320 South Canal’s Post

Project of The Week: BMO Tower (320 South Canal) This week, we're highlighting the first ever structure in the United States to utilize structural steel sections with a yield strength of 80ksi. This was achieved using A913 which is a structural steel available in Gr50, Gr65, Gr70, and Gr80. In fact, Magnusson Klemencic Associates incorporated all four of these grades into the design, maximizing the efficiency of the steel structure. In traditional steels, strength is increased by adding alloys, which then negatively affect the weldability of the material. Since A913 steels achieves its strength through a quenching and self-tempering process, rather than using additional alloys, even the stronger grades such as A913 Gr80 are still very weldable. With this combination of strength and constructability, this grade has become quite popular in large steel structures since its introduction to ASTM in 2019. Project Team: Owner/Developer: Riverside Architect: Goettsch Partners Engineer: Magnusson Klemencic Associates Contractor: Clark Construction Group Fabricator: Zalk Josephs Fabricators LLC Photo Credit: Joseph Dardis, P.E.