Steel-framed parking structures are gaining popularity with designers and developers. Steel has long been recognized for its advantages: lower construction costs, rapid construction time. In 1972, the steel industry sponsored the full-scale Scranton Fire Test. Today, open, detached parking garages up to 75'-high can be framed with steel.
Steel-framed parking structures are gaining popularity with designers and developers. Steel has long been recognized for its advantages: lower construction costs, rapid construction time. In 1972, the steel industry sponsored the full-scale Scranton Fire Test. Today, open, detached parking garages up to 75'-high can be framed with steel.
Steel-framed parking structures are gaining popularity with designers and developers. Steel has long been recognized for its advantages: lower construction costs, rapid construction time. In 1972, the steel industry sponsored the full-scale Scranton Fire Test. Today, open, detached parking garages up to 75'-high can be framed with steel.
tivity, steel-framed parking structures are gaining popu- larity with designers and de- velopers, according to Dale Denda, an industry analyst with the Parking Market Research Company. Exposed steel- frame construction is back as a recognized option for multi-story parking structures, he insists. Steel has long been recognized for its ob- vious advantages: lower construction costs (in addition to reduced structure weight which reduces foundation costs), rapid construction time, and longer clear-spans. Some designers have also touted steels security benefits fewer and smaller columns mean fewer places for predators to hide. In the past however, some designers have shied away from steel because of structural fire protection requirements and perceived failings of standard coatings. Fortunately, the steel industry has addressed both of these concerns. In 1972, the steel industry sponsored the full-scale Scranton Fire Test, the results of which put the fire safety issue to rest. The test showed that a car fire in an open parking garage does not spread to fully involve adja- cent vehicles, and temperatures of unpro- tected steel during this exposure are well below those at which the strength of struc- tural steel begins to diminish. Today, under the International Building Code, open, de- tached parking garages up to 75-high can be framed with unprotected steel in most juris- dictions. In fact, a study of more than 400 STRUCTURE N July/August 2001 37 John Cross, P.E. AT&T-Lucent, Warren, NJ 38 STRUCTURE N July/August 2001 parking garage fires during the past decade by the Parking Market Research Corporation reveals less than a total of $50,000 in struc- tural damage. The coatings industry has also played their part in increasing the viability of steel for parking structures. Today, coating tech- nology exists that can effectively protect steel framing systems with limited touch up for significant periods. Hot dip galvanizing, which utilizes the cathodic process of intro- ducing zinc to the corrosion circuit as the sacrificial anode, has a projected protection life (less than 5% surface corrosion) in excess of 40 years. Likewise, new high-performance paint systems are now available at an economic price. Todays high performance paint sys- tems, which utilize zinc rich primers and one or two topcoats of epoxy, have an expected life-span (with minimal touch-up) that ex- ceeds 25 years. Steel has made the fastest inroads into the airport, health-care and university markets. These three markets share the need for fast erection on tight sites, and also often are in- volved with the expansion of existing struc- tures. Portland International Airport, Portland, OR A notable recent project is the expansion of a parking garage at Portland International Airport. The project involved adding 3,300 spaces to an existing three story, pre-cast con- crete framed parking structure. Steel was cho- sen as the framing material for the garage expansion to minimize structure weight and allow the existing garage to remain open dur- ing the construction process. The design of the expanded structure called for a four-story addition to the top of the existing garage and a 95 widening of the existing structure with a seven-story steel framed addition. The expansion of the garage required 7,500 tons of structural steel. Typical interior floor framing for the expansion consisted of 3 composite G90 galvanized metal decking with a 3-1/2 concrete topping. Reinforcing steel was added to the low flutes of the deck as a backup system in event of deck corrosion. W16x26 floor beams span 30 to W30x116 girders with columns in a 30 x 60 bay sys- tem. Two levels of the expansion were sup- ported directly on top of existing pre-cast concrete columns. New pin piles were in- stalled inside the garage and supported ap- proximately half the weight of the existing structure and the upper two levels of the ex- pansion. The west expansion of the garage was col- umn free to allow buses and commercial ve- hicles unimpeded access. To create this column free space, W33x118 beams at 10 on center span 95 between column lines. To ac- complish this span large cambers were re- quired that varied from beam to beam to provide slope for storm water runoff. Structural engineer for this award-win- ning project was KPFF Consulting Engi- neers. Project architect was Zimmer Gunsul Frasca. Baugh Construction served as general contractor with Fought & Company and Canron Steel as steel fabricators. Jefferson at Lenox Park, Atlanta, GA A different approach to steelframed, conventionally reinforced cast-in-place deck system was utilized for an apartment complex parking deck at Jefferson at Lenox Park in Atlanta, GA. A clear span, 62 parking bay was constructed using