Steel Construction Manual

Rating:
Summary: Steel Construction Manual
Review: The title of this book, in my mind, is a misnomer. If you're looking for a true manual of steel construction, meaning a how-to book, this isn't the book to buy. This book is centered around architecture, not down and dirty steel construction techniques. There are no methods included in the book for such things as calculating loads, yield, tensile, etc. If you want a world wide sampling of connecting means, truss designs, etc. with no dimensions in the examples then this is the book for you. In short I am very disappointed in my purchase as it doesn't suit my needs.

Rating:
Summary: Ideal for architects and engineers
Review: This book gives a synoptic view of steel in building construction, mostly its structural uses. It differs from the Concrete and Masonry versions, which lean more towards a summary of the building codes, and the Glass version, which goes on at length about solar effects, in its more lengthy review of the engineering basics involved. (But perhaps the subject lends itself to this approach, being more specialized.) The text is also the easiest to read of all the books, more than compensating for the lack of color pictures anywhere. The middle technical section covers the subject in a very orderly way, beginning with the structural properties of small components and proceeding on to the assembled skyscraper. The last sections will leave you scratching your head unless you're an engineer though.

There is also a section on construction practices, where you might be reminded to leave an inch or two of space under your column base plates to allow for construction tolerances, and to use special expanding grout for filling it instead of mortar or concrete, which would shrink on curing and provide opportunities for water getting in. Or to try to achieve equal compression in all your columns, so settling will be uniform.

Surprisingly enjoyable, and not used in the other books but maybe not possible there, owing to their extensive excerpting of tables from building codes, is the way the text does not normally keep referring you to figures, but allows you to read uninterrupted. The figures are there, as in the other books, but they have more extensive captions which allow them to stand alone and be read in parallel with the main text.

Like the other books in the series, there are no equations to speak of, or very few. Just an attempt to explain all the relevant principles in a qualitative way and to demonstrate their use with hundreds of meticulous drawings.

Rating:
Summary: Ideal for architects and engineers
Review: This book gives an overview of steel in building construction, mostly its structural uses. It differs from the Concrete and Masonry versions, which lean more towards a summary of the building codes, and the Glass version, which goes on at length about solar effects, in its more lengthy review of the engineering basics involved. (But perhaps the subject lends itself to this approach, being more specialized.) The text is also the easiest to read of all the books, more than compensating for the lack of color pictures anywhere. The middle technical section covers the subject in a very orderly way, beginning with the structural properties of small components and proceeding on to the assembled skyscraper. The last sections will leave you scratching your head unless you're a structural engineer though.

There is also a section on construction practices, where you might be reminded to leave an inch or two of space under your column base plates to allow for construction tolerances, and to use special expanding grout for filling it instead of mortar or concrete, which would shrink on curing and provide opportunities for water to get in. Or to try to achieve equal compression in all your columns, so settling will be uniform.

Surprisingly enjoyable, and not used in the other books but maybe not possible there, owing to their extensive excerpting of tables from building codes, is the way the text does not normally keep referring you to figures, but allows you to read uninterrupted. The figures are there, as in the other books, but they have more extensive captions which allow them to stand alone and be read in parallel with the main text.

Like the other books in the series, there are no equations to speak of, or very few. Just an attempt to explain all the relevant principles in a qualitative way and to demonstrate their use with hundreds of meticulous drawings.