AT A TIME when steel joists were experiencing longer-than-usual lead times, castellated beams provided an excellent alterna tive, for a new facility in Georgia, the country's largest known cas tellated beam project ever built. The building, a 1.1-million-sq.-ft cross-deck Ace Hardware distribution center in Jefferson, Ga. (roughly 40 miles northeast of Atlanta), was designed when steel joists were experiencing longer-than-usual lead times. Facihties of this type typically employ joists for roof framing, but as other major retailers had soaked up standard premanufactured joist and deck supplies in their numerous ongo ing facility projects, costs had risen dramatically, and those material types had become scarce. This scenario, coupled with a condensed schedule, created a significant challenge at the project's outset.
展开▼
