Tilt up construction steel, from embeds to roof framing

Embeds set the schedule

On a tilt up building, a substantial amount of the steel work happens before anything is standing. Embed plates, inserts, weld plates, angles and connection hardware are cast into the panels, and once the concrete cures, their locations are permanent.

That makes coordination and timing critical. Embeds have to be fabricated, delivered and verified against the panel drawings before casting begins. A missed or misplaced embed becomes a drilled and epoxied retrofit at best, and a structural review at worst. We treat embed delivery as its own milestone with its own deadline rather than folding it into general fabrication.

Panel connections and erection support

Once panels are lifted and braced, the steel scope moves to connecting them to each other and to the structure. Panel to panel connections, ledger angles, drag connections, chord and collector elements and diaphragm attachments all transfer the loads that hold the building together in an earthquake.

This work is inspected closely, and it happens on a compressed schedule while panel bracing is still in place. Crews that have done it before move through it without holding up the rest of the job.

Interior steel

Inside the shell, tilt up buildings carry columns, girders, roof framing, joist support, mezzanines, equipment platforms, dock equipment framing, canopies and screen supports. On distribution and manufacturing projects the interior steel scope frequently exceeds what people expect from the outside.