Ground Snow Load Website Developed By ATC, MBMA And AISI

Redwood City, CA - The Applied Technology Council (ATC), with the assistance from the Metal Building Manufacturers Association (MBMA) and the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI), has developed a website, which provides a way for users to easily obtain an ASCE 7 site-specific ground snow load based on GPS coordinates (latitude and longitude) or a street address.

This website overcomes the challenges in using the snow load map printed in ASCE 7, Minimum Design Loads for Buildings and Other Structures. These challenges include insufficient spatial resolution of the map to determine some site-specific ground snow loads and the lack of reference cities or towns on the map.

On this website, users can obtain values from the ground snow load map printed in ASCE 7-95 through ASCE 7-10 (1995, 1998, 2002, 2005, and 2010). Ground snow load is used with the equations provided in ASCE 7 to determine design snow loads for buildings and other structures.

The ground snow load site is now available for use free of charge at snowload.atcouncil.org. The site is a companion to ATC’s Windspeed by Location website where users can obtain ASCE 7 site-specific wind speeds from ASCE 7-93 through ASCE 7-10.

About The Applied Technology Council

The Applied Technology Council (ATC) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt corporation established in 1973 through the efforts of the Structural Engineers Association of California. ATC's mission is to develop and promote state-of-the-art, user-friendly engineering resources and applications for use in mitigating the effects of natural and other hazards on the built environment. ATC also identifies and encourages needed research and develops consensus opinions on structural engineering issues in a nonproprietary format. The ATC website and online bookstore is located at www.ATCouncil.org. For more information about the ATC Ground Snow Load website, visit http://snowload.atcouncil.org.

About The American Iron And Steel Institute

The American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) serves as the voice of the North American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI also plays a lead role in the development and application of new steels and steelmaking technology. AISI is comprised of 19 member companies, including integrated and electric furnace steelmakers, and approximately 125 associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. For more information, visit www.steel.org.

About The Metal Building Manufacturers Association

Founded in 1956, MBMA serves manufacturers and suppliers as it works to promote the metal building systems industry. Its membership supplies high-quality buildings for use in commercial, retail, office, industrial, institutional and other end-uses. The association provides a wealth of information on its website for anyone who works with or is interested in metal building systems. It includes technical materials and design guides. For more information, visit www.mbma.com.