Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/178290
There is a de inite trend toward more geometrically complex designs – made possible by a growing familiarity with 3D modelling across the industry. An example of 'extreme 3D modelling' using the software capacity to its greatest extent is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. "It's probably the most challenging project we've ever done, and I would guess one of the most complex projects on this continent," says Walters Inc. president Walter Koppelaar. "We didn't do anything there we hadn't done before, but we've never done a project that's tested every one of our skill sets to the limit like that." Incorporating every possible architectural feature, including curved walls, sloping walls and large voids within the building, the steel structure had to accommodate extreme load cases on the connections. "I guess the biggest challenge technically would be to de ine the locations and then achieve those tolerances where the glazing system mounts to the curved rails," says Koppelaar. The solution was a complex surveying scheme; though that would normally be done in situ, preassembly in the shop ensured correct positioning on site. In describing the modelling for the project, Koppelaar is quick to differentiate between 3D modelling and building information modelling (BIM). "I know it's been talked about and seems like old news, but I don't think people really understand what BIM means. BIM is more about parametric modelling than 3D modelling." Walters Inc. uses BIM techniques in every project it undertakes, and Koppelaar considers his team adept at using it to its full capacity. "We use it to drive our fabrication process – everything runs off of our digital models. I think the difference is that we build the project digitally – truly build it digitally – before building it physically." In terms of demand, Mel Grimes, president of M&G Steel, estimates about 15 per cent of his clients are asking for BIM – compared to none at all two years ago. But to build a project digitally requires a completed design from the engineers up front – which is becoming more and more dif icult to come by. "It used to be that jobs were fully designed when you took a contract, but now it's 'design as you go'" – a challenge to which P3 jobs are particularly prone, notes Grimes. Those P3 projects and public-sector work are out there, he continues, but perhaps not as many as a year ago. "On the other hand, we're seeing the private sector come back Structural Steel p.40-43Structural Steel.indd 43 Above: BIM MQL Global Campaign structural image. Rendering of the Autodesk office renovation project on Trapelo Road as generated from the original BIM data sets. Multiple features of the project are visible, from energy analysis and MEP, to structural and construction elements. Rendering: KlingStubbins Architecture Engineering Planning Interiors. Courtesy: Autodesk®. Below: Dawson Bridge Rehabilitation, Edmonton, AB. The project utilized an innovative, lightweight composite steel plate and elastomer deck system using a technology originally developed for the marine industry. Sustainability award winner, CISC Alberta Awards 2011. with jobs [the likes of which] we haven't seen for the last three or four years," such as warehouses and of ice buildings. Grimes has even seen a few largescale projects – 400,000 to 500,000 square feet – out for tender, and M&G is currently working on a 1.5-millionsquare-foot warehouse in Milton, Ontario. Awarded in August 2011, the project was split among three fabricators (M&G has 40 per cent) to complete it quickly. "That's the type of project that wasn't even on the radar a year ago," says Grimes. And although he is encouraged to see that the private sector is back in the market, "there's still not enough work to go around." Stephen Benson, president and CEO of Benson Steel and current chair of the Canadian Institute of Steel Construction (CISC), is more con idently optimistic: "The economy seems to be having a spark again. We've de initely come through a very dif icult time as an industry, and individual companies have had their challenges, but for those who survived I think times are changing and there are better things on the horizon." In addition to the gradual reintroduction of private-sector projects (Benson Steel is seeing a lot of shopping centre renovations and new data centres) and the continued supply of public-sector tenders (such as hospitals and courthouses), Benson foresees a lot of transportation-based work coming down the pipeline. "It seems that the feds and provincial governments across Canada have realized that we haven't spent the money on infrastructure that we should have over the past 30 or 40 years, and they're starting to get a program in place to do that – that's going to be driving the industry for some time." Benson Steel already has work for the Toronto Transit Commission and other municipal transportation projects on the books for 2012. But even as the economy recovers and the availability of fabrication jobs increases, there are challenges facing the industry, says Benson. Paid-when-paid clauses, 10-per-cent holdbacks and the recruitment and retention of young workers are issues the CISC is tackling on behalf of its members, promoting awareness and approaching government for fairer legislation. "It's a slow process," says Benson, "but we're getting there one day at a time." ■ APRIL 2012 /43 3/26/12 2:24:00 PM