GEELONG FABRICATORS

Photos taken from within Geelong Fabricators.

Despite the people in charge being slightly hesitant about walking around the site to take photos, it was still very informative and of great benefit to visit the site a watch from a distance what goes on at the fabrication plant.

ARTICLE 3 - TIMBER SUSTAINABLITY

Neville Smith Timber's new 'green' brand of wood is intended to strengthen the image of timber being a sustainable building material.

Neville Smith Timber (NST) has launched a new product range, - GoodWood, which aims to 'Nuture the Future' by maximising timber recovery from plantation sites to the factory.

All timber is sourced from native frowth forests on an 80-year sustainable rotation.

Efforts to minimsie waste have been taken, as sawdust and off-cuts are used as fuel to fire the furnaces used for kiln drying, as well as the use of defective timber to make paper, MDF and plant fertiliser.

SOURCE: Building Connection Magazine, March 2006

ARTICLE 2 - LVL

e-beam
engineered LVL beams

Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) has many advantages over traditional building products. It's high strength to weight ratio and its availability in longer lengths (up to 12.6m) makes LVL an obvious choice in modern construction, especially when large spans are required.

e-beam is a product developed by wesbeam, and complies with AS/NZS 4357 Structural Laminated Veneer Lumber. It is manufactured from Maritime Pine veneer, and glued using a phenolic adhesive.

SOURCE: Building Connection Magazine, March 2006 and Wesbeam LVL DVD

ARTICLE 1 - NY CRANE COLLAPSE

ARTICLE LINK: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=572449

SUMMARY

An operating crane in New York collapsed early Saturday morning, killing the operator and another construction worker. The crane, which was owned by New York Crane Corp. was being investigated at the time regarding its operation. It was reported that it had been hoisting materials over the street, which is a breach of building codes. The investigation however was not related to the stability of the cranes structure, and investigations will now focus on what caused the collapse. The collapse comes not long after a similar collapse in March.

SITE VISIT 1

The following pictures were taken from a site that is undertaking a redevelopment. The original structure was a storage facility, constructed using a steel portal frame system. The frames are the only remaining part of the original structure, which allows for a close up look at the portal frame system, which spans a distance of approx 60m.

The below images show the knee joint connection between the stanchion, and the 'I' beam. Due to the large span of the portal frame, the beams have been haunched (made deeper) at the supports, to stiffen the beams and reduce mid-span deflection.

Cross- bracing between the two frames and between the frames and 'Z' purlins is also evident in the photo. The 'Z' purlins, which are spaced at either 1200 or 1800 centres are used as an alternative to 'C' purlins to fix the roof cladding to.

At the apex of the portal frame, the two beams are butted and bolted together to form a rigid connection.

COMPLETED STRUCTURE 2 - RAY'S OUTDOORS