Website
34 NSC
Annual Review
Steel knowledge online
The steel sector’s website – www.steelconstruction.info – is the number
one destination for engineers and other construction professionals to
access steel related information.
Launched five years ago,
www.steelconstruction.info brings
together all of the sector’s
technical and cost information,
which was only previously available from a
variety of different sources.
Described as the free encyclopaedia
for the UK steel construction sector,
it was designed to be easy to use, as
comprehensive as possible, and the onestop
shop for technical guidance on steel
construction.
Chris Dolling, Manager, Technical
Development at BCSA explains: “We set out
to provide the best possible internet-based
source for steel construction information
and we feel this is exactly what we’ve
achieved.
“Feedback has been very positive and
the Google Analytics for the website
continues to show year-on-year growth in
the number of users.”
Key to the success of the website is the
continuous stream of new content and the
regular updates to ensure the information
provided remains current. Highlights so
far this year include:
• A new article discussing Steel and the
circular economy.
• A major new release of the design
software that calculates the Elastic
critical moment for lateral-torsional
buckling (Mcr).
• A new interactive version of the “Blue
Book” that provides design data for
both open and hollow sections to the
Eurocodes and BS 5950 (see box).
• A new article that brings together and
indexes all of the Advisory Desk Notes
published since January 2010.
• Quarterly updates to the cost table,
cost comparison figures, and BCIS
location factors to suit the latest data
from AECOM.
• A new series of written CPD Modules.
• A new SCI guide (P419) on ‘Brittle
fracture’ that presents modified steel
thickness limits for use on buildings
where fatigue is not a design
consideration (see box).
The Structural Steel Design Awards
article was recently updated to feature
the 2017 projects winning Awards,
Commendations and Merits, and fully
hyperlinked ‘case studies’ for each winning
project have been added to the evergrowing
bank of project data.
Over 30 other case studies of projects
under construction in 2017 have also been
added so far this year covering a broad
range of building types and sectors.
For those who are new to www.
steelconstruction.info the site has well
over 100 wikipedia style articles, written
by the steel sector’s own experts as well
as external consultants, and covering
best practice in the use of steel across the
construction sector, as well as topics such
as fire engineering, costs, sustainability and
health & safety.
These core articles act as a roadmap to
each topic using links to more detailed
information available from the sector and
other external sources. A number of online
CPD presentations are also included,
/www.steelconstruction.info
/www.steelconstruction.info