1 A Nel!

' Stnlctllral System

for Parking Decks 9
2 A Bridge in Nepal 8
9 Hilton Go(',~ to College 14

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MIIDERII
CII1I811111Cnllll
Published by VOLUME XIV I NUMBER 2 I SECOND QUARTER 1974
•
American Institute
of Steel Construction
1221 Avenue of the AmeriC8S
New York, N_Y. 10020 CONTENTS
A New Structural System for Parking Decks 3
A Durable Commodity 7
A Bridge in Nepal 8
Van W. Coddington, President Hilton Goes to College 14
William R. Jackson, Sidewalk Canopies 16
First Vice President
D. B. Hughes,
Second Vice President NEW AISC HEADQUARTERS LOCATION
Robert P. Stupp, Treasurer
John K. Edmonds, The Amnican Institu te of Steel Co)l..~truction has moved its
Executive Vice President Headquarters Office to the following address:
Leslie H. Gillette, 1221 Avenue of the Americas
Assistant Executive Vice President New York, N. Y.I0020
William W. Lanigan, Tel: (212) 764-0440
Secretary and General Counsel
All inquiries 0)· communications fonnerly di)'ected to AISC at
101 Pm'" Avenue, New Yor", N. Y., should now be di)·ected to
the new add)·ess .
• DITORIAL STA~"

Daniel Farb, Director of Publications

ARCHITECTURAL AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE
Mary Anne Stockwell, Editor All )'egiste)·ed architects practicing lJrofessionally in the
United States are invited to enter ,~teel-framed buildings of
their design constMlcted anywhere in the 50 states and com,
pleted after January 1, 1979 and prior to August 91, 1974.
A_OIONAL. O ....... C.S
Each building must have been desi.qned, detailed, fabricated,
and erected in the U.S. All stmctural steel and plate must have
Atlanta, Georgia been lJroduced in the U.S. The 1974 Jury of Au'm·ds includes:
Birmingham, Alabama Roy 0, Allen, FAIA Design Pa)·tner, Skidmore, Owings
Boston, Massachusetts & Merrill, New York, New York
Chicago, Illinois
Cleveland, Ohio
Willimllllfa"llall, Ir" FAIA President-elect, American In-
stitute of ATchitects; Principal, McGaughy, Marshall and
Columbus, Ohio
McMillan, Norfolk, Virginia
Dallas, Texas
Denver, Colorado
lIfa:nvell C, lIfayo, AlA Associate Professor, Department
Detroit, Michigan
of A)·chitecture, Carnegie-Mellon Unive)'sity, Pittsburgh,
Charlotte, North Carolina
Pennsylvania
Hartford, Connecticut Byron I" Nis/,kiall, F,ASCE President, Nishkian, Hammill
Houston, Texas & Associates, San Francisco, California
Los Angeles, California Willi", .. I~, Pereira, FAlA William L. Pereira Associates &
Memphis, Tennessee Planners, Architects & Engineers, Los Angeles, California
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Minneapolis, Minnesota
New York, New York 1974 FELLOWSHIP AWARDS
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Four engineering students have been awarded $9,000 fellow-
Omaha, Nebraska ships in the 12th Annual A/SC FdlOll'ship Awards Program.
Philadelph ia, Pennsylvania The program is designed to encollmge expertise in the creative
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania use of fabricated structural steel.
st. louis. Missouri Cllri./opllPr I, Adam. Uuiversi!y of California at Berkeley
San Francisco, california
Seattle, Washington
Salva/ore f:, Caccamle University of Arizona at Tucson
Syracuse, New York lames R , McCarthy University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
Washington, District of Columbia Arnold L " 'agner Portland Slate University, Oregon
 A new structural system
for PARKING DECKS
by Ira Hooper The first parking structure to employ rious stages of design or construction.
a new composite steel-concrete struc- They total 2,000,000 sq It and include
tural system has been completed and a 354-car parking structure for SI.
put into service. Although the 590-car Mary's Hospital in Rochester, N. Y.
Faulkner Hospital Garage at Jamaica (where construction time was cut to a
Architect:
John Ciardullo Plain , Mass., includes fireproofing to total of six months); a 7l0-car struc-
New York, N.Y. meet the requ irements of the Boston ture for Yale University in New Haven,
Structural Enaineer: Building Code, it was built at a cost Conn.; an 802-car structure at Rutgers
Seelye, Stevenson, Value & Knecht, Inc. saving of $300,000 over an alternate Un iversity in Newark, N. J.; and a com-
New York, N.Y.
System De.eloper: ali-concrete design that was also in- bination parking garage-physicians' of-
V. I. P., Inc., Subsidiary of ve stigated. The saving would have been fice building at SI. Joseph's Hospital in
Composi te Construction Systems, Inc. even greater if, as is now usual in most Syracuse, N. Y. Cost savings for these
New York, N.Y.
General Contractor: cities, no fire rating was required . projects averaged between $100 and