a castellated steel beam in a composite system with the slab and the deck. The system included the use of a 30 castellated beam fabricated from W21x44 and W21x50 wide flange beams. The typical beam weighed only 47 lbs. per lineal foot, re- ducing the overall weight of the parking structure. The smaller top cord section had welded stud shear connectors applied in the field and is composite with the corrugated metal deck and concrete. The deck consists of a 3 deep, 20-gage composite galvanized deck with 3 of normal weight, reinforced concrete over the high corrugation. Principal exterior girders are regular W24x62 wide flange beams on 30 spans. The largest column section is a W8x67. The low Portland International Airport, Portland, OR Jefferson at Lenox Park, Atlanta, GA weight of the steel in the structure allowed significant savings in the foundation costs for the project resulting in a total per space cost of $4,500 and a differential cost savings of $600,000 compared to a concrete alternative. A vibration study of the finished project was conducted by Dr. Thomas M. Murray, P.E., who concluded that the performance of the beam-deck system was excellent with barely perceivable vibrations. The project was developed by JPI, Inc. with JPI Construction serving as the general contractor. Structural design was completed by Alliance Structural Engineers. SMI Steel Products supplied the castellated beams. Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY The parking requirements of the Winthrop University Hospital were ad- dressed through the recent construction of a 630 space, three-story steel framed parking structure with a 6 nominal composite, post tensioned deck. Ten feet floor-to-floor height is typical with a minimum clearance of 72. Architectural pre-cast panels are used as a faade treatment for the structure. The post- tensioned deck was chosen based on the hos- pitals desire to avoid joints and maintain a large expanse of crack free space typical with this style deck. This minimizes the probabil- ity of leakage and/or chloride contamination of the slab, which in turn reduces mainte- nance and future repair expense. Also, by uti- lizing post-tensioning, the amount of steel required to reinforce the slab was reduced. A 40% solids penetrating silane sealer was ap- plied to the deck surface to act as additional protection against moisture and chloride ab- sorption. The structure utilized 750 tons of steel. Typical members were 30 deep spanning 60 across drive lanes and parking bays. By utiliz- ing the composite action of the steel frame running in a single plane across the drive aisles and parking bays and the concrete deck, the weight of the steel frame was reduced to about 9 lbs. per square foot. The concrete faade panels were erected at the same time as the structural components to add stability to the structure during erection. The steel was protected by shop blasting to bare metal (SSPC-SP6) and shop applying 3 mils of an epoxy/zinc based primer. A 4 to 6 mil epoxy topcoat applied in the field com- pleted the protective coating system. The project was constructed as a de- sign/build project by Carl Walker Construc- tion and Carl Walker, Inc. Sydney Brown and Son served as the architect and Axis Con- struction was the construction manager. The design/build contracting approach was cho- sen in order to facilitate faster project deliv- ery and resulted in significant time savings through the simultaneous structural design, foundation work, steel fabrication and mill orders. AT&T-Lucent, Warren, NJ The benefits of combining a steel-framing system and pre-cast double tee decks are very apparent in four parking structures con- structed at AT&Ts office complex in War- ren, NJ. The four garages contain a total of 3,600 spaces on three levels. The garages were designed by Zaldastani Associates and fabricated by Interstate Steel utilizing the Hybrid System approach. The Hybrid System consists of paired steel columns and girders designed to support the pre-cast floor deck and provide lateral stabil- ity during and after construction. Paired plates at 5 -on-center interconnect the paired columns vertically. The columns were erected to full height, interconnected at each floor with steel girders at each of the two column lines. This arrangement provides vertical sta- bility in the transverse direction by the ladder frame cantilevering from the ground and in the longitudinal direction by conventional frame action. Special attention was given to connection details in order to create a moment resisting frame that enabled the steel supported struc- ture to readily resist lateral forces without the introduction of unsightly shear walls or brac- ing. The floor consists of pre-cast double tees that were attached to the top flange of the frames steel girders. The flanges of the dou- ble tees were welded together in the manner normally provided for pre-topped tees and a connection was made between the tees in a shaped cast-in-place infill that incorporates floor and roof drains into the deck system. The Hybrid System has been optimized to reduce the number of pieces in construc- tion and to simplify erection. The advantage of the approach was evident in the design and construction of the project in a ten-month period, matching the demand for parking spaces from the adjacent office buildings. The total cost savings of the Hybrid System over the concrete alternative exceeded one million dollars. John Cross, P.E., is National Project Director with AISC Marketing, LLC in Chicago. STRUCTURE N July/August 2001 39 Winthrop University Hospital, Mineola, NY
(06424) - STP 1444 - Building Facade Maintenance, Repair and Inspection - Jeffrey L. Erdly and Thomas A. Schwartz (ASTM Special Technical Publication) PDF