The Importance of Structural Steel in Construction

There are numerous uses of structural steel across all industrial sectors. Structural steel is used in industries such as manufacturing, oil and gas, packaging, automotive, shipbuilding, transport and mining. Structural steel is an extremely important resource for the construction industry. Structural steel is the ideal choice for constructing buildings by architects, engineers, designers and contractors. It offers innumerable benefits when compared to any other building material.

Let us take a look at why structural steel is so popular in the construction world:

Durability

Steel is known to be a highly durable metal. Steel-framed construction can withstand all kinds of external pressure such as earthquakes and thunderstorms. They do not age or decay as other construction materials. A well-constructed steel framed building can last up to 20 years. Steel is highly flexible and can be easily turned into any shape as desired.

Environment friendly

Steel can be easily recycled at the end of its lifespan. This means you won’t have to spend millions of dollars in disposing of non-recyclable construction waste. Steel buildings are energy efficient in comparison to other building materials.

Affordability

Structural steel is less expensive compared to other metals. This helps in reducing the overall cost of the entire project. Steel structures require low maintenance and as mentioned above they tend to have a long lifespan. Hence, structural steel is an economically viable option compared to other building materials.

Constructability

With structural steel, you can build faster. Most of the steel structures are pre-engineered which makes it easy to assemble them on the construction site. This means you get to complete your construction project faster and save money.

Lightweight

Steel has tensile strength. It has a high strength to weight ratio which makes it easier to work with. It reduces the shipping and labour cost required as compared to wood. Steel is lighter than wood.

Rapid, Waste-Free Assembly

All the steel sections can be manufactured at the shop floor by structural steel fabricators. These sections can be fabricated to tight tolerances before delivery to site. This enables rapid and waste-free assembly of the sections.

Vibration Performance

Steel framed buildings have a track record of meeting the strict vibration and acoustic criteria for buildings. For most normal office buildings, straightforward steel construction systems will meet the required vibration performance criteria without modification. For more vibration sensitive applications, such as hospital operating theatre floors, steel’s advantages can be captured with additional stiffening applied to the steel frame if required to meet acceptability criteria.

So structural steel is an essential component in constructing buildings. There are different types of steel sections which are produced for construction purposes.

Ensure that you have a team of highly experienced and well-trained structural steel fabricators to undertake your project.