Malahat SkyWalk Viewing Tower and Walkway on Vancouver Island, BC, Canada
Customer Project
The accessible outdoor recreation structure Malahat SkyWalk viewing tower and walkway is an exciting new tourism project located on Southern Vancouver Island.
| Client |
Malahat Skywalk Corp. malahatskywalk.com |
| Structural Design |
Aspect Structural Engineers aspectengineers.com |
| Architecture | Muroch & Company Architecture & Planning |
| Design Assist Contractor |
Kinsol Timber Systems www.kinsoltimber.com |
| 3D Detailing & Shop Drawings |
Styxworks styxworks.com |
Viewing Tower Model Parameters
Model
The single-story Visitors' Centre includes a café and features a mass timber and light wood frame. From there, an accessible 2,133-foot-long treetop walk leads visitors onto a spectacular gentle spiral ramp up 98 ft to a lookout with stunning views of Finlayson Arm and the distant Coast Mountains.
Structure
The primary structural system consists of glulam columns with steel X-bracing around the perimeter. Outriggers from these columns create a 1,967-foot-long spiral walkway transporting visitors to the top of the structure and giving access to the viewing platform. A galvanized steel central spiral staircase provides emergency egress.
This project aims to protect and enhance the ecological values of the park, collaborate with First Nations, balance public use with ecological values, and connect visitors to the park’s natural values and cultural heritage.
Project Location
901 Trans-Canada HwyKeywords
Viewing tower Walkway Timber Steel
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New
X-Brace Effective Lengths According to AISC 360-16 in RFEM 6
Defining the appropriate effective length is crucial to obtain the correct member design capacity. For X-bracing that is connected at the center, the engineers often wonder if the full end-to-end length of the member shall be used or using half of the length to where the members are connected is sufficient.
This article outlines the recommendations given by the AISC and provides an example on how to specify the effective length of the X-braces in RFEM.
New
Steel Joints | Stability Analysis Software
For the joint components, it is possible to check whether the stability failure is relevant (requires the Structure Stability add-on for RFEM 6 / RSTAB 9).
In this case, the critical load factor for all analyzed load combinations and the selected number of mode shapes is calculated for the connection model. The smallest critical load factor is compared with the limit value 15 from the standard EN 1993‑1‑1, Clause 5. Furthermore, a user-defined adjustment of the limit value is possible. Moreover, the corresponding mode shapes are displayed graphically as the result of the stability analysis.
For the stability analysis, an adapted surface model is used to specifically recognize the local buckling shapes. The model of the stability analysis, including the results, can also be saved and used as a separate model file.
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