•
George B. G. Macomber Ten other parking projects using the $300 per car space compared to other
Boston, Mass. same structural system are now in va - proposed competitive structural sys-
Steel Fabricator: tems. The system is applicable to
Mr. Hooper Is Vice-president at Seelye, Steven·
A, O. Wilson Structural Co., Inc. son, V. tue & Knecht, consuttina enainears,
Cambridge, Mass. New York. N . Y. bu ilding types other than garages.

SECOND QUARTER 1974

 •

•
An i'lupen,ive formillfl 'Jlltem of reu.able .tandard plywood panel, rliminate, the need for 'intricate / ormwork and .horil/g .

Special concrete joi.t. hal!t pre-.pa.ced hole. to receive The CJ / FP System

telucoping end pin. o/the tubular ;oid ,upport •. The new system (identified as the
CJ / FP system) is a steel-concrete com-
posite system that uses longspan com-
posite beams, steel columns, a new
type of precast prestressed concrete
joists, and a unique forming system for
poured in place monolithic floor slabs.
No shoring is required for any element
of the system .
The 31-2" thick monolithic concrete
slab is cast in place on a simple, inex-
pensive forming system of reusable
standard plywood panels, eliminating
the need for intricate form cutting,
nailing, fastening, and shoring. The
slabs are reinforced with wire mesh
and span 4 It between the joists. A
monol ithic concrete floor is considered
• superior to a topped precast deck sys-
tem for parking structures because it
requires a minimum number of joints
and reduces the incidence of cracks.
The Faulkner Garage was bui lt with
shrinkage compensating cement to fur-
ther reduce cracking, although one-way •
post tensioning could also have been
used for the same purpose.

MOOERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

 STUDS

•
3'1," rue AS

Standard 4 It x 8 It plywood form

--- - - -
panels are supported during construc-
tion by aluminum tube "Formstruts"
iI 1r
1 I 9l."
(patent pending) spanning between the
concrete joists_ These "tubular sup- 'iJ I ~ I~ •
ports" have telescoping end pins that -
are inserted and locked into pre-spaced 2"
holes, 2 It 0_ c_, factory-cast into the
special concrete joists_ Unlocking the
pins automatically decenters the "tu- fo W30GIRDER
bular supports" for easy removal.
CJ I FP concrete joists (patent pend-
ing) are factory precast-prestressed in
special forms to meet specific job re-
quirements of spans up to 31 ft and TIIPical gird
live loads up to 150 pst. The joists are
fabricated complete with mesh sup-
porting chairs positioned in the top sur-
face _ The chairs also act as shear con-
nectors for composite action between
the joists and slab_ Joists are erected
with their ends resting on the top
flanges of steel girders. Special fea-
tures of the CJ / FP system provide lat-
eral bracing to the girder top flanges
during construction. The joist ends are

