Workshops: Structural Steel: Past, Present and Future

Tabitha Stine

, Chicago

Structural steel production and use in the United States has led to monumental achievements in the buildings we inhabit. By exploring the evolution of the domestic steel industry, examining the practices used and products produced by the early mills to the high-tech robotics used in fabrication facilities today, a firm understanding of the entire steel procurement process, as well as insight on how to optimize a steel building for cost-effectiveness from design to fabrication is gleaned. Additionally, the sustainability of structural steel is discussed by exploring steel’s cradle-to-cradle recyclability and the steel industry’s environmental product declarations. A thorough background of the steel industry is developed that serves as the benchmark of the Steel Advances workshop; additional presenters delve deeper into unique product innovations and the resolution of challenging projects.

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), headquartered in Chicago, Illinois is a non-partisan, not-for-profit technical institute and trade association established in 1921 to serve the structural steel design community and construction industry in the United States. AISC’s mission is to make structural steel the material of choice by being the leader in structural-steel-related technical and market-building activities, including: specification and code development, research, education, technical assistance, quality certification, standardization, market development, and advocacy. AISC has a long tradition of service to the steel construction industry providing timely and reliable information.