No Interior Columns for Bookmen Stacks

Nestled amid the bustling freeways entering downtown Minneapolis, the Bookmen Stacks is a 9-story, 45-unit contemporary residential development in the popular Minneapolis Warehouse District. Bookmen Stacks’ prime location gives the structure high visibility, which generated many passerby double takes during the rapid construction of its unique structural system.

Although, like most of the warehouses in the district, this condominium project used concrete as the primary structural element, Bookmen Stacks stands in stark contrast to its brick-clad neighbors. While architecture is typically the defining measure of a structure’s creativity, for this development, it is the innovative precast concrete structural system, the Ericksen Roed Prestressed Open Space Truss (ER-POST) system, that sets Bookmen Stacks apart. More.

More residential case studies.

Building Today to Conserve the Future

Concrete is known to be strong, at least in compression. And concrete reinforced with steel can handle the worst abuse, evidenced by the many bomb shelters and prisons built with concrete. It doesn’t rot, even under water or in soil. It can be molded into nearly any shape imaginable. These structural and architectural advantages make concrete an essential ingredient of sustainable construction.

Concrete’s greatest contribution to sustainability lies in is its durability. When a concrete building is designed properly, it will perform admirably for many decades and offer its residents energy efficiency and safe shelter from nearly any natural or manmade disaster. And when the end of its life finally does arrive, concrete is eminently recyclable and can even be turned into new concrete by crushing it into aggregate. More.

Concrete Towers Over Chicago
For the first time in its history, Chicago has three supertall skyscrapers under construction, and all utilize high-strength concrete and a combination of a concrete core attached to perimeter super columns. More.

Signature Tower Makes Mark on Nashville Skyline
Workers broke ground last month on Signature Tower, a 70-story mixed-use building that will dominate the Nashville skyline and stand as the tallest U.S. skyscraper outside of Chicago and New York. More.

San Francisco Lifts High-Rise Moratorium
The San Francisco Building Commission recently reversed a ruling that limited the use of concrete lateral framing systems for high seismic design categories. More.

Steel prices fell 3.1% from June to July while asphalt prices rose 0.6% over the same period, according to the July Producer Price Index (PPI). Lumber was up 1.6% from the previous month. Concrete was unchanged.

Steel prices have increased by 3.2% over the last year. Asphalt prices are up 5.3%, concrete prices have grown by 3.5% and lumber prices are down 3.9% for the same period.

Source: Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Torsion Design Capabilities of pcaBeam and pcaSlab

Did you know that pcaBeam as well as pcaSlab can handle torsion design of beam systems? Combined shear and torsion capacity is represented in terms of required reinforcement area which is checked against the provided one. Both transverse and longitudinal reinforcement are taken into account. Click here for our design aid example on torsion which illustrates how torsion and shear are handled by pcaBeam v2.00.

More about software products available from pcaStructurePoint.

Half Off on PCA Design Resource

Design of Concrete Beams for Torsion (EB106)

This publication describes the torsion design requirements of the ACI 318 Building Code. Included is a discussion of the theoretical background of the Code provisions, as well as numerous design aids that greatly simplify the overall design process. Worked-out design examples in both English and Metric units illustrate the design procedure and use of the design aids. Get 50% off through November 15.

Emerging Trends in Concrete Construction
Sponsored by SEAOSC
November 17, 2007, Long Beach, Calif.
More information and registration. (PDF)

Simplified Design of Concrete Buildings of Moderate Size and Height
This one-day ACI/PCA Seminar introduces a simplified design approach that can be applied to common analysis and design situations. The simplified approach saves overall design time for buildings of moderate size and height (7 stories) and can be used in preliminary design and review for bigger projects. The topics discussed in the seminar include frame analysis, beams and slabs, columns, structural walls, footing, detailing for economy, formwork economy, fire resistance and earthquake forces. The latest information in ACI 318-05, IBC 2006, and ASCE 7-02 are covered.

During the fall of 2007 the seminars will be held in: Cleveland, Ohio, Portland, Ore., San Diego, Calif., San Francisco, Calif. Oklahoma City, Okla., Baltimore, Md., Indianapolis, Ind., Nashville, Tenn., Los Angeles, Calif., Omaha, Neb., Atlanta, Ga. and Houston, Texas. More information and registration.

• Structural Engineers Building Conference & Expo
  October 10-11, San Francisco, Calif.
  Co-sponsored by PCA, the conference is focused on the most timely and important topics to today's structural engineer—up-to-date technical issues in the successful completion of buildings, and the necessary management issues to increase your business expertise. It includes learning sessions on various technical design and analysis topics as well as project management and business strategies.

• TCA Convention
  October 3-6, College Park, Md.

• ACI Fall 2007 Convention
  October 14-18, Fajardo, Puerto Rico

• Greenbuild International Conference and Expo
  November 7-9, Chicago, Ill.

• World of Concrete
  January 22-25, 2008, Las Vegas, Nev.
  Click here to get free registration.

• Concrete Bridge Conference
  May 4-6, 2008, St. Louis, Mo.