•
encased in a concrete haunch cast in
place on the girder flange . The haunch
is cast monolithic with the slab by
means of special haunch forms.
Using the joist height as the haunch
depth greatly increases the strength
and stiffness of the steel girder to
which the haunch is stud shear con-
nected. Long spans with low deflec-
tion are economically achieved by the
use of high-strength, low weight steel
composite girders.
Much of the construction cost say·
ing of the system is attributable to the
reduction in field labor requirements JOISitJ art' tOIU red mto plart on thr .t('d girder. by the
and the rapidity of erection. No shor- (,Tretion crQur. No .pccial ('O)lJll'ctiOlil art Trquirrd.
ing is necessary as is generally re-
quired with concrete construction. Con-
nections between steel girders and col- Slab and haullch lOT "" cau b(' ql(icklll errcted ami di.mantltd.
umns are conventional and avoid the
field fitting problems and special tech-
niques of precast construction. The
precast-prestressed joists are quickly
lowered in place on the steel girders by
the erection crane and require no spe-
cial connection. Slab and haunch forms
are qu ickly erected and dismantled.
Wire-mesh slab reinforcement is rap-

•
idly unrolled or placed as flat sheets.
Concrele quantities are low, so that up
to 10,000 sq ft of deck can be placed
and finished in one day.

SECOND QUARTER 1974 5

 •
Faulkner Planning and Design In addition, an existing zoning vari- reviews by agencies covering local
The Faulkner Hospital master plan ance for the parking structure was due codes, building department, and Hill·
required construction of the garage be· to expire. The zoning deadline required Burton funding. Only a closely coor·
fore the rest of its $35,000,000 expan· working drawings to be completed from dinated effort by the design firm, con·
sion program, which will be completed concept to groundbreaking in only six SUiting engineer, architect, and the con·
in 1975. Any hospital expansion or reno weeks. This entailed completion in the tractor made this possible.
ovation disrupts the parking habits of same six week period of architectural The design of the Faulkner Hospital
the staff and visitors, and adds a new and engineering design concepts, work· Garage typifies the idea that site and
source of parking demand. By building ing drawings, all reviews and approvals, parking structure must work together
the new parking deck first, this transi· construction costing, and contract reo and that no standard designs can be
tion and construction phase became leases. Remarkably, the deadline was adapted for all sites. The site selected
less disruptive. met for these steps as well as for all for the Faulkner garage was the side of
a hill. As a result, the designers fol·
lowed this natural topography and
"stepped" the structure into the hill,
gradually increasing the length of each
higher floor. All floors are identical in
width. The walls retaining the hill on
each floor extend past the perimeter of
the garage to create areaways for free
flow of air. Consequently, mechanical
ventilation was not necessary.
The Faulkner Hospital Garage is a
five·level, 590·car space facility. It is
a three·bay sloping floor structure with
one·way traffic in the outer bays, and
two·way traffic in the center bay. Girder
spans are 58'-6" in the outer bays and

•
62'-3" in the center bay; girder spacing
is 27'-0" o. c. Steel yield strengths are
50 ksi for girders and columns and 36
ksi for minor members.
The Faulkner Hospital Garage was
built in one of the few areas of the
country still requiring fire resistant con·
Retaining wallt at cach floor extend pa.l tke building perimeter struction for open parking decks. Are·
to create areawaJ/' fOT free flow 0/ air.
cently developed sprayed·on fire protec·
tive material that dries to a hard im·
Girders and beam. are /ire-protected with a hard impact-rcsistant .prayed pact'resistant coating was applied to
coating. Split-ribbed ma,onry block serves a. jireproojilill fOT exterior column•. the girders and beams at Faulkner. At·
tractive bright paint coloring was
sprayed over the fire protective coating,
resulting in a pleasing appearance.
Each floor received a different paint
color for easy floor identification.
Attractive commercially available
split·ribbed masonry block covers and
fire protects the exterior columns. Its
rough surface is virtually vandalproof
and does not show rain streaks.
A system that employs modified high·
way guardrail acts as a protective bar·
rier at the edges of all floors of the
garage. The system is an efficient steel
design that protects the exterior facade
against automobile impact without ap·

•
plying torsion or twist on the spandrel
beams. Workmen erected the facade
panels from inside each floor without
exterior scaffolds.

I MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

 A BRIDGE IN
The lollowlng article was written by mountains, tortuous footpaths, and per- lagers are cut off completely from their
Paul Benjamin, aged 28, while he was iodically turbulent rivers. To expedite markets and travelers from their desti-
serving in the Peace Corps in Nepal. transportation, building suspension nations.
Peace Corps training provided Mr. bridges is a top government priority. The idea of building a bridge there
Benjamin (University 01 Illinois, B. A.J As a Peace Corps volunteer, I worked was generations old. In fact, I discov-
with a rudimen tary knowledge 01 basic with the Makwanpur District Council in ered that the site had been surveyed
technical aspects and field practices the central part of the country. After on at least two separate occasions, but
01 bridge building. helping to complete a suspension the project had always died from lack
bridge in a village called Namtar, I of funds. This time, however, the Coun-
was assigned by the Council to be the cil was prepared to back their proposal
by Paul Benjamin "overseer" on a project to bridge the with money, and important political
Kali Khola (Black River) and link the figures promised their support.
In Nepal the main means of trans- villages of Bharta and Katunje. The project presented an exciting
portation is by foot. Although there is The Kali Khola is like most rivers in opportunity and considerable chal-
a concerted effort to build new roads, Nepal. Eight months of the year one lenge. The most money I could count
getting from village to market or from can wade aCross it. But during the on was 20,000 rupees, or about $2,000;

•
home to fields is in most cases still a three or four months of the monsoon, not an enormous sum, to be sure. With
matter of walking. Often that's no easy when its swollen waters surge south that amount, however, I hoped to build
matter. This small Himalayan kingdom from the Mahabharat mountain range, the equivalent of a $15,000 bridge by
is a patchwork of steeply-terraced there is no way to cross in safety. Vil- scrounging around for materials. I had

8 MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

 A BRIDGE IN
The following article was written by mountains, tortuous footpaths, and per- lagers are cut off completely from their
Paul Beniamln, aged 28, while he was iodically turbulent rivers. To expedite markets and travelers from their desti-
serving in the Peace Corps in Nepal. transportation, building suspension nations.
Peace Corps training provided Mr. bridges is a top government priority. The idea of building a bridge there
Beniamin (University of Illinois, B. A.J As a Peace Corps volunteer, I worked was generations old. In fact, I discov·
with a rudimentary knowledge of basic with the Makwanpur District Council in ered that the site had been surveyed
technical aspects and field practices the central part of the country. After on at least two separate occasions, but
of bridge building. helping to complete a suspension the project had always died from lack
bridge in a village called Namtar, I of funds. This time, however, the Coun·
was assigned by the Council to be the cil was prepared to back their proposal
by Paul Benjamin uoverseerJl on a project to bridge the with money, and important political
Kali Khola (Black River) and link the figures promised their support.
In Nepal the main means of trans· villages of Bharta and Katunje. The project presented an exciting
portation is by foot. Although there is The Kali Khola is like most rivers in opportunity and considerable chal·
a concerted effort to build new roads, Nepal. Eight months of the year one lenge. The most money I could count
getting from village to market or from can wade across it. But during the on was 20,000 rupees, or about $2,000;

•
home to fields is in most cases still a three or four months of the monsoon, not an enormous sum, to be sure. With
matter of walking. Often that's no easy when its swollen waters surge south that amount, however, I hoped to build
matter. This small Himalayan kingdom from the Mahabharat mountain range, the equivalent of a $15,000 bridge by
is a patchwork of steeply·terraced there is no way to cross in safety. Vii· scrounging around for materials. I had

8 MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

 the descendants of a Tibetan army who Khola and one in America is that in the
settled in central Nepal perhaps 2,000 end, when all is built, you can say,
years ago. The third group includes the "They're both suspension bridges, all
domi nant Brahmin and Chetriya castes, right." Prior to completion nearly every-
people who are part of the Aryan cul- thing is different.
ture that moved into India thousands of To begin with, the paucity of avail-
years ago. able funds forced me to proceed in a
From beginning to end, I was in- rather unorthodox fashion , I didn't de-
volved at every level of the project, sign until I had a part. The normal
funding decisions, survey, design. esti- process, presumably, is to design a
mates, liaison wi th the villages and the bridge according to site conditions and
district office, selection and procure- other specifications and then order ma-
ment of material, fabrication of parts, terials - new materials. But for that
transportation, organization of con- you need considerably more money
struction, labor supervision, even de- than we had. Thus, I had to decide in
tails like pounding nails, tightening the most general terms what sort of
bolts, pouring concrete and, finally, bridge I wanted, find available mate-
painting. I did these things partly be- rials, and then design around them.
cause I had to; but I did them also be-
ca use I enjoyed them, because I like
being involved in an entire range of
activities aimed at a particular goal. In
the United States, where specializa-
tion is the rule, an opportunity such as
this woul d be rare indeed.
Working in Nepal takes some getting
used to. The country does not have
what might be called the "organiza-
tional response" that we take more or
less for granted in America. It also
lacks manpower in key positions and
modern communications facilities. What

