3D structural steel detailing system StruCad was used to detail large portions of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the winner of the prestigious SAISC Steel Award for 2004.

The large column free exhibition space, meetings rooms and auditoria, lent themselves to an innovative structural steel design which included the double layered segmental cone shape auditorium roof. Not only was steel used for the main structural members, but facades, trellises for plants, planter boxes and even some of the ornaments and spectacular murals are all fashioned out of steel.

"Doing the project on StruCad was a guarantee that the steelwork would be erected on time and without any errors," says Michael Papanicolaou of Union Structural Engineering Works. This view was echoed by Dave Scott from Scott Steel who was responsible for the auditorium roof.

StruCad 3D Modelling, which includes a link to the CNC drilling and punching systems in the workshop, ensures that not only are there checks during the actual detailing of the project, but the drawings and data used to manufacture and erect the steelwork are 100% accurate.

Not only can StruCad claim its role in the winning project, but it was also used to detail Impala Platinum's 12 North Shaft Headgear, the winner of the Mining Engineering Category.

Designed by Read Swatman and Voigt, and detailed by PCSA Structural Steel Detailers, this was no conventional headgear. The very slender headgear is aesthetically pleasing and was achieved by utilising continuously welded box girders, capable of carrying the high axial, bending and torsional loads. The final fabrication and construction details were developed in close collaboration with the steelwork fabricator to ensure that the design, fabrication and erection of the structure were closely aligned. Shop detailing undertaken by the fabricator used StruCad to good effect. The project was fast tracked from the outset and allowed an early start to the mining operations.

Says Rodney Voigt, chief engineer of RSV, and design consultant on this project, "Our procurement specifications call for all projects to be detailed in StruCad or similar. The fast track nature of our work is such that we cannot afford to find errors on site! By supplying detailers complex centre-line design models electronically, they pick up clashes, tolerance errors, etc, when detailing in such a system, and we can rectify the errors during the detailing phase, rather than later, which was not the case when detailing was done by hand."

Over the years, StruCad has contributed significantly to increase the overall productivity of the southern African steel fabrication industry. From Cape Town to Qatar, multistorey, mining and industrial structures, process plants and sports stadia have been successfully detailed. With the release of Version 10.2 and the introduction of StruM.I.S, the Fabrication Management Information System, productivity can only continue to improve!

StruCad offers a seamless workflow from drawing to shop detailing, all the way through to CNC programming. Easy to use parametric modelling allows connections, stairs, user defined and many other details to be detailed effortlessly. The output includes fully detailed general arrangements rarely requiring any editing, fabrication shop drawings, material and bolt lists, and erection drawings.

Using a common model, designers, detailers and fabricators can collaborate, improving accuracy and eliminating fabrication shop and erection errors. In addition, the client or any third party may view the model and architects and designers may check and redline the model using freeware. The demand for this module is on the increase as the number and extent of steel projects is on the increase in South Africa.

AceCad's Cape Town office, which commenced operation 18 months ago, has become increasingly busy as a result of the growing demand for streamlined processes for structural steel detailing. In response, AceCad has opened an office in Johannesburg.

Opening the Johannesburg operation is also a further step in AceCad's global growth strategy and a recognition of the priority and importance AceCad attaches to the South African market. AceCad has operations in Europe, North America, Asia and Australia and a worldwide network of distributors and representatives serving over 70 countries.

For more information contact Raymond McCaig, 021 683 0107 or Donavan Betleni, 011 678 1815, AceCad, acecad@worldonline.co.za