Structural Engineers of New Hampshire

DATE:              Tuesday, November 14, 2000

PLACE:            Red Hook Brewery, Portsmouth

RE:                  Membership Meeting (2.0 PDH Assigned)

ATTENDANCE:

Dana Adams                         Opechee Construction                                Tamas Horvath                 UNH Civil Engineering student

Geoffrey Aleva                     Civil Consultants                                         John Ingwersen                MIT Lincoln Labs

Matt Allen                             JSN Associates                                            Sean James                       Hoyle, Tanner & Assoc.

Joe Allwarden                       Maguire Group                                             Jay Kaknes                       AMSCO Inc.

Deva Alves                           Kimball Chase                                                Jeff Karam                         Maguire Group

Jason Ayotte                        Hoyle, Tanner & Assoc.                             Jim Karmozyn                    HEB/Civil Engineers

Josh Bartlett                          Wood Structures, Inc.                                 Scott Kibby                        UNH Civil Engineering student

Ed Bergeron                          HEB/Civil Engineers                                     Ron Kief                             Maguire Group

Jason Blais                            Opechee Construction                                  Dave Konieczny              Pyramid Engineering

Steven Blake                         UNH Civil Engineering student                  Dennis LaBombard          LaBombard Engineering

Sara Bradley                          Provan & Lorber, Inc.                                  Laurent Levesque             JGE Enterprises

Robert Busby                       Kalwall Corp.                                                 Jeff Long                           Hoyle, Tanner & Assoc.

Bob Champagne                   Kimball Chase                                               Matt Low                            Hoyle, Tanner & Assoc.

Ray Cook                               Prof., University of NH                                Josh Lund                            Vollmer Associates

Louis Cote III                        Steffensen Engineering                               Charles Macklin                  UNH Civil Engineering student

Normand Cote                      NGC Structural LLC                                      Dave Macolini                       JSN Associates

Cheryl Coviello                     VHB                                                                Nathan Maher                     JSN Associates

Tony Coviello                       Simpson Gumpertz & Heger                       Kenneth Marshall                Foley & Buhl Engineering

Ray Cowan                            SFC Engineering Partnership                     Don Mayo                           Consultant

Kathy Dougherty                 Consultant                                                    Chad Montrose                    Rist Frost Shumway Eng.

Khaldoun Doukmak                JSN Associates                                        Raymond Morin                  Consultant

Bob Durfee                            Hoyle, Tanner & Assoc.                           Jeffrey Nawrocki                    JSN Associates

David Emanuel                     Emanuel Engineering                                  Christian O’Connor                SFC Engineering Partnership

Fred Emanuel                        Emanuel Engineering                                 John Pettit                           Turner Group

George Fallet                         Consultant                                                  William Poole                      UNH Civil Engineering student

Joel Fisher                             Rist Frost Shumway Eng.                          Stephen Richard                  Steffensen Engineering

Shallan Fitzgerald                UNH Civil Engineering student                  Tom Rigg                        SFC Engineering Partnership

Jason Fogg                           UNH Civil Engineering student                  Alex Ross                       Emanuel Engineering

Roger Gayer                          Structures Unlimited                                     Jason Ross                       HEB/Civil Engineers

Paul Goldberg                       Pro Con                                                           Rich Rouleau                 UNH

Marty Gorham                      JSN                                                                  Kyle Roy                         Kimball Chase

Tim Grant                               TL Grant Engineering                                  Hossein Salehkhou           JSN Associates

Jesse Greeley                        HEB/Civil Engineers                                    Peter Steffensen                  Steffensen Engineering

Richard Haigh                       UNH Civil Engineering student                 Bruce Stewart                   Provan & Lorber, Inc.

Bill Hanson                           Wood Structures, Inc.                                 Robert Tarquinio               Parkview Consulting

Ken Harriman                        SFC Engineering                                          Veronica Thibodeau          Turner Group

Robert Hartford                    Kalwall Corp                                                 Matt Tibbetts                 Duncan Galvanizing

Phil Henry                             UNH Civil Engineering student                  Ben Tirey                       Consultant

Bill Hickey                             Turner Group                                                Jeff Tirey                       Tirey & Associates

Emily Hoober                        UNH Civil Engineering student                  Jeff Trexler                    Trexler Engineering       

Peter Zelonis                           UNH Civil Engineering student

Guest Speaker: Dave Matychowiak

I.  BUSINESS MEETING:    The meeting began at 7:15 pm after the social time and dinner, and ended at 7:35 pm.

1. New member was announced: George Horowitz, Consultant. New associate members were announced: Deva Alves, Kimball Chase Co.; Robert Champagne, Kimball Chase Co. 

2. Dennis LaBombard reviewed the HSS Design Seminar on October 3, 2000.

3. Bob Durfee reported on the NCSEA 2000 Annual Convention in San Antonio, TX.

• Vermont has formed a structural engineers association.