NEPAL would take five minutes on the phone

in the States might require a two·day
walk in Nepal. Or a week's delay be-
cause the man you wanted to see is out
already been a volunteer in Nepal for of town. Or a month's delay because
two years, and I had learned something when he returns it turns out he doesn't
about working with Nepalis - in their have the right part or tool, or because
villages, markets and bu reaucracies. something breaks.
And so, extending my Peace Corps serv- In addition, because of an old super-
ice, I set out in early January, 1972, stition, getting people to work on the
to examine the area where the bridge bridge was a little troublesome at
was wanted . times. It is believed by some of the
The site was in a poor, rather primi- more primitive people that, in order
tive part of Nepal, inhabited by three for a bridge to be a success, the
distinct groups of people . The Chepang, builders must bury a sacrificial victim
my best workers, could be classed as in the foundation or anchorage work.
borderline hunters and gatherers who, At one point I heard a dark rumor to
for at least part of the year, sustain the effect that .. they've already put an
themselves by gathering roots and 'Amrikan' in there." As I was the only
herbs in the forests and by hunting and Westerner on the project, or for miles

•
fishing. They also do some farming, al- around, I couldn't imagine who they
though the land is poor, much of it on were talking about!
a 45° grade or more. Another group, Probably the only similarity between
the Tamangs, are, according to legend, the suspension bridge project at Kali

SECONO QUARTER 1974

 •
J

Work proceeds on wes t tower. View of tower p in assembly, a 71lotley collect ion of part8 'ld"ick
were 8alvag ed from ;unkyards and modifie d to fit in thi8
•
confiuuration.

I began to search among junkyards the bridge or the towers and stored beams, which had been made in India,
and storage facilities for usable parts. most of the ideas and data in my head were not new and the manager let us
In my previous travels around Nepal, I or on note pads. have four of them for 1.55 rupees (15
had found stockpi les of steel and other Fortunately I had friends at the cents) per kilo, which was consider-
discarded or stored materials, some of Roads Department in the Hetaura ba- ably cheaper than the market price. Al-
which, I thought, could be fabricated zaar where I had set up operations though the specifications of those
into parts for the Kali Khola Bridge . and, even more important, at the ma- beams, which would serve as columns,
Most of these materials were under the chine shop. There were American ma- ind icated that they would bear the es-
jurisdiction of various departments of chines in that shop, left over from a timated bridge load, I decided to re-
the Nepali government. This meant that road-building project some 12 years inforce them because they were old
I had to find out whether the items ago. A Nepali friend , Dil Bahadur, who and a little rusted.
I wanted could be had for free (or at had been trained by a U.S.A.I.D. tech- I cut 21'2-in . equal leg angles to
least at bargain rates), and then steer nician during the earlier project, was stiffen the web between the I-beam
an official request through the appro- extremely helpful in fabricat ing all the flanges and welded them in place a foot
priate bureaucratic channels. All the parts for the towers. apart on alternate sides. For the base, I
while I had to figure how we could The tower design was fairly common had a piece cut out of the web at one
drill, cut, shape, or weld the pieces into for suspension bridges in the West, end of each I-beam column to give the

•
functioning parts on the bridge, or, if but of course completely new for that bearing of the pinned base a snug fit.
I couldn't have those particular items, part of Nepal. I found some 10 x 5 in . At the other end, we marked and drilled
what I could use in stead . I eventually I-beams, 20 It long, at the Kathmandu holes for aUachi ng a box eventua lIy
gave up trying to make a drawing of office of the Nepal Ropeway. The to hold the cable saddle block.

