Structural steel detailing is an important process and it demands accuracy. Even a tiny mistake can cost you time and money. It is an important and a necessary process in all types of construction and manufacturing activities. The process of steel detailing connects the key professionals such as the architects, engineers, steel fabricators, contractors, and others who are responsible for high levels of accuracy at each stage.
What Goes into Steel Detailing?
Steel detailing involves two things – the creation of detailed drawings and the planning and estimating of materials. With the creation of detailed drawings, two types of drawings are involved – erection drawings and shop drawings.
The erection drawings describe the dimensioned plans and specifies the geographic location of each of the steel component within the structure. These drawings include specific information about each component’s position, the installation requirements, and all other field works associated with the project like welding spots, wedge anchors, and bolts installation.
The shop drawings show every minute detail of each steel piece such as joits, beams, columns, and braces. This specifies how each component should be made by steel fabricators. The shop drawings include component dimensions and sizes, bolting, welding, material specifications, and other information necessary for each component’s fabrication.
Why Steel Detailing is Important?
Large structures should be constructed with 100% accuracy, or natural calamities like fire, storm, and earthquake may cause the building to collapse. To avoid such risks, steel detailing is very important. This is why, the architects depend on steel detailers who have in-depth technical skills of drawing blueprints and site maps. However, only ensuring detailed reports, column positioning, and fabrication details are not enough, the joists and large iron beams also need equal attention. They should be placed perfectly to reinforce the building. Although this is easy for small buildings, it is not equally easy for large commercial buildings. Therefore, professional steel fabricators are required to get the job done effectively.
These professionals can assist to reduce hazards, save money, and are more reliable to get high quality steel detailing. The professional steel fabricators can take the responsibility of constructing quality steel structures.