Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng
Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng
(OP)
I am trying to design a storm shelter inside a school per ICC-500. I am using the corridor walls with a concrete slab on top as the shelter. There are light gauge metal trusses spanning between exterior classroom walls, but I need to use at least one of the corridor walls (or the concrete slab) as a bearing wall for these trusses (gravity load support as well as uplift). Section 308 of the ICC-500 is not very clear on how to design these connections. It seems to say that the connections should be designed stronger than the tornado winds, but that seems odd to me (as I would think you want the surrounding building to disconnect with the storm shelter). Any help or clarification about this section would be very helpful.






RE: Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng
So in your case, it seems to suggest that your light gage trusses need to be designed to the higher wind speeds. Also the connections of the trusses to the shelter.
This seems counter-intuitive to me. I've always thought of the connecting building as a "tear away jersey" (for those of you who remember US Football back in the 70's).
The concept is that during a storm, the surrounding building just gets sucked away and the LAST thing you'd want is that collapsing building to be significantly fastened to your storm shelter.
The older FEMA 361 does discuss the idea of internal shelters a bit and includes a design example for a Kansas classroom addition - the details don't seem to imply that the connection between the addition and the new school were designed for the higher loading.
RE: Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng
Michael.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
RE: Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng
That's not what I read. It specifically says that if you have non-shelter framing attached, that framing must be designed to the storm loads.
The non-shelter framing doesn't have to "support" the shelter, or parts of the shelter.
RE: Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng
Michael.
Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.
RE: Connection of storm shelter to surrounding builidng