10 MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

• When all was cut, drilled, and welded
on the four I-beams, two helicopters
came down to Hetaurn from Kathman-
du to transport them to the bridge
site. It was a thrilling moment. The
nearest motorable road was 11 miles
from the Kali Khola over a poor trail.
To avoid the danger of some poor
porter being crushed under a 600 Ib
beam, I had worked like crazy to secure
those helicopters, which were supplied
by the Peace Corps and Arizona Heli-
copters, Inc. I believe it was the first
time that construction materials of that
size were moved by helicopter in Nepal.
I opted for a pinned base partly, I
suppose, because I was adventurous,
but also because I didn't want to place
the columns on the foundation under
any other but a compressive force. With
it we probably saved some cement and
added several years to the life of the
towers.
I fashioned bearings for the pins out
of eight cast-iron wire rope spool bear-

•
ings, substantial pieces of 20 Ibs or ,
more that we purchased for 1.50 ru - Th e main cab/~ i. clamp~d to tlt~ ".addl~" at the top 0/ tht toU".
pees apiece at the Ropeway. From
these we made four pairs on the lathe,
shaper, and drill press. Each pair was
male-female, one socketing into the A tt:t:hniciatt on 10011 from the Nepal RopcR'oll lI.ork,.t," OllT bridgr .trond.
other but with a %-in. gap between the
faces. Each was designed to sandwich
around the webbing of the beam, which
would occupy the %-in. gap. After the
sides were squared to fit on the web-
bing between the flanges, we drilled
seven 15/ 16-in. holes on each side to
match those in the column base and
accommodate the ¥.-in. high tension
bolts we had on hand.
The shaft holes in the bearings were
3V.-in. in diameter; and I just hap-
pened to find a 3-in. diameter steel
shaft, again at the Ropeway. We cleaned
it up on the lathe, cut it in four 20·in.
pieces, and we had our pins.
I also found eight halves of bridge
baseplates made of 13/ 16-in. thick
plate. Apparently they had been or-
dered years before for a bridge that
was never built. The parts lay scattered
around so I grabbed them and, conve-

•
niently enough, there were already 3-in.
diameter holes in the vertical portion
of the plates - a near perfect fit. I
didn't have to modify them at all.

SECOND QUARTER 1974 11

 Perchrci prl'CariotUliy above the Kali •
Khola, 'W.'orker, hoi,t a u.t'ction"
into place fOT the walku.'ay.

everything together by a gusset fitted

between the channels and the column
flanges, and bolted down the whole
works with Ya-in. A325 high tension
bolts. I had managed to extract those
bolts from the Roads Department, and
Mr. Robert O. Disque of the American
Institute of Steel Construction kindly
supplied me with a booklet on their
use.
The channels and angles we used
here were parts from an old, British-
built ropeway, which had been disman-
tled. The steel was more than 60 years
old and serving Nepal once again.
The main cables were actually bridge
strand donated by Nepal's Suspension
Bridge Division, which, in turn, had re-
ceived it from U.S.A.I.D. It was galva-
nized, IV.-in. dia. and composed of 37
parallel strands. We hung suspender
rods from it at 4h-ft intervals, 39 pairs
over the IBO-ft length of the bridge.
The anchorages were rather interest- •
ing. On the west side, in a bluff about
25 It to the rear of the tower, we dug
two pits, 17 It deep. From each pit to
the face of the bluff, a trench was
dug, in which we put the anchor rods
and nets. Cement was layed on top.
Later we filled the rest with sand and
boulders.
The eastern anchorage was, of ne-
cessity, a bit different, for directly be-
hind the tower was hard rock. I as-
signed a few select workers to dig
through it at a specified angle. They
spent two weeks chipping away at the
rock with chisels and hammers to
create two tunnels, 10 It long and 3 ft
in diameter. We fit the rods and nets
snugly into each tunnel and then
pounded sharpened Ya-in. steel rods
For the box, which would be fitted to were made at the Agricultural Tools into the sides of the tunnels. Finally,
the other end of the column, I used Factory, a plant built and equipped by we poured the concrete and erected a
pieces of channel and angle and the Soviet Union. wall in front of it.
welded them together. Inside I placed The two columns of each tower were It was a job well done for my men,
a cast-iron "cable saddle block," joined by six 6-in. channels per tower, and a hard job at that. All this work
rounded and grooved on top to hold each 8 It long. Placed in pairs, these was done by hand. We had one ma-
and carry the cable over the tower. served as the cross-members. In the chine and that was a hand-operated

