Ensuring its strength and durability against elements like wind, rain, snow, hail, and heat is crucial when building a structure. This raises the question: What is stronger, steel buildings or wood buildings? A structural engineer might say that any material can be made strong enough for its purpose, but this doesn’t fully address the concern of wanting the best. The straightforward answer is that steel is much stronger than wood per unit area. So, yes, steel buildings are stronger than wood-framed buildings.
Less is more
To expand on that, a small amount of steel can do the same job as a large amount of wood, highlighting the superior strength of steel. Steel buildings utilize regular beams, columns, and girts to distribute and resist loads, often resulting in greater excess capacity compared to wood buildings.
This translates into several benefits for those choosing metal over wood construction. Notably, steel buildings typically offer more structural strength per dollar. While it’s often thought that steel’s extra strength comes with a higher cost, the efficiency of steel means you need less of it to achieve the same structural integrity as wood, potentially balancing the cost.
Steel buildings are also better suited for supporting the heavy loads associated with industrial equipment and fittings, making steel the preferred material for industrial and commercial buildings. These structures must withstand heavy equipment, extensive furniture, and large numbers of occupants, materials, or goods. Steel provides the necessary strength and reliability for these demanding environments.
Great Designs In Mind
A steel building can also be designed to achieve much greater heights than a wood building. Imagine a major American city without steel: there would be no skyscrapers, office towers, large airports, stadiums, or convention centers. Large shopping malls wouldn’t exist. Steel is what makes these enormous structures possible. Without it, iconic buildings like the Empire State Building would remain mere designs, as constructing such tall buildings from wood would be impractical.
Steel also allows for longer spans than wood, enabling the creation of expansive open spaces without the need for supporting walls or columns. This is crucial for business needs, such as large warehouses or expansive meeting areas in corporate headquarters. Without steel’s strength, businesses would have to fundamentally rethink their facilities and space usage. The large, wide, and high spaces we take for granted today would simply not be possible without steel.
Safety First
Steel is non-flammable, whereas wood is, which increases the safety of steel structures. Historical fires, like those that devastated Chicago in the 19th century, tore through San Francisco after the 1906 earthquake, or the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire in New York City, highlight the dangers of wood construction and led to significant building code reforms. Even today, fires remain a problem in some developing countries where wood construction is more common than steel.
Overall
In short, steel is more structurally efficient than wood. When you’re ready to harness the strength and durability of steel for your project, trust the team at Steel Struct Pro. Contact us today to discuss your steel construction needs.