My name is Brian M. Curran and I’ve been creating structural steel shop drawings for over 18 years. I received a call from a contractor who needed shop drawings for the vertical protection structure shown below, which was required at the PS 341Q construction site in Queens, NY. Below is a summary of the project.
If you need steel shop drawings as well, please scroll to the bottom to find my contact information and a complete sample set of the steel shop drawings I created for this project.
The Vertical Protection Structure
PS 341Q, now under construction in the quickly growing Hunter’s Point neighborhood of Queens, will provide 547 much-needed school seats. The four-story building includes administration, cafeteria and ECC spaces on the first floor, D75 classrooms on the second, and grades 2–5 classrooms with support areas on the third and fourth floors. A full gym/auditorium occupies part of the upper level.
As part of the construction process, the vertical protection structure shown above was required to protect the adjacent building. The structure was a custom engineered enclosure designed specifically for this site. It was built to withstand all the expected temporary forces, such as wind, and to remain stable throughout construction. When the enclosure was installed a designated safety zone related to the neighboring building was established, and supported by a license agreement, to keep people and the neighboring building safe.
The vertical protection system consisted of W24 columns supported by HSS inclined braces and HSS struts running along one full side of the land. My scope of work included creating a full 3D model, preparing elevations and sections for each grid line, and producing all the fabrication drawings for the W24 columns, HSS braces, HSS struts, splice plates, and base plates. I also detailed all the connection plates, stiffeners, and weld requirements, and delivered the final drawings in a clean, fabrication-ready format.
The Steel Detailing Process
I began the project by 3D modelling the vertical protection structure as shown below in the 3D view drawing sheet.
The side elevation sheet below was prepared for the typical elevation and arrangement of the posts and inclined braces, showing the dimensions and elevations of all the steel parts. It also showed the assembly marks to allow installing the vertical protection on site with ease.
The front elevation sheet below was prepared for the front elevation. It shows all the information for the members sizes, bolts, assemblies, dimensions, detail numbers, etc.
This plan sheet below was generated to also show the information for all the members sizes, bolts, assemblies, dimensions, detail numbers, and etc. It was considered the key sheet for the structure.
The two connection detail sheets shown below were prepared to illustrate the connection details and sectional views of the structure. These drawings made sure that all joints were clearly displayed to the fabricator and erector before fabrication began, helping them plan the work effectively and avoid hiccups during fabrication or erection.
Second sheet.
Detailing for this project accounted for long spans and varying grade elevations, which presented challenges. From the beginning, I focused on close coordination with the site conditions and the contractor, to establish the layout correctly and ensure that the braces, splices, and overall framing drawings were clear and easy for the fabricator to follow.
I created the drawings to meet an agreed upon deadline, in order to keep the shop and field teams moving without downtime. This was made possible through my careful coordination with the contractor and my use of the right tools for steel detailing.
Structural Steel Shop Drawings
Here are the structural steel shop drawings I created for this project. Click on the image to launch a PDF set of the drawings. The drawings include the erection drawings and the piece details.
Contact
Contact me today to learn more about my steel drafting services and how I can support your next project! Call me now at 718.441.3968, text me now at 646.504.5230, or email me now at brian@draftingservices.com.