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Determining pier size for pole barn?

tinman

New member
Joined
Jun 25, 2006
Messages
1
Hi,First time poster.Im looking for info on determining how big my square piers should be.Im building a 24'x24' pole building .For my poles I will be using 6"x8" 1/2 wall steel tubing,12' high,on twelve foot centers.I will have 1/2" thick steel plate welded to the bottoms then anchored to my piers.My guestement is a square 2'x2' 2' pier.The 2' deep is because of frost line.There will also be a free wheeling bridge crane that will span the tops of my steel tube.Thanks.
 
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jarhead

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 9, 2006
Messages
704
Location
Colorado, near Morrison
The code in our county required a 6" thick x 18" dia pad at the bottom of the hole. The hole had to be 1/3 the length of the post.

I used sacrete and a mixer.
 

W-Cummins

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2006
Messages
1,639
Location
Iowa
tinman said:
Hi,First time poster.Im looking for info on determining how big my square piers should be.Im building a 24'x24' pole building .For my poles I will be using 6"x8" 1/2 wall steel tubing,12' high,on twelve foot centers.I will have 1/2" thick steel plate welded to the bottoms then anchored to my piers.My guestement is a square 2'x2' 2' pier.The 2' deep is because of frost line.There will also be a free wheeling bridge crane that will span the tops of my steel tube.Thanks.

Unless I'm missing some thing your not making a pole building at all. It looks like your making a steel framed building and mounting it to piers big diffrence. BTW why are you using such HUGE (thick) members for the frame's? Have you done any calculations on the loads on this structure? Total weight on them, wind uplift, snow load (you said frost so I assumed snow:), crane load, etc...

William...
 

krooser

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 3, 2005
Messages
2,377
Location
Waupaca, Wisconsin
I have to agree with Mr. Cummins....It sounds like you're re-inventing the wheel by using a non-standard material for construction.

Fill us in on your plans....
 

boiler7904

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Messages
3,414
Location
NW IN
To add to W-Cummins' list of loads, are there any seismic loads to consider? Tinman didn't list his location, so I don't know if that should be a concern or not.

1/2" wall tube sounds like overkill to me too unless he has the material sitting around ready to use. At work we will sometimes upsize a building column wall thickness if that material is a stock item that the contractor can get faster.
 
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rodrelic

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10
Location
Western New York State
I shoot for at least 40" depth for frost defense in NY. With a block building I used steel for headers, lentils and center beam. Whole lot of money 10 years ago, scarier now.
I use locust timbers on my projects now because they are free, can make any size I want.
 

Sundowner

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
356
Location
West Milford, NJ
you can build on any soil if you assume it can take 3000lb/square foot. lot of soils can take more, there are few, if any, that will take less.

redrelic, I'm planning a timber barm, we need to talk about where to find these free locust timbers ;)
 

rodrelic

Member
Joined
Mar 31, 2006
Messages
10
Location
Western New York State
Sundowner said:
you can build on any soil if you assume it can take 3000lb/square foot. lot of soils can take more, there are few, if any, that will take less.

redrelic, I'm planning a timber barm, we need to talk about where to find these free locust timbers ;)

Now that I killed off almost all the willow, Locust is the majority of trees in our little woods. Make 7" by 11" timbers for my wife's landscaping steps, she loves it. They grow fast if they are tended to.
I confess for my garage I did buy a 3500' scaled load of Hemlock for around a thousand bucks delivered. And raided my brother-in-laws woods for about the same amount of Spruce. But with Gas, diesel, saw blades, machinery maintence I have less than 2000 bucks in the wood part of the structure.
Our local Communist government is talking adopting state codes to stop this from continuing, and it will be home depot or nothing. Home improvement on this property will not continue. NY would be OK without government
http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=136072&img=P5150080.JPG
http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=120630&img=DSC03125.JPG
 

Sundowner

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 15, 2005
Messages
356
Location
West Milford, NJ
rodrelic said:
Now that I killed off almost all the willow, Locust is the majority of trees in our little woods. Make 7" by 11" timbers for my wife's landscaping steps, she loves it. They grow fast if they are tended to.
I confess for my garage I did buy a 3500' scaled load of Hemlock for around a thousand bucks delivered. And raided my brother-in-laws woods for about the same amount of Spruce. But with Gas, diesel, saw blades, machinery maintence I have less than 2000 bucks in the wood part of the structure.
Our local Communist government is talking adopting state codes to stop this from continuing, and it will be home depot or nothing. Home improvement on this property will not continue. NY would be OK without government
http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=136072&img=P5150080.JPG
http://www.directimagehost.com/is.php?i=120630&img=DSC03125.JPG

that 's a sweet garage.

that's what I hate about government: it nothing to do with whether it's "wrong" pr "right" it all has to do with if it's taxable or not.
 

boiler7904

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 4, 2006
Messages
3,414
Location
NW IN
Sundowner said:
you can build on any soil if you assume it can take 3000lb/square foot. lot of soils can take more, there are few, if any, that will take less.

Assuming that soil has a bearing capacity of 3,000 psf is a good way to get into a lot of trouble in very little time. 3,000 is considered the average starting point that engineers use to design a foundation. Most will state this somewhere on their drawings and that there should be soil borings taken if there is evidence of bad soils on site.

Common soil bearing capacities that I found in a book on my desk:

Bedrock: 12000 psf +
Rock: 4,000 psf
Gravel: 3,000 psf
Sand and Sandy Clays: 2,000 psf
Silt and Silty Clays: 1,500 psf max.
Organics: 1,000 psf max.

All of these numbers are relative to the local area and need to be checked before designing a foundation system. For instance, most clay soils in my area will support at least 32-3400 psf or more. However, if happen to have a vein of organic topsoil buried a few feet below the surface, the bearing capacity drops to less than 2,000. Don't ask how I know. It's from personal experience.
 
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