Structural Damage Question - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

27 Oct 1999

On Wednesday, October 27, 1999 9:38 AM, Mike Ford 
[SMTP:mikeford@socal.rr.com] wrote:
...
  >I live in a 29 story building. I have 2000 pounds
of racks with CPUs in  my
...
  >"lab" (a room 20' X 20'). I am
going to move in another 2-3 thousand  pounds
...
  >of minis as I am going through my storage and
moving them up here. I am  also
...
  >picking up more minis from a plant in the US. I am
placing the mini  racks
...
  >along the walls in the hope that there is more
support there. A real  serious
...
  >question I have is... Can a room in a building
like this support 5000  pounds
...
  >or more? If someone here has experience with this
please tell me if this  is
...
  >okay. 
Buildings are designed to withstand both "live" and "dead" loads. A
"live" 
load is one where the load is not constant or is moving. IE: people, wind, 
etc... A "dead" load is a load that is constant or does not move. IE: the 
structure itself.

Although local building codes dictate what loads the building must support, 
they are usually pretty consistent. I did a search and found the following 
reference:

According to the 1991 standard building code:

Occupancy or Use                Live Load (psf)
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Libraries:
 Reading rooms                     60
 Stack rooms (books and shelving) 125
 Corridors, above first floor      80

Residential:  Multifamily houses;
 Private apartments                40
 Public rooms                     100
 Corridors                         80

Dwellings:
 Sleeping rooms                    30
 Attics with storage               30
 Attics without storage            10
 All other rooms                   40

So, for a 20' X 20' room in your building the allowable load should be:
20 x 20 X 40(psf) = 16,000 lbs.

If one of your neighbors has a large book collection, they may be putting a 
greater load on the building than you are... :-)

Steve Robertson - &lt;steverob(a)hotoffice.com&gt;