Case Study: Airforge Building, Pamiers, France

Case study: Airforge building, Pamiers, France

SP034a-EN-EU

A typical heavy industrial building, with a height of 22 m and spans of up to 23 m. The
steel superstructure supports gantry girders for an overhead crane with capacity of 140
tonnes.
This material is copyright - all rights reserved. Use of this document is subject to the terms and conditions of the Access Steel Licence Agreement
View of the main portal frame during erection
Contents
1. The achievement 2
2. Description 2
3. Project team 4
Created on Friday, October 01, 2010
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SP034a-EN-EU
1. The achievement
10 500 m2 of industrial building carrying cranes with a capacity up to 140 t
5 halls of various spans: 16 m, 23 m, 22 m and 2 × 23 m
The total length of the building is 98 m and the main hall is 22 m high
1365 tons of structural steelwork completed in 8 months
2. Description
The project is a new plant to accommodate a big press with a capacity of 40 000 tons and
associated furnaces. 1365 tons of steel were used:
Plate girders: 410 t,
Rolled sections: 673 t,
Gantry girders: 282 t.
Column design is governed by the need to ensure overall stability and satisfy tight horizontal
deflection limits for the overhead cranes. For transverse stability, column bases were fixed,
with 8 holding down bolts per column, of 52 mm diameter.
Longitudinal stability is ensured by wind-bracing on each column line. Cross bracing is used
for the tallest hall. For the other four halls, longitudinal portal frames are adopted. These
provide the greatest freedom of passage, without significant increase in steel weight.
Figure 2.1 Vertical bracing
The roof, of 3,1 % slope, consists of steel sheeting externally insulated by rigid rockwool
panels (thickness 60 mm) and a waterproof outer layer of weldable elastomer. The roof is
supported on rolled or welded plate purlins, generally 6 to 12 m long. For the two bays of
24 m, this distance is halved and the purlins are supported on jack rafters that rest on the ridge
beams and eaves beams. One of the characteristics of the roof is that it is partially de-
mountable in order to allow the future replacement of the jacks of the press.
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Figure 2.2 Roof structure pre-assembled at ground level to speed erection
The building envelope consists of double-skin insulated panels spanning 6 m horizontally

between posts. These posts are generally supported from the ground with simple bases. Near
the principal hall the posts have to be suspended from the eaves girders. They are stabilised
transversely by the wind girders in the lower halls.
The gantry girders for the 140 t cranes are mono-symmetric welded plate girders; their top
flanges are restrained laterally by horizontal lattice beams that resist both wind loads and
horizontal crane forces.
Figure 2.3 Crane ways and roof of the main hall
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To ensure an efficient installation of the industrial plant in this factory, the supply of
necessary equipment was entrusted to the steelwork erector: platforms, footbridges, staircases,
scales, pylons, and pit covers. The assembly of the principal elements of the furnaces was
also entrusted to the steelwork erector to make the best use of the specialist erection
equipment. Notable features were the 8 chimneys of 18,50 m length and the stainless steel
furnace with a total weight of 27t.
3. Project team
Project Team
Architect: AGECA
Structural Engineer: TECHNIP
Client: AIRFORGES
Steelwork: GAGNE
Photos: GAGNE
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Quality Record
RESOURCE TITLE Case study: Airforge building, Pamiers, France
Reference(s)
ORIGINAL DOCUMENT
Name Company Date
Created by Christophe Antoine CTICM 14/11/2005
Technical content checked by Alain Bureau CTICM 14/11/2005
Editorial content checked by
Technical content endorsed by the

following STEEL Partners:
1. UK G W Owens SCI 12/7/06
2. France A Bureau CTICM 12/7/06
3. Sweden B Uppfeldt SBI 21/7/06

4. Germany C Muller RWTH 13/7/06
5. Spain J Chica Labein 21/7/06
Resource approved by Technical

Coordinator
TRANSLATED DOCUMENT
This Translation made and checked by:
Translated resource approved by:

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SP034a-EN-EU
Wrapper Information
Title* Case study: Airforge building, Pamiers, France
Series
Description* A typical heavy industrial building, with a height of 22m and spans of up to 23m. The steel
superstructure supports gantry girders for an overhead crane with capacity of 140 tonnes.
Access Level* Expertise Public
Identifiers* Filename C:\Documents and Settings\dci\Local Settings\Temporary Internet

Files\OLK159\T2104-DFE cxw 3 Jul 06.doc
Format Microsoft Office Word; 6 Pages; 670kb;
Category* Resource Type Client guide
Viewpoint Client, Architect, Engineer
Subject* Application Area(s) Single storey building
Dates Created Date 03/07/2006
Last Modified Date 23/06/2006

Checked Date 23/06/2006
Valid From
Valid To
Language(s)* English
Contacts Author Christophe Antoine, CTICM
Checked By Alain Bureau, CTICM
Approved by
Editor
Last Modified By
Keywords* Portal frames, Industrial buildings, Single-storey buildings
See Also Eurocode Reference
Worked Example(s)
Commentary
Discussion
Other
Coverage National Applicability EU
Special
Instructions
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