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M A R C H 2 0 2 3 | 51 Steel Building Systems R EN D ER I N G BY SA M S O N EN G I N EER I N G I N C . /CO U RT E S Y B EH L EN I N DUS T R I E S Steel buildings are breaking limitations in design as steel shows itself to be a top-of-the-line construction solution by ROBIN BRUNET I n a relatively short space of time, various misconceptions about steel buildings have been laid to rest, the most prominent being that they are utilitarian and have no architecturally pleasing potential. More recently, adverse weather conditions illustrated another truism about steel build- ings: that their resiliency depends on the integrity of the builder. In December, a windstorm exceeding 100 kilometres per hour ripped through parts of Eastern Canada, causing significant damage to structures in Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. It is estimated that more than 20 large potato storage warehouses were destroyed, and in the storm's wake the people at Quebec-based Honco Buildings were negotiating with warehouse owners to replace some of the ruined facilities with their own structures. Geneviève Filteau, manager, development at Honco (and who is responsible for fostering growth in New Brunswick), says, "The buildings that were destroyed were incapable of flexing enough to withstand the wind forces, whereas the panel technology we use in the construction of our buildings flex and move and are far more resilient to adverse weather conditions." Honco's self-supporting steel buildings are the outcome of several years of research with the Centre de recherche industrielle du Québec (CRIQ ) and Laval University (Université Laval), which helped develop a patented construction technol- ogy based on a steel structural panel. This technology presents several advantages in comparison to traditional steel buildings (for example, some of Honco's prod- ucts eliminate the need for structural elements along the walls, resulting in very large clear spans being achieved at competitive costs). Also, Honco uses only high- quality materials, and all coatings comply with the standards of the Perspectra series by Baycoat, allowing Honco to offer its customers an exceptional warranty. Honco also benefits from being part of Groupe Honco, which includes partners such as Metalec (which manufactures steel doors and frames for commercial, industrial, and institutional projects); Sturo Metal (which specializes in the manu- facturing and erection of structural steelwork for a large number of sectors), and Garex (which manufactures garage doors designed for high energy efficiency). Filteau cites a warehouse the company recently completed in Quebec as the type of structure that will likely be used to replace the fallen warehouses in PEI and Nova Scotia. "We built a moisture-controlled warehouse for Cultures H. Dolbec Inc. that is 56,000 square feet in size and has a high energy efficient envelope to reduce operation costs," she says, adding that the building is fully automated for potato conservation. The Honco construction system was chosen for Dolbec to achieve a structural ceiling, which would reduce the inside volume of air to be controlled. Structural components such as a pre-painted finish on the ceiling and galvanized doorframes, as well as stainless steel bolts, were integrated for their resistance to humidity. Moreover, the building structure was designed to support the ventilation system suspended from the ceiling. It took only five months for the facility to be completed. Sean Lepper, VP and general manager of Behlen Industries, calls 2022 "one of our best years ever with no slowdowns at all" and says his company will continue to be heavily involved serving the mining sector throughout 2023 and beyond: "Heavy industrial is on fire in Canada with no sign of slowdown." As for the supply chain issues that have plagued construction in Canada for the past few years, Lepper notes that "things have generally gotten a lot better, although specific fasteners and sealers are still a challenge to receive on time. Materials deliveries used to take about 20 weeks but this year they'll be in the 12-to-14-week range, so things are definitely returning more to normal." Behlen creates buildings for gold, copper, lithium, and other mineral mining that are typically 100-feet high, 200-feet wide, and hundreds of feet long, many of them outfitted with 20-to-50-ton overhead cranes. "And we custom design to climatic and seismic requirements," Lepper says, adding that 3D modelling via CNC systems are undertaken before fabrication, leading to every part of each structure being assigned an ID number. "With this process the fit and finishes of all of our buildings are far superior to what we were producing a decade ago." Behlen has also been working hard on market diversification through its business branch U-Build Steel Buildings. "U-Build has been helping First Nation communities like Waywayseecappo to develop ambitious projects like the Waywayseecappo Business/Convention Centre in Brandon, Manitoba. This project has been a team effort between Behlen/U-Build, Waywayseecappo First Nation, Samson Engineering [consulting engineer], and ADVA Marketing [general contractor],'' says Lepper. Established in 1969, Behlen serves a wide variety of industries beyond min- ing, and the diversity of its product line enables it to provide a cost-effective building system to the institutional, commercial, and recreational markets, in addition to industrial. One example of its ingenuity is Bridge-in-a-Box, an engineered, prefabricated modular steel bridge that is delivered to site in single or double lane configurations and spans from six metres to 24.5 metres. The customizable design is complemented by standard steel posts with W-Beam or Thrie Beam guardrails for low volume roads; and the open span ensures excep- tional hydraulics with little impact on stream environments (an ideal solution for rural, forestry, and remote locations). Barry Boyd, district sales manager, Alberta/ B.C., for Nucor, says that while resurgent demand benefitted the steel buildings industry following the aban- donment of the COVID lockdowns, "In my jurisdiction at least, inflation is taking BUILT TO LAST Waywayseecappo Business/Convention Centre, Brandon, MB

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