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Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

(OP)
I'm trying to find load capacity information for a steel roof joist that was installed for a school gym in 1961.
The joist is indicated on the original plans as 56LS20 and spans about 105 ft.

There is no LS type joist from that era in the SJI historical joist catalogue. I've also searched the slideruleera website with no luck.

Does anyone out there have any information on a joist like this?

I found a reference to LS joists by Ashland Steel (Tennessee) from the 1960's so I presume it is their product. They were never members of SJI.

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

Interesting in that the maximum span shown in Table 1 of the article in Structure Magazine (June 2009) is shown as 64 feet for the LS series joists.

That's a whale of a difference from 105 feet - must have been a special design, or from someone else? Depending on the geometry seen in the field, Cadmus or Haven-Busch would seem more likely according to what is listed in the table.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

Might have to do a corporate search at the state level JAE to see who bought the steel joist side of the business... Assuming they sold it.

Mike McCann
MMC Engineering

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

(OP)
EngineeringEric - yep - I saw those tables. The 64 ft. limit is strange.
Mike - thanks for the links - I'll check them out.

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

My guess would be that this was not a standard joist, and that LS stands for Longspan Special. I think you will have to analyze it anew.

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

(OP)
I have the complete structural drawings and there are no notes or special joist load diagrams.

The "20" on the end of it suggests that it is a specific joist product as there are no 19's, 18's, etc. on the plans.

I did go through a load takeoff and back calculated what it supposedly could carry based on the actual dead loads and the presumed 1961 roof snow loads.

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

You might try an inquiry to SJI.

RE: Ashland Joist - 56LS20 - Load Table?

Thjat 64' limit might be a typo or might be a limit based on shipping. After all, you're working out of an article, not the manufacturer's official literature. I see 56 inch deep joist spanning up to 112 ft., and I doubt that they could span any less in 1961.
One of the many problems with using these joists is that the terminology changes from edition to edition of the Standard Specifications.

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