|
The unsightly metal boxes that used to blemish the landscape of the United States in previous years are not the steel buildings of today. In fact, one of the top choices in the building of larger and more complex structures over the past forty years is with steel, largely due to the innovations and design enhancements that have developed. Steel is now the preferred building material of choice for new warehouses, sports complexes, churches, and many other applications.
Steel buildings started to see use a the dawn of the 20th century. Steel car garages were one of the first widely embraced uses. One hundred years ago and today steel has been found to be durable and a low cost material. Small businesses and storage structures soon began to use steel and the acceptance grew.
The 1920’s saw the widespread use for many agricultural structures. Cost savvy farmers and ranchers were quickly displacing unusable wood structures with the sounder choice of steel.
The 1940’s saw the first use of pre-engineered and pre-fabricated steel buildings introducing a rigid frame design. A rigid frame was found to be a strong and durable construction style because it was the sturdy entire skeleton for the steel building’s framework. After more than 60 years the rigid frame is still in wide use today and is the construction style of choice for a vast array of applications. Businesses could now enjoy the rapid erection time of a steel building and build larger and more functional structures at a lower cost than with conventional building. Steel aircraft hangars, after the 1940’s , became the popular choice for airplane owners and airports over other building materials.
There have been continued improvements in the world of pre-fabricated steel buildings since the 1940’s to include increased size capacities and design versatility. In 1956 the MBMA (Metal Building Manufacturers Association) was founded. The MBMA standardized the steel building industry and began a campaign towards further innovation along with having a larger purchaser base for steel buildings. The year 200 saw steel building construction in excess of $2.5 billion dollars as compared to the meager $1.0 million dollars in steel building construction just 40 years ago.
The beginning of the 21st century speaks to even more innovation and popularity for the steel building industry. There have been, admittedly, escalation of steel costs over the past few years. Steel remains, however, a lower cost building, in the long run, and makes it exceedingly popular for many consumers, businesses, and organizations today.
When thinking about the construction material for your next building project think of all the advantages of steel.
|