•
The cable was clamped fast to the upper half of each tower, I used 2V2-in. winch.
whole assembly. The cast-iron block equal leg angles as X-bracing. Then, Meanwhile, Dil Bahadur, my friend
as well as the suspender rods, cable at the junctions of the channel pairs, from the Hetaura machine shop, came
clamps, eyebolts, and gusset plates angles, and I-beam columns, I joined out to the site to help erect the towers.

MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

• The walkway, nearlJl completed

Not only could I rely on his consider-

able expertise and competence with re-
gard to the steel towers, but he was
someone with whom I could discuss
other facets of the construction as well.
Until then, I had been taken very seri-
ously by all concerned, even though for
at least part of the time I didn't know
what I was talking about and was learn-
ing step by step from books. With Oil
Bahadur, I could talk about a problem
and mull over possible solutions. He
was smart and quick and did not hesi-
tate to question my opinion when he
thought it necessary, which was often
enough. We also had the help of a
man sent out by the Ropeway to "sock-
et" the strand. He, too, had received
his tra ining from U.S.A.I.D.
With the towers up and the cables
strung, we set about cutting and shap-
ing the wood for the walkway. All our
lumber was cut from whole trees, using

• two-man rip-saws. When the parts were

finished, we coated them with a mix-
ture of hot coal tar, unslaked lime and
spirits. Then we hung the 39 sections
across the river. I tried to do this
equally, hanging three sections on one
side, three on the other and so on. It
was slow, dangerous work. One slip and
it was down into the swirling, rocky
river 40 feet below. We were very lucky
and only lost some tools. In fact, during
the entire project, there were just two
accidents, which fortunately resulted in
nothing more than a few scratches.
We finished the project in July,
1973, in time for the bridge to be used
during the monsoon. Villagers would
come down with their children to mar-
vel at the gleaming structure that
would allow them to cross the Kali
Khola in safety. Some jobs, of course,
remained to be done - like improving
the approaches and building a better
wa lkway fence. But I knew that my
Nepali friends and co-workers could
easily do that. I knew because I had
seen the pride in their eyes as they

•
gazed at their handiwork. And the awe,
too, at seeing something new in a place
where little had changed in hundreds
of years.

SECOND QUARTER 1974

 ............ •
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........ ::......::...;;::-
........................ __...
.:. . . . ::.::........ =::--
...... . .-~ ..:....
................
..:::::==::::::::
::.......:..
.......
................
....... ..... : .........::..........
~
--- •..........
•.........
~=:::-::.: ••• :::::::
: ::

•
All the steelwork has been erected ter, for the University's Franklin Field
HILTON for a new $lO-miliion hotel and park-
ing garage structure now under con-
struction adjacent to the University of
one block away, for the New Children's
Hospital, and for the University Hospi -
ta I across the street.

Goes to Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia . The 20-

level structure, which will be known as
"The Philadelphia Hilton, on the Uni-
Des ign Considerations
In earlier design considerations by

