Three Innovative Buildings Win
Top Honors For Steel Construction

A trio of projects - one large and a pair of medium sized buildings - are being honored for excellence in steel construction in the 2002 Steel Systems Excellence Awards. Presentation of the winners was made by the Great Lakes Fabricators & Erectors Association (GLFEA) during the recent annual meeting of the Michigan Society of Professional Engineers (MSPE), held at Boyne Highlands near Harbor Springs. The GLFEA sponsors the awards in collaboration with MSPE and the Structural Engineers Association of Michigan.

This year's competition covered projects completed between Jan. 1, 1999, and Dec. 31, 2001. The award categories cover large structural steel projects over $5 million in value, medium projects from $500,000 to just below $5 million, and small projects below $500,000.

The winner of the large category was the State of Michigan Hall of Justice in Lansing.

Designed by Albert Kahn Associates, Detroit, and the Detroit office of Spillis Candela & Partners Inc., the State of Michigan Hall of Justice has involved the Christman Co., Lansing, as general contractor, and Douglas Steel

State of Michigan Hall of Justice

Fabricating Corp., Lansing, as structural steel fabricator and erector. The 281,000 sq. ft. structure consolidates state judicial functions by combining the Michigan Supreme Court and the state's Court of Appeals into one building, The limestone clad structure features an elaborate, bowl-shaped plaza on its east side covered with concrete pavers and surrounded on three sides with two colonnades that extend more than 110 ft. from the building. A dome shaped skylight consisting of more than 80 panels of insulated glass sits atop the building, to make an architectural connection with the nearby state capitol building. The skylight was assembled on the concrete roof of the new justice hall and hoisted in one piece to its permanent location.

Limestone is not commonly used these days to face buildings but the state was concerned about architectural compatibility between the new justice hall and the 1879 capitol building. Over 14,000 limestone panels were used, each requiring intermediate structural steel framing for support.

Each frame had to be analyzed and engineered in close cooperation with the limestone supplier. The support steel was then fabricated, rolled to the desired radius, and erected and aligned to specified tolerances prior to installing the panel.

The unique exterior shape of the Hall of Justice was formed by complex steel bump-outs at every floor. The bump-outs acted as a pour stop for floor concrete as well as providing support for the base of the exterior limestone panels. This isn't done very often in construction. Close scrutiny was necessary to assure no interferences were being created between the floor slab and windows, which typically run full height up the face of the building.

An aggressive construction schedule generated an opportunity for innovation when it came to the installation of the limestone panels for the rotunda. A portion of the main building's structural steel as well as part of an adjacent parking deck that was also being built could not be left out in order to make room for a large crane for hoisting the limestone. To get the job done, two miniature cranes were designed and built especially for the project at a cost of $38,000 each. Placed on the building's roof, they were used over a period of approximately four months to set over 1,000 limestone panels.

Over 2,900 tons of structural steel were used to frame the curved lines of the justice hall and support its limestone panels. The complex framing that's segmented at each pie-shaped bay of the structure gives the illusion that the building is built on a radius. The dome glassed skylight, some 16 feet tall, sits on support tubes rolled to a 21 foot radius.

All of the steel framing for the six story structure was erected in just over 18 weeks primarily during winter months. The original estimate by the state of Michigan for the justice hall was $87 million but actual construction costs to date have come in at around $67 million.

The two winners in the medium category were the reconstruction of the Mesaba Airlines Hanger Facility at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts on the campus of Michigan Technological University in Houghton.

In May of 2000 a strong storm collapsed the Mesaba Hangar facility at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport.

Mesaba Airlines Hanger Facility at the Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport

The hangar was a pre-engineered building with precast concrete wall panels and a light gauge steel roof framing system than spanned 160 feet. Storm winds blew down an exterior wall. The roof system collapsed, trapping an aircraft.

The following day representatives from the Birmingham-based structural engineering firm of Ruby & Associates, P.C., and MBM Fabricators & Erectors, Romulus, inspected the damage. Two immediate problems had to be solved - the collapsed roof needed to be stabilized and the trapped aircraft pulled from underneath it for possible salvage. Ruby's engineers went to work, analyzing and designing temporary shoring towers to support the roof and coming up with a strategy to pull out the aircraft. Working in close coordination with Ruby, MBM worked around the clock to fabricate and install the roof shoring.

