Recently I have been working on a lecture hall project in Killeen, Texas. The structure of this lecture hall is primarily going to be composed of steel roof framing members and concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls. Covering the entrance to this lecture hall is a covered colonnade. The visual architectural requirements of the colonnade’s covering included reducing the depth as much as economically feasible. After a few design iterations it was determined that an 8 inch deep cold formed steel stud roof would meet the structural requirements and satisfy the architect’s design intent.
The attachment of the steel track to the exterior CMU walls of the lecture hall could have accomplished several ways. In fully grouted CMU block, a 5/8 inch diameter Simpson Wedge-All expansion anchor will provide 625 pounds of resistance in withdrawal (pull out) and 1,635 pounds of resistance in shear (vertical tear out). With these allowable loads and availability in a galvanized coating the Wedge-All was the clear choice for track attachment. A detail of our stud attachment is shown below.
