jeffhed
Structural
- Mar 23, 2007
- 286
I am working on a 2 story 45'x28'detached garage with basement walls with full retaining on 3 of the 4 sides. The upper floor is living space and the lower floor is garage. Wing walls are running off of each side so that the 'walkout' 4th side can have the garage doors. In the past on walk out structures, I usually only have retaining around the back and partway down each side. In those instances the lateral loads obviously need to be figured as a 2 story structure at the walkout portion. However, on this particular project, since the full retaining is on three sides, do I just have to transfer the upper story shear down through the first story, like a full basement, or should I still calculate lateral loads as if it is a 2 story structure? With this being the face of the building where the garage doors are located, the load calculation is critical since there is very limited wall segments that can be utilized for shear walls.