On April 18, Mid-Atlantic Steel Fab. Assoc. and AISC hosted Steel Fabrication Essentials – a happy hour where the design community connected with industry peers to expand their knowledge on the world of steel fabrication to enhance their understanding of fabrication processes, offering practical insights, best practices for collaboration, and opportunities to connect with experts.
Attendees got hands-on experience with mobile arc welders to see fabrication techniques up close. Additionally, Mid-Atlantic Steel Fab. Assoc. members Tony Baffone (MSI FAB LLC), Hope Hrabowy (AISC), and Patrick Klein (Crystal Steel Fabricators, Inc.) presented to the attendees, covering key fabrication topics essential for designers to understand.
During the presentation, we outlined best practices for collaboration between designers and fabricators, using the 2 Penn Plaza project in New York City as a case study to walk through various fabrication process examples. Hope presented the standards and labor exceptions associated with different levels of Architecturally Exposed Structural Steel (AESS) from the category matrix. She also highlighted constructability concerns and expectations related to fabrication and paint finishing, supported by detailed examples from the same project.
Tony discussed various coating applications typically specified for structural and miscellaneous steel, exploring the benefits and challenges of each. He also emphasized key safeguarding techniques to prevent warpage and distortion during hot-dip galvanizing, using the Crystal Steel Fabricators’ Purple Line project to illustrate essential practices when working with high-performance coatings.
Designers walked away with valuable insights into the fabrication process and improved approaches to specifying and considering structural steel constructability during design. They expressed their appreciation for the presenters while looking forward to future events.
