel lanes closed through portions of the inspection.

Atlas Tube (an AISC member), a division of JMC Steel Group, offers a new online video, “Truss Connections,” as part of its “Designing with HSS” educational video series, available for free online viewing.

The video, presented by Atlas Tube senior sales engineer Brad Fletcher, discusses the specifics of trusses with HSS, including joint types, fabrication costs, failure modes, design approaches and welding.

According to Fletcher, some of the top things to think about when designing trusses with HSS are:

• Keep the number of different sizes small
• Try to minimize the number of connections
• Understand the effects of joint configuration and connection design criteria before analyzing truss and selecting member sizes

You can view the new Truss Connections video on JMC Steel Group’s YouTube Channel.

AISC recently named its 2012 Safety Award winners for safety and safe operating practices at structural steel facilities and construction sites. The award is presented to companies with a perfect safety record of zero disabling injuries in the categories of “Shop and Office” and “Field Erection.”

AISC’s annual Safety Awards program recognizes good records of safety performance. Periodic recognition of safety in the workplace has been demonstrated to provide worker incentive and a reminder of the importance of safe practices, according to the Institute.

More information about the awards program and other AISC safety resources can be found at www.aisc.org/safety.

Superior Iron Works, Inc. (an AISC member/AISC certified fabricator and advanced certified erector) recently received a 2013 Star Award for Excellence in the Face of Adversity from the Washington Building Congress for its work on the Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building Revitalization project on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

The Star Award is given as part of WBC’s Craftsmanship Awards, which Superior Iron Works won in the Metals category. As part of the Craftsmanship Awards evaluation process, teams are asked to recommend projects that deserve special recognition for demonstrating the highest level of quality and exceeding the awards criteria to achieve a level defined as “Exceptional”  in the categories of Visual Excellence, Technical Excellence and Excellence in the Face of Adversity.

The award for Excellence in the Face of Adversity is given for the highest quality job that was done under the most difficult conditions. Schedule, logistics, site constraints and working conditions all could be contributing factors, according to the awards program, and the job must have been demonstrably tough to execute.

The Smithsonian Arts and Industries Building Revitalization project required the removal of the majority of the existing roof structures and replacement with modern steel components. The building has four quads consisting of five individual areas that are all unique and were systematically demolished and rebuilt using modern steel components while matching the fabric of the original design. The four quads are integral to one another and required significant in-house engineering to ensure hit-out of new and existing structural members between quads.

Each quad consisted of approximately 2,200 pieces of steel totalling 125 tons, 8,000 pieces of hardware and 26,000 sq. ft of decking. A portion of the existing steel was reused in the structure and required significant remediation to meet the new structural requirements.

As part of last year’s SteelDay events, attendees were able to tour the project site while it was under construction (shown right).

The building is scheduled to reopen in the summer of 2014 to host programs and exhibitions related to innovation.

For more information about the project and to take an online tour of the building’s history, visit www.si.edu/Museums/arts-and-industries-b
uilding.

On April 17, 10 top industry professionals will be recognized by AISC for their exceptional contributions to the advancement of the structural steel design and construction industry. Whether it’s for an innovative design, an insightful technical paper or a lifetime of outstanding service, these individuals are honored for making a difference in the fabricated structural steel industry’s success and will be presented with distinguished AISC awards at the 2013 NASCC: The Steel Conference, April 17-19, at America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis.

AISC’s Lifetime Achievement Award gives special recognition to individuals who have provided outstanding service over a sustained period of years to AISC and the structural steel design/construction/academic community. This year’s award recipients are:

• Michael F. Engestrom, technical marketing director, Nucor-Yamato Steel
• Dann H. Hall, principal, Bridge Software Development International, Ltd.
• Michael A. West, P.E., AIA, principal, Computerized Structural Design
• Stephen A. Mahin, Ph.D., professor, University of California, Berkeley
• Wallace W. Sanders, Jr., Ph.D., professor emeritus, Iowa State University

AISC’s Special Achievement Award recognizes individuals who have demonstrated notable achievements in structural steel design, construction, research or education. It honors those who have made a positive and substantial impact on the structural steel design and construction industry. This year’s award recipients are:

• Mark V. Holland, P.E., chief engineer, Paxton & Vierling Steel Co.
• Steven C. Ball, S.E., vice president, John A. Martin & Associates, Inc.
• Rafael Sabelli, S.E., principal and director of seismic design, Walter P Moore
• Judy Liu, Ph.D., associate professor, Purdue University
• William J. Wright, Ph.D., P.E., associate professor, Virginia Tech

Photos of this year’s award winners and additional information about their achievements can be found in AISC’s press release. For more information about The Steel Conference, visit www.aisc.org/nascc. 