College versity of Pennsylvania Campus," is be-

ing built on a dense in-town site.
According to the Philadelphia and
the architect, it was determined that
in order to provide the required 400
guest rooms a high-rise tower structure
Princeton architect-engineer for the was necessary for the congested site.
project, Geddes Brecher Qualls Cun- It became apparent during the design
ningham, P.C., it is designed to meet development stage that the tower would
several types of needs in the university have to be over the service area of the
area. The 400-guest room hotel, for ex- hotel. (The service area includes the
ample, has been designed to accommo- motor entrance, lobby, ballroom and
date nearby hospital out-patients, vis- meeting rooms, restaurant, and house-
Arch itectl Engineer: itors to exhibitions and meetings at the keeping facilities.)
Geddes Brecher Qualls, Cunningham, P.C.
Philadelphia, Pa. Trade and Convention Center, specta- In order to accommodate the pro-
Gene ra l Contracto r: tors for sporting events held at Frank- jected traffic at the motor entrance
Frankel Enterprises lin Field, and families attending com- area, a double driveway within the
Philadelphia, Pa. mencement ceremonies. Parking will be building lines of the tower had to be •
Ste el Fab ricato r:
Bethlehem Contracting Co. provided in the garage facility for the included. This provided for two-lane
Bath, Pa. Philadelphia Civic & Convention Cen- traffic in and out of the hotel and the

MODERN STEEL CONSTRUCTION

 parking garage. The width of the double
driveway - 22 ft curb to curb - wid-
ened the first column bay to a mini-

• mum of 23 ft clear .
After various design considerations,
a structural steel frame was selected
for the tower because it provided verti -
cal and horizontal flexibility, while at
the same time offering an economical
structure .

• Structural Steel Chosen

E. Fred Brecher, chief structura l en-
gineer for Geddes Brecher Qualls Cun-
ingham, P.C., explains the reason why
steel was chosen for this particular
project
"A cast-in·place concrete structural
system would have required 18-in. by
48-in . columns in the lower story -
re sulting in a transverse column bay of
27 ft center li ne of column to center
line of column . In the hotel tower, the
room layouts suggested a column spac-
ing of 27 ft in the longitudinal direc-
tion . The re sultant 27-ft by 27-ft bays
would have been heavy concrete slabs
(flat plate or waffle) or expensively
formed beam and slab, or slab bands
in the tower area .

•
"To avoid this big bay in t he tower,
a transfer slab would have had to be
in serted at the fourth level to cut down
the column spacing to a more economi-
cal size for a concrete structure. Con-
crete contra ctors in the area advised
that a full transfer slab might add as
much as $0.75 per gross sq ft to the
cost of the structure. This cost and
the time lost for the construction of
such a slab stimulated a search for
another answer to our struc tural prob·
lem .
"A scheme utilizing composite struc-
tural steel framing in the high live
load levels of the base and simple joist
and girder framing in the tower area
was developed to allow straight-through
framing from foundation to roof."
Mr. Brecher said the final design of
the structure resulted in a steel weight
of approximately 12.2 Ibs per sq ft, in-
cluding joists. Approximately 1,900
tons of A36 and A572 steel and about
400 tons of steel joists are being used
to frame the structure. He also noted
that the use of a steel frame structure
simplified the connection details for

•
the attachment of the precast facade
desired by the architect.
Completion is scheduled for later
th is year.

SECOND QUARTER 1974 15

 AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF STEEL CONSTRUCTION
BULK RAH
1221 Ave. of the Americas • New York, N.Y. 10020
US POSTAGE
P AI 0
Address Correction Requested

•
NEW YORK . NY
PermIt No . 6662

Sidewalk
Canopies
•
One of the most attractive elements lighter feeli ng than cou ld be achieved
of the Downtown Evansville, Ind., reha- by a post and beam system .
bilitation program are the sidewalk Steel was chosen for the structure
canopies that serve to unify the shops of the canopies for its flexibility and
and stores along the recently com- relative ease of installation. Steel tube
pleted Main Street Walkway, a serpen- columns, and tee section glazing mUl-
tine pedestrian mall. The city is con - lions were used in conjunction with 1-
structing the canopies for any store or beam cantilever members.
business that complies with certain
Redevelopment Commission require- Arch itect/ Engine er:
ments, including safety, health and fire Condlet & Fosse
standards, and removal of any sign pro- Evansville, Ind.
General Contra ctors:
jecting from the facade of a building. Key Construction Company
A cantilever system was chosen to Evansville, Ind.

•
avoid the possibility of any potential Peyronnin Construction Company
hazard to pedestrians. As a design ele- Evansville, Ind.
Steel Fabricator:
ment, the cantilever allows for maxi- International Steel Company
mum viewing of store facades and a EvanSVille, Ind.