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TestimonialsChristine and Steve Seat of Houston TX. where in the worst possible position with their partially built Worldwide Steel Building when Hurricane Ike showed up. A building that only has its framing complete is very volatile to wind until it is sheeted. Read below for the outcome. “We are happy to advise that the Hurricane Ike pounded our partially built arena with 80-85 mph winds from the East, North and Westerly directions for several hours and it stood strong. The only damage was the bending of 15 purlin’s out of the 480 installed. My wife and I purchased the building from Worldwide Steel Buildings on May 30th and it was delivered on schedule in early August. The structural designers at WWSB designed the arena for the code required 105 mph winds. We are erecting the arena ourselves and had just finished installing the purlin’s when Ike was forecast to hit the Houston area. We completed the installation of the roof wind bracing one day before the hurricane arrived.
In addition to the purlins, I was concerned about the integrity of the main structure since the wind load on purlins would act on both sides of the arena roof, almost doubling the load that a completed arena would experience with wind load on one side of the roof sheet metal. Needless to say, the main structure survived the storm without damage.
I would like to commend everyone at Worldwide Steel Buildings for not only delivering a building that can be self erected, but also for providing a product that is proven to withstand hurricane force winds.” Christine & Steve Seat
