Economical structural steel projects

1. Introduction

There is no way we can compromise on the requirement that a structure

must perform satisfactorily during its lifetime, and that it must be safe.
These requirements define the limit states of design and they are
givens. There may also be additional requirements that have to be met
by the structure of a specific project, such as that it must be
aesthetically attractive, or built under very demanding conditions, or be
environmentally sustainable, etc.

But here we talk about economics. Clearly, the owners of buildings want
their completed projects to cost as little as possible, or they want as
much utility as possible from the money they spend, while meeting all
the standards they set. A particular client may or may not be interested
in lifetime costs and the demands of maintenance, but it is generally
desirable for projects to have a reasonable degree of durability and not
be expensive to maintain.

It often happens that the structural engineer feels that he/she is not
allowed to specify the most economical structure, forgetting that the
structure is just one element of the project. Deleting a column may, for
example, have a big impact on the letability of a space and thus the
income of the owner, even while it chases up the cost of the structure.
We need to see the broader picture. Moreover, much of the cost of a
project, as well as the owner's ultimate perception of whether he got
value for money, has to do with the process by which the project is
created. If the project runs smoothly with a minimum of claims and is
finished in time and budget the client tends to be happy. Predictability
may be even more important than the quantum of the cost. If the project
can be handled in such a way that the owner gets the final product
considerably quicker, some of the cost can be offset against an earlier
revenue stream.

Delivering highly efficient structures would, however, not be sustainable

if all parties on a project – the owner, the professions and the various
contractors - don't make decent profits. For the structural engineer this
means adequate remuneration for his work, but then a point may arrive
where the professional fees for effecting a saving exceed the value of
the saving. Should the fee of the engineer be based on a percentage of
the cost of the structure he actually does not have a financial incentive
to save – it is just his professional ethics and his relationship with his
client that drive him to design an economical structure.

The question of the economics of a project is clearly much wider and

more complex than designing a cheap structure. And, as we will see
below, even the cost of the structure as such depends on a range of

1
factors. That does not mean, however, that the design of the structure is
unimportant – a well-designed and specified structure, properly
fabricated and erected, remains the basis for an economical project that
meets the client's requirements.

In what follows we will consider the various things the designer, detailer
and/or steelwork contractor should do or keep in mind to ensure that
economical steelwork projects are delivered.

2. Handling projects in a standard, predictable manner

• Strive for an earlier, predictable completion date and a predictable
bottom line.
• Follow what is generally regarded as 'best practice' in the steel
construction industry: get on the same wavelength as everybody else
and do what's taught in this course!
• Get the contractor involved as early as possible, find out what his
requirements are and let him make suggestions as to how the project
can be expedited or how savings can be effected. For the contractor
that means having good people with insight who can make a useful
input at the beginning.
• It has been amply demonstrated that if the concept of partnering can
be applied to a series of projects, allowing a whole team to learn
together as they move from project to project, it can result in huge
savings in cost and time.
• Have clear specifications and complete, properly coordinated
drawings.
• Be clear, firm and consistent with quality assurance right from the
beginning, while being fair and not over-specifying.
• Minimise change orders and rework – get things right first time
(which requires some extra work during the early phases).
• Stick to the programme and to promised dates, for example with the
approval of drawings.

3. Avoiding over-specification
• Design connections, including the welding and number of bolts, for
the actual forces in the connection. Don't just say 'full strength
welds'.
• Specify an appropriate level of quality assurance, and ensure that the
inspectors don't insist on a higher level or on unimportant 'nice to
haves'.
• Specify only the level of finish that is required for a specific
application. Only steel seen at a close distance by members of the
public needs to be immaculate.
• Use an appropriate corrosion protection system for the corrosiveness
of the environment, the exposure to wear and tear, and the life
expectancy of the project. It is generally not necessary to paint
concealed steel, except in a corrosive environment.
• Use high strength friction grip connections only where required.

2
• Specify precambering of beams only where really necessary.
• Use washers only where needed.

4. Standardisation and repetition

• Use standard connections. Section 7.8 in the Red Book shows
standard beam-end connections. Other connections cannot be
standardised completely, but typical connections as shown in Section
7.11 in the Red Book, or in the SAISC Structural Steel Detailing
Manual (the Yellow Book), or in the SAISC publication Structural
Steelwork Connections, can be used. In general: with 99% of all
structures the connections are not the place where ingenuity should
be exhibited.
• Use standard bolts – see Section 6.2.2 (Table 6.11) in the Red Book.
• Use similar details on a project. For example, if some beams have
angle cleat connections, don't let others have welded end plates
(except where a beam has to be attached to a steel face that is not
at 90o to its longitudinal axis, in which case an end plate or fin plate
is called for).
• Repeat the same member size where possible. For example, don't
make one beam smaller than all its mates unless there's a good
reason; don't make every diagonal in a truss a different size; don't
change the section of a truss chord at every node. One of the many
advantages of not switching sizes too frequently is that the amount
of waste in the form of offcuts can be reduced.
• Use a standard paint system.
• Modularise; get a theme for the project and stick to it. Figure 1 shows
a heavy industrial building where even the spacing of the stiffeners
on the crane girders match the spacing of the verticals on the lattice
girder in the roof. The result is a high degree of repetition, a smaller
chance of making errors, and most probably a cleaner structure with
easier fabrication.

