Wynright’s Mega Mezzanine earns design award from Steel Joist Institute

ELK GROVE, Ill. – Wynright Corporation, the nation’s leading independent, U.S.-based provider of intelligent material handling systems, has received the Steel Joist Institute’s 2011 Design Award. The much-coveted award was presented to Wynright Structural Solutions for the design, manufacture and installation of a 135,000-square-foot mezzanine erected in SKECHERS USA’s 1.8-million-square-foot warehouse in Moreno Valley, Calif.

The award-winning mezzanine is an integral part of a complex material handling system designed and installed for SKECHERS USA. Being located in a high seismic risk area, the structure needed to meet the stringent requirements of Seismic Design Category E. To assure the structural performance of the mezzanine, Wynright Structural Solutions designed a moment frame system utilizing joists and joist girders to resist the type of horizontal forces that could be produced in a high seismic risk area such as Moreno Valley, Calif.

"Joists are typically employed as simple span members and therefore only contribute to a structure’s seismic load resisting system (SLRS) as part of a roof or floor," explained Ted Zurkowski, President of Wynright Structural Solutions. "In this project the joist girders and tie joists were designed as critical, primary members within the SLRS, effectively treating each mezzanine column as its own mini-SLRS." Applying this unique strategy allowed the seismic forces to be widely distributed throughout the mezzanine, creating a far more flexible and redundant structural system as a whole. This design also resulted in smaller foundation loads and a simpler, more economical footing design.

"Judging for the project was based on flexibility, speed of construction, value, and aesthetic considerations," stated J. Kenneth Charles III, managing director of the Steel Joist Institute. Valley-Joist West, the steel joist manufacturer for the project, was also recognized. The Steel Joist Institute’s award is accompanied by a scholarship which will be presented to the University of Illinois’ engineering department in Wynright’s name.