• The New England delegates formed a New England Delegation to share information on technical speakers and business practices.

• The AISC Code of Standard Practice is posted on its web site: highlights include:

Contractor must obtain permission to re-use electronic design drawings.

3 alternatives for connection design: by engineer, engineer specifies connection type, by fabricator.

NCSEA minimum requirements for structural engineers: BS with minimum core requirements - steel, concrete, wood; determinate & indeterminate analysis; ethics (ASCE wants MS required for P.E.’s)

4. Bob Durfee announced the NCSEA 2001 Annual Convention on October 5, 6 &7 in Manchester, NH. Bob is chairman of the subcommittee for the event and needs volunteers to create a program. Speakers, agenda and social activities need to be organized.

5. Bob Durfee announced that NCSEA seeks input for Structures magazine.

6. Dave Konieczny announced the SENH March 21 meeting with Steve Brophy, financial planner, as guest speaker, Manchester location. He announced the SENH May meeting (first half of May) with RISA providing the technical presentation.

7. Dave Konieczny, Student Member Committee Board liaison, introduced the UNH students attending tonight’s Portsmouth meeting. Dave asked for corporate sponsorship for the cost of meals for students attending tonight’s meeting.

8. Jeff Tirey reported on the Snow Load Mapping Committee: Wayne Tobiason, Research Civil Engineer, retired, CRREL, helped to develop all U.S. snow load maps. At the October 25 ASCE-7 meeting, Wayne promoted inclusion by reference the SENH/CRREL NH Snow Load Mapping work into ASCE-7 commentary. It was accepted for inclusion by reference into the commentary with a full table of values and will be cited as an example for others to follow. SENH case studies to be completed by the end of November for submittal to ASCE by SENH/CRREL. CRREL’s web site has the first publication of committee results which can also be accessed via the SENH web site Snow Load Mapping Committee link.

9. The January 23, 2001 SENH dinner meeting was announced, with NH DOT bridge rating as the technical presentation, at The Common Man, Concord, NH.

II.  TECHNICAL PRESENTATION

Dave Matychowiak, accompanied by John Hanson, Wood Structures, Inc. Light Gauge Steel Truss Division, provided a presentation on steel roof trusses in a question and answer format. Dave is Manager of Design for light gauge steel trusses at Wood Structures. Wood Structures utilizes steel members made by Mitek for its roof trusses. Dave made the transition to working full time with steel trusses in 1997. The limitations associated with the use of fire-treated wood for trusses led to the interest in light gauge steel for roof truss construction. Dave provided cost comparisons between wood and light gauge steel roof trusses. Manufacturing cost for steel trusses in 1999 was 1.25 times wood truss cost. Light gauge steel trusses have found cost effective application in non-combustible construction, including 4 story or more hotel type buildings having attics without sprinklers and with fire stops. Insurance for non-combustible construction can be one third the cost relative to combustible construction.

Currently, light gauge steel roof trusses are unlikely to be used for residential construction in the northeast U.S. Common applications are for hotels, schools, Alzheimer wings of assisted care facilities, retail and are commonly driven by insurance costs. Connecticut has been at the forefront in New England for enforcement, focusing on golf course clubhouses and assembly spaces. Maine has instituted, in 2000, requirements for design of non-combustible schools. Dormitory buildings are another common application for light gauge steel trusses. Wood Structures has been focused on roof trusses only and will soon offer Mitek accessories such as bracing and hangers. Wall panels and floor trusses may be offered soon in light gauge steel by Wood Structures. Manufacturing/delivery schedules for steel versus wood roof trusses are the same, at about 3 to 4 weeks.

Light gauge steel members in roof trusses are color coded and engraved to indicate gauge of steel. Wood Structures steel roof trusses are limited to 2-ply girder trusses, which often substitute for 3-ply wood girder trusses. Roof truss deflections are less for steel trusses than for wood trusses. Connection capacities are limited by steel gauge. Steel truss bearing length of 4" minimum is typically acceptable. Steel truss length of 80 feet is the shipping limit. A maximum steel truss length of 65 feet is Wood Structures experience to date. Erection handling is very critical for long steel trusses. Piggyback steel roof trusses are similar to wood systems. Light gauge steel roof trusses are erected faster than wood roof trusses.

Dave discussed bracing requirements for light gauge steel roof trusses. Diagonal bracing is extremely important. Responsibility for bracing is often misunderstood. Bracing is sometimes omitted during construction. Erection bracing is specified in TPI HIB-91. Group/gang truss erection may be a good requirement for long trusses. Bracing for steel trusses is similar to bracing for wood trusses. A hindrance to proper bracing is lack of fees for bracing/connection design. WTCA is campaigning for certified truss installers. Dave made available literature describing the Mitek Ultra-span steel truss system and an installation guide by Light Gauge Steel Engineers Association.

Meeting adjourned at 9:10 pm.