Codes & standards
Snow Drift Loads at Roof Steps and Parapets
Wind piles snow against anything that sticks up from a roof. The drift can carry three or four times the uniform snow load, over a few metres.
Elena Marchetti··11 min
Tag
Snow Drift
4 posts tagged “Snow Drift”.
Fundamentals
Parking Garage Live Loads: Light Average, Heavy Details
Garages design for less than offices, honestly. Where the 1.9-2.5 kPa rate comes from, and why wheels, barriers, plow piles, and fire trucks govern anyway.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Fundamentals
Rooftop Mechanical Unit Loads: Weigh It Wet, Land It Right
RTUs, AHUs, and chillers load roofs as point loads at operating weight, with drift and wind riding along. Why the 1.5 kPa allowance describes no real member.
Elena Marchetti··10 min
Fundamentals
Solar Panel Roof Loads: Ballast, Uplift, and the Real Map
Panels add 0.1-0.25 kPa; ballast can add ten times that at a corner. How solar arrays load a roof through weight, wind, snow drift, and point loads at the feet.
Elena Marchetti··10 min