Here’s MSC’s special NASCC Steel Structure Trivia question! The Gateway Arch alongside the Mississippi River in St. Louis is the tallest of the country’s national monuments (at 630 ft) and is truly visually inspiring. The arch celebrates the beauty of structural steel, as well as the U.S. spirit of westward expansion from the mid-1800s. Completed in October 1965, the arch was built using how many tons of stainless steel? Photo: David Preston/Gateway Arch Riverfront

Answer:
The Gateway Arch was built using 900 tons of stainless steel. Congratulations to our winners: Christopher Cichon of Sargent & Lundy, Chicago; Clifford Slaven of J. R. Hoe & Sons, Inc., Middlesboro, Ky.; and Fred Brown. They’ve all won complimentary full registration to NASCC: The Steel Conference in St. Louis, April 17-19, at America’s Center Convention Complex.

You can read about the steel fabrication for the Arch on the National Park Service website.

For more information about The Steel Conference, visit www.aisc.org/nascc.

See you in St. Louis!

Earlier this month, AISC offered the opportunity to win free admission to this year’s NASCC: The Steel Conference with its Facebook and Twitter pages. If you missed the contest or didn’t win, you have another chance to win free registration to the conference with MSC!

Tomorrow morning, as part of MSC’s monthly Steel Structure Trivia contest on our website in the Steel in the News section, we’ll post a photo and associated trivia question at exactly 10 a.m. CDT about a steel structure located in St. Louis - which is where The Steel Conference is taking place, April 17-19, at America’s Center Convention Complex.

The first three people to email the correct answer to weiss@aisc.org will receive a complimentary full registration certificate to the conference, which includes admission to all technical sessions, the exhibition hall and Welcome Reception, keynote address and the T.R. Higgins Award Lecture. It also includes admission to all Structural Stability Research Council sessions, all Technology in Steel Construction Conference sessions and the full Bridge Track.

Rules and how to enter:

• In your email submission to weiss@aisc.org, you must include: your first and last name and your answer to the trivia question. The deadline to submit your guess is noon (CDT) on Monday, April 1.

• The answer to the trivia question will be revealed in the Steel Structure Trivia post in the afternoon on April 1 with the winners’ names. You may win the contest only one time.

• Complimentary registration for the conference does not include travel or hotel expenses, or admittance to the short courses, tours, boxed lunches or the Conference Dinner: A Night at City Museum. Attendees may register for these events for an additional cost through the registration website at www.aisc.org/nascc.

• The complimentary registration certificate is non-transferable and cannot be used to credit attendees who are already registered for the conference. No refunds will be given.

For more information about The Steel Conference, visit www.aisc.org/nascc.

Good luck! See you in St. Louis!

Construction employment increased in 145 out of 339 U.S. metropolitan areas between January 2012 and January 2013, declined in 141 and was stagnant in 53, according to a new analysis of federal employment data released last week by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC).

Association officials noted that after years of declining construction employment, contractors in some metro areas are beginning to worry about the availability of skilled workers now that they have resumed hiring.

“Not only are a slight plurality of metro areas adding construction jobs, but those areas appear to be adding jobs at a faster rate than places where construction employment continues to decline,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Considering the already-released national construction employment figures for February, we are likely to see more metro areas adding jobs in the next report.”

Pascagoula, Miss. added the highest percentage of new construction jobs (45%, 1,500 jobs) followed by Brownsville-Harlingen, Texas (19%, 600 jobs); Cheyenne, Wyo. (19%, 500 jobs) and Haverhill-North Andover-Amesbury, Mass.-N.H. (18%, 600 jobs). Dallas-Plano-Irving, Texas (10,100 jobs, 10%) added the most jobs. Other areas adding a large number of jobs included Los Angeles-Long Beach-Glendale, Calif. (9,600 jobs, 9%); Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas (8,700 jobs, 5%) and Phoenix-Mesa-Glendale, Ariz. (6,000 jobs, 7%).

The largest job losses were in Chicago-Joliet-Naperville, Ill. (-3,500 jobs, -3%) and Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich. (-3,500 jobs, -19%); followed by Northern Virginia (-3,200 jobs, -5%); and Charleston, W.V. (-2,900 jobs, -20%). Charleston, W.V. lost the highest percentage. Other areas experiencing large percentage declines in construction employment included Atlantic City-Hammonton, N.J. (-19%, -1,000 jobs); Detroit-Livonia-Dearborn, Mich.; Kankakee-Bradley, Ill. (-18%, -200 jobs) and Akron, Ohio (-17%, -1,800 jobs).

Association officials also noted that many former construction workers have left for other industries or retired. They added that the industry’s dire conditions have deterred many graduates from pursuing careers in construction and as a result, the industry is likely to face a shortage of available skilled workers in some parts of the country if the industry continues to add jobs.

“Between the challenges of attracting new recruits and retaining out-of-work ones, there aren’t that many skilled workers waiting for a call-back in many parts of the country,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer. “If the industry continues to add jobs, it won’t be long before contractors in some parts of the country are scrambling to find enough skilled workers to meet demand.”

You can view construction employment figures by state and rank on AGC’s website.