Single shoring towers were carefully placed and jacked up to unload the tail of the aircraft. The top of the tail was removed, allowing the aircraft to be safely towed out. With the aircraft out of the way, MBM then had to dismantle and remove the hangar's roofing system. To do so safely it first had to brace the hangar's two still standing precast walls with steel struts attached to the roof framing of the hangar's office. Rigging and lifting strategies were developed to allow sections of the roof to be removed using multiple two-crane lifts. Once safely on the ground, the roof segments were dismantled and hauled away.

Meetings then began with Masaba Airlines to plan the hangar's reconstruction. Four months were spent reviewing and estimating a number of hangar facility configurations, with Walbridge Aldinger, Detroit, serving as design/build contractor, with architectural services provided by Farrand & Associates Inc., Ann Arbor. A choice was made, construction got underway, and in May 2001 the new facility was opened for business.

The new, 220 ft. span by 170 ft. deep facility was designed, fabricated, and erected in less than three months, utilizing the old hangar's still standing precast concrete walls. Provided to the owner was an additional 8,500 sq. ft. of hanger space. The structural steel systems for the expanded hangar were erected just inside the standing walls to maximize re-use of the existing facility. The new structural elements also provided bracing for the existing walls, with an innovative connection system. Pavement expansion joint material was used between the new steel framing and the precast concrete wall to provide bracing along with allowing for differential movement.

Houghton is noteworthy for one of Michigan's most wintry climates, a fact that had to be taken in account when it came time to design and build the Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts for Michigan Technological University. DiClemente Siegel Design Inc., Southfield, served as architect, with structural engineering provided by Desai/Nasr Consulting Engineers Inc., West Bloomfield. The project's structural steel fabricator was Daul Industries Inc., Berlin, Wis., and the steel was erected by Gundlach Champion of Houghton.

Completed in June 2001, the performing arts center is framed with approximately 750 tons of structural steel. It is helping to transform MTU into a cultural hub for Michigan's Upper Peninsula and nearby northern Wisconsin.

Rozsa Center for the Performing Arts for Michigan Technological University

MTU's rather hilly, sloping campus is sandwiched between Portage Lake on the north and US-41 to the south. A central mall flanked with academic buildings fills the rather linear area and the new, 60,000 sq. ft. performing arts center is located on the east end of it. The building's visual and physical presence now serves as an introduction to the university to visitors approaching from the east. It features a metal clad roofing system that breaks into a series of multi-faceted roofing areas over its lobby space. Support spaces are clad in brick. The axis of the hall is rotated in a north-east direction to capture views of nature as well as Portage Lake.

The site conditions were complicated by soft clay underlain with gravel and boulders. Previous experiences with other projects ruled out the use of H-piling. Instead, a two-way concrete beam type system was used. To install it, all of the site's soft clay had to be removed and replaced by engineered fill.

It's common for the Houghton area to accumulate up to 360 inches of snow in a typical winter, often accompanied by fierce winds. The structural engineer's calculations in accordance with building code requirements indicated the performing arts center's roof design had to handle snow load accumulation in excess of 450 pounds per square foot and wind loads on the building's walls and roof in excess of 80 pounds per square foot. To check the design, wind tunnel tests were conducted to verify accuracy.

For acoustical considerations the project's theater consultant recommended a 6 inch thick concrete slab on the roof. Desai/Nasr instead decided on using 12 inch thick precast concrete hollow core slab units spanning between steel trusses. This provided the required mass. To prevent the sliding of the units during their erection, the firm developed a restraint clip detail.

Additional engineering challenges included the design of a 30 ton, sound damped, movable shell, connected to and rotating from the back stage wall; eyebrow ceiling framing in front of the stage; a concave and stepped floor deck in front of the stage and a three dimensionally weaving lobby store front.

Lateral load resistance for the building also required innovative design solutions. The building's geometry and unbraced column heights made it difficult to strategically locate conventional braced or rigid frames. Desai/Nasr integrated masonry walls with steel columns and combined truss framing over the proscenium opening with braced frames on each side to achieve the required lateral load resistance.

Another challenge was the erection of steel trusses and precast roofing planks over the auditorium. Each truss bearing elevation had to be precisely calculated to match the performing arts center's steep roof slope. With seating for 1,200 and excellent acoustics, many performing companies and musical acts have already been attracted to the facility. The building's large lobby - the largest public space on MTU's campus - has also been serving as a gathering space for non-performance related social and academic events.

Presented with honorable mentions for their entries in the competition were: