Pittsburgh Convention Center Plans to Add Girder Seats
The structural-steel slip connection of a girder at the X-9 expansion joint that runs in the short direction of the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh is a detail that at least some structural engineers don’t favor, a source told ENR. The second–floor slotted connection failed on Feb. 5 in the loading dock area over the main entry road and walkway, causing the girder to fail, along with a 60 x 20-ft section of precast concrete flooring that spans between girders. No one was killed.
The girders to either side of the failed girder did not pull away because they had a “seat” under the connection, says the source. The girder to the south had failed in 2005 and had been retrofitted using the seat, which is like a haunch, he says.