Introduction to Drafting Steel Structures

Glancing at any modern metropolis and you will find a bunch of cranes putting up skyscrapers, in amongst the tall buildings already developed. The key component in the development of such buildings is steel. Steel structures are the spine of each urban center.

Before the cranes can get into action, it must be drafted. And this is where steel structure detailing has its introduction. Steel structure design is vital to safety. A huge amount of planning is essential in order to gratify safety ordinances while satisfying all the specifications the client and architect have ordered.

A steel structure designer is required to know about force and pressure - getting the structure to yield to outside pressures, and when to withstand such pressures, to maximise the integrity of the construction. A structure must also withstand huge weights, and so this must also be taken into account. From the weight of snow to the speed of wind, a structure detailer has to plan for all kinds of outside forces.

In these modern times, there are more and more demands for creative building designs, which means the detailer can oftentimes be pushed to take on difficult designs and attempt to transform them into a secure working space for hundreds of people.

Still, it’s not all bad for the detailer - software like AutoCad, Asteel and Tekla Steel have helped speed up the operation of detailing and drafting large buildings.