3
Figure 1 – Heavy industrial building with a high degree of modularity

5. Being in line with what's easiest and most cost-effective for

the contractor
• The best option is to let the contractor speak for himself by
consulting him early in a project. Here we can only make general
remarks.

4
• The engineer should listen to the contractor, rather than feel that his
ego is threatened by any suggestion of the contractor. At least some
of the contractor's ideas may be beneficial to a project.
• With the existence of CNC equipment that can cut to length, punch,
drill, make notches, and make splice or gusset plates, most
contractors prefer bolting to welding. Thus, as far as possible, specify
bolted construction. Alternatively, specify shop welding and site
bolting. Only rarely should site welding be required.
• Be aware of the effect of tolerances. Steelwork can be fabricated very
accurately, but not exactly, and there must be room for adjustment.
With things like crane girders there may also be a need for
adjustment during the lifetime of the structure. It is even more
important to be aware of the construction tolerances of other
materials such as concrete that the steel structure has to interface
with, and to allow adequate scope for adjustment.
• Design structures that can be fabricated, transported to site and
erected without special measures, if possible. This implies that the
engineer should give some consideration to how the steelwork will be
fabricated, transported (ie. broken into pieces for transportation) and
erected, unless it is just a typical structure. If special measures are
required during fabrication, transport or erection, these should be
brought to the attention of the steelwork contractor and discussed
with him, or the contractor has to bring his ideas to the attention of
the engineer.

6. Optimisation of the design and detailing

• The general rule is that it is not the mass of the structure that's to be
minimised, but the cost that's to be optimised. 'Optimise' means
minimise under a set of constraints, which includes a host of things
such as meeting the requirements of the owner and the other
professions, aiming for a shorter construction time, ensuring ease of
manufacture and construction, etc. The mass of the material is a
significant part of the cost, but supervision, labour, stockholding,
handling, quality assurance, consumables, transport and erection
normally add up to a bigger figure. As one tries to optimise the
bottom line, you should also keep these other issues, which can be
affected by the design, in mind. (There is one proviso here, namely
that the steelwork contractor should be sophisticated enough to
distinguish between jobs with a high labour content and those with a
lower content; if the contractor gives the same rate for a portal frame
than for a truss, the designer can be expected to go for least weight.)
• There are a number of cases where it may not be obvious what the
most economical solution is, and where the designer needs to do
some thinking and sometimes even get comparative prices to decide
what the best solution is. We present the choices to be made as two
extremes in the table below, acknowledging that using the term
'extreme' may not always be appropriate; the term is used to indicate
that in many cases there are possibilities between the two options..

5
 In most of these cases the higher mass solution may be the better
one if labour is taken into account.

Higher mass extreme Smaller mass extreme

Making all beams in the structure Making each member in the
the same size, same with columns structure just strong enough for
the force on it.
Use an individual hot rolled section Use sections welded up from thin
for each element. For bigger plates, latticed members, or
elements, use a box or heavy plate elements consisting of more than
girder or column. one section interconnected by
battens, cables, etc.
Use thick enough plate for plate Use thin plate with stiffeners.
girder webs, hoppers, chutes, etc.
Use thick column base plates. Use thinner base plates with
stiffeners.
Use columns with thick webs that Use web stiffeners and other
can resist concentrated lateral methods to strengthen webs.
forces.
Let the flanges of a plate girder Attach web plates to the flanges
remain constant over its entire over part of their length (see
length. Figure 2).
Use simple connections at the Make elements continuous by
ends of all beams (ie, simple using moment connections, to
construction). yield continuous beams, sway
frames, etc.
Use portal frames. Use column and truss
construction.
Use solid crane columns made Use lattice crane columns.
from plate.
Use a hot rolled section as a strut. Use a hollow section.
Use more stable purlins with no Use lighter purlins with a proper
sag system. sag system.
Specify intermittant welding. Specify continuous welding.
Use X-bracing that acts in tension Use tubes for bracing, to resist
only. both tensile and compressive
forces.

• It is good to design members in such a way that they don't need to

be turned during fabrication, thus reducing the amount of handling,
and to enable welding to be done in the down-hand position. Both
these principles are illustrated in Figure 2.

6
Figure 2 – Plate girder with flange reinforcing plates, avoiding
turnover and allowing down hand welding

• If fire protection is required, it is advisable to make sure good fire

engineering principles are applied. This can lead to significant
savings without impairing the ability of the structure to meet the
requirements of the building regulations.
• Starting with a good structural concept and lay-out is the key to an
optimal design.
• Sometimes, there is the opportunity to come up with something
really bright that knocks the socks off the competition or makes your
client very happy. Then you can get real economy.