
WATERLOO CO-OP
OWSJ ROOF FRAMING
Consultant
Pretium Engineering
Year
2021
Location
Waterloo, Canada
Our Role
Our scope of work included the supply and erection of a steel roof structure overtop of a heavily sloped ramp. The roof structure was comprised of open web steel joists (OWSJs), lateral and uplift bracing, and corrugated steel decking. The project also included the fabrication and installation of additional miscellaneous metal components including steel grating, railing assemblies, steel support beams, and lintels.
Project Description
For supply of the OWSJs we partnered with Canam, a leader in OWSJ manufacturing for over 40 years. Prior to delivery of the OWSJs we fabricated and provided anchorage plates to the General Contractor and provided direction for their installation by the mason. To mitigate the possibility of misalignment we elected to oversize the anchorage plates, which provided the mason with increased placement tolerances.
Working above the heavily sloped ramp surface provided unique challenges for constructibility as standard access equipment could only be used in limited capacity. We addressed these challenges ahead of time by working directly with the Canam design team to come up with field welding details that were more appropriate for the access limitations. In addition, we brought in specialty track access equipment specifically intended for use on heavily sloped surfaces. To increase field productivity we used a self-shielding flux-core arc welding process (FCAW) for the welding of the steel bracing. This allowed us to significantly reduce labour time which was particularly important due to the high cost of the specialty access equipment.













