Architectural/Structural Steel DrawingsIntroductionArchitectural and structural drawings are drawings of steel, wood, concrete,and other materials used to construct buildings, ships, planes, bridges,towers, tanks, and so on. Building projects may be broadly divided into twomajor phases, the design phase and the construction phase. First, the architectconceives the project and sets the concept onto paper in the form ofpresentation drawings that are usually drawn in perspective by using pictorialdrawing techniques. Next, the architect and engineer work together to decideupon construction materials and methods. The engineer determines thestructural loads, mechanical, heating, lighting, and plumbing systems. Theend result is the preparation of architectural and engineering design sketchesthat guide the draftsman who prepares the construction drawings. Thissection describes some common types of shapes and symbols used onarchitectural and structural drawings. For additional information inconstruction or building techniques, refer to the Seabee rate training manualsof Engineeriing Aid (EA), Builder (BU), and Utilitiesman (UT).ShapesStructural shapes common to construction materials are beams, channels,angles, tees, bearing piles, zees, plates, flat bars, and tie rod and pipecolumn. The American Society of Construction Engineers (ASCE) lists thesymbols used to identify these shapes in bills of material, notes, ordimensions for military construction drawings in MIL-STD-18B.BEAMS: A beam is a structural support. Beams are defined by theirnominal depth in inches and weight per foot of length. There are wide-flangebeams and I beams. The cross section of a wide-flange beam (WF) is in theform of the letter H and is the strongest most adaptable support structure.The cross section of I beams are in the shape of the letter I.Continued on next page4-10
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