Why choose aluminum over steel outdoors?
Corrosion performance in a marine environment and low maintenance. The trade is stiffness, so members are usually deeper than the steel equivalent.
Aluminum Design
Aluminum is what you use when the structure lives outdoors, near salt water, and nobody is going to repaint it.
What is included
- Member sizing verified by computer-based load analysis
- Comprehensive plans and details specific to the project
- Designed to the current edition of the applicable building codes
- Construction Observations available through construction
Where it is used
We have designed a range of structural aluminum for municipal structures. Aluminum appears in roof framing, outdoor decks, outdoor structures, canopies, spiral stairs, and observation platforms.
Aluminum design is most common on our municipal work.
How we design it
We use computer-based analysis software to simulate the loads that act on each structural member, so a member is sized for what the building will actually do to it.
Aluminum has roughly a third the stiffness of steel, so deflection and fatigue usually govern before strength does, and dissimilar metal contact has to be detailed out.
Through these projects we produce the drawings, documents, and specifications required to complete the work. Each set includes the plans and details specific to that project, designed to the most current edition of the applicable building codes.
Related projects
Where we have done this work.
Who carries this work
Licensed and credentialed in structural engineering
Common questions.
Next step
Need aluminum design?
Send the building, the site, and the timeline. A licensed engineer will tell you what we would actually do.