I’m working on a high-bay industrial building with a bridge crane sitting on laced columns. Strength-wise, relatively small sections work, however, AISC DG7 recommends limiting the inward movement of runways toward each other to 1/2”. This results in extremely heavy column sections, since ¼” of axial shortening is causing 2” of lateral movement!
I’m curious if others have encountered this issue, and any potential solutions. Perhaps setting the crane on a third column, tied back to the laced column with pin-connected beams. This would allow the crane column to shorten without deflecting laterally.
Another option is to increase the distance between the crane column and building column, thus creating a deeper section. But this also increases the eccentricity, so the benefit is not that great.
I’m curious if others have encountered this issue, and any potential solutions. Perhaps setting the crane on a third column, tied back to the laced column with pin-connected beams. This would allow the crane column to shorten without deflecting laterally.
Another option is to increase the distance between the crane column and building column, thus creating a deeper section. But this also increases the eccentricity, so the benefit is not that great.
