Continous Long Span Construction

Below you will find some images of the Bunnings Warehouse I recetly visited on Ballarat Rd in Sunshine.As you will see from these images such a continous long spanning structure has been achieved through the use of a steel portal frame.This warehouse has a relatively column free space for the storage of goods.Thus consideration has been given to the requiremnts of the transporation of goods,forklifts an pallet systems.In such an example one can see the clear advantage of using a portal frame construction,as it can form clear spans of between 15-45 m This structure is clad with a mix of lightweight steel sheeting at the top and heavy concrete tilt up panels at the base.I have provided some close ups of the kneejoint showing the haunching and the rigid apex.The images show that this warehose holds all the typical steel bolted connections of a portal frame eg. connections between purlins & rafter to columns & girts.Stiffening plates can be seen in particular on the columns,where they have been used to tansfer the bending from flanges to the columns.Stabilisation methods have been used here sch as bracing on the roof and across the walls.The roofing clearly shows the safety mesh and sarking/insulation above,in addition a box gutter is used on the 2 lower graded sides of the frame .Furthermore the pictures show how the fly bracing has been used to extend the influence of th rafter & also to reduce any overturning action created by the purlins.