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Granco Cofar Slabs 8

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RMalaska

RMalaska

Structural
Jul 31, 2003
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I am currently engineering upgrades for a building (1960 vintage) which used Granco Cofar concrete slabs on metal deck throughout. The designations look like 5-1/4C24. My first question for anyone is are there still load tables available for this deck? The company went out of business in the late 60's.

Simple calculations based on the SDI manual trying to determine the maximum allowable unshored length yield about 5'-9", while my specific situation deals with spans between 10'-9" and 13'-0". With this info, I am assuming that the deck was shored. How would I go about calculating the allowable live load on this deck?
 
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We are going through the same situation as you. Cofar slabs - about 5 1/2" thick total - spanning between 10'-0" and 13'-0" in a parking garage - some deterioration - surface rusting on the bottom of the deck - concrete delamination, etc. Some deck is almost all gone.

We've done some internet searches with little luck. The original engineer (whom I knew) is now deceased and his daughter told me that all his books and reference works are gone as far as they know.

So now there's two of us looking for help - c'mon Eng-Tippers, don't let us down! :cool:

 
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I couldn't find any sort of catalog on the net. I couldn't find it in the library of congress as someone in the old thread below suggested. I did however find a thread about these decks on eng-tips.com. I found it through google. Apparently it had been deleted or removed from eng-tips.com, but by searching google caches, I was able to resurrect this old thread. I think the best way to find this catalog is to email the people below who claim to have it. I went into this thread and added NOSPAM in their emails (xxxNOSPAM@xxxx) to ensure they don't get any spam when i repost this.



Bootman (Structural) Mar 26, 2003
I'm evaluating a 1956 steel structure with a type of floor slab construction I'm not familiar with. Record drawings read "4 1/2 inch concrete on 24 ga. cofar with type "G" T wire." Negative reinforcement is called for at the beams but no positive reinforcement is indicated. Spans are typically 10 feet. Does anyone have any information on this system? Any comment are appreciated.


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wsiladi (Structural) Apr 22, 2003
I researched COFAR last year and found that this was an early propietary composite metal deck/concrete floor slab system (Composite Floor and Reinforcing). A google search will bring you to the now defunct Granite City Steel Company of Granite City, Illiniois as the producer of this product. A similar search will yield the National Steel Corp of Granite City Illinois as the new owner of the bankrupt company.
Believe it or not, there is one facility engineer at National Steel Corp who has a complete catalog of Cofar slabs and ratings. A web resource that claims to have either a copy of the catalog is: I haven't been able to open this web site.

It would be helpful for anyone who has a copy of this to publish this on some list server and let us all know where this is.

One caveat: apparently the COFAR slabs were designed to their limit. There reportedly are serious problems with section loss based on some people that I have spoken with in humid environments....

Mattman (Structural) May 13, 2003
I just read your post.

If you still need it, I have a January 1974 Granco catalog with Cofar design tables.

windowpane (Structural) Jul 21, 2003
Gentlemen,

I have been trying to re-certify a steel girder bridge with a concrete composite slab deck. This bridge provides access to a super-fund site and has been unused for almost 30 years. All the calculations are lost, but I'm sure it was designed for HS20-44 loading. The slab is 7 inches thick on 24 gage "Cofar" composite deck with "K-T" wire. There is no negative reinforcing. The bridge is in good condition, but without some way to check the deck slab, we are really out of luck.

I called Granite City Steel, but have absolutly no knowledge of the product. A web search led me to this thread. So I joined. I will be very grateful if someone could help me find design data for Cofar deck. I saw that Mattman actually has a Granco Catalog with tables.....

This is my contact info: jgbrooksNOSPAM@sunocoinc.com
office (215)-339-7785 ........ fax (215)-339-7216
James Brooks, P.E. (windowpane)

Cheers and thanks.

riverhaven (Structural) Jul 28, 2003
Did you ever find a link to COFAR formwork load tables. I also have a similar situation and need some load tables. Can you help?

SteveBausch (Computer) Jul 29, 2003
Somebody could search the Library of Congress; wouldn't be surprised if a copy survives there.

windowpane (Structural) Jul 29, 2003
I have a fax copy of a 1974 catalog from Mattman and I subsequently found a 1960 cofar slab catalog and a 1967 cofar composite beam manual deep in the nasty refinery catacombs. Our fax machine is slow but I'll fax you the pages you need. Cheers....... e-mail me

goosehunter (Structural) Jan 21, 2004
I'm looking for design information on the cofar deck systems, which I gather from above are no longer being manufactured. I am doing engineering on a structure with such systems - and we need to be able to know what kinds of demands we can put on the systems during demolition, etc. It appears that some of you in this thread have some of the old information. Help?!!! (Mattman?, others?). Por favor. Gracias!!! (I'm new at this forum/thread stuff - so here's my email also: jrfNOSPAM@turbonet.com ... Thanks!
 
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I finally found someone who had a pdf copy of the catalog. I cannot upload the catalog to the Eng-Tips website, so anyone who is interested may e-mail me at:

dstierwalt@reidmiddak.com

be aware - the file is 3.8MB.
 
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SlideRuleEra - the word 'cofar' needs to be in the title of the FAQ. This is the name by which most people know the product, and the way it is labeled on old drawings.
 
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May I say that this is the best forum experience I have had - this is how these forums are supposed to work - streamlining information transfer and adding to the collective knowledge. Thank you everyone for your input, time and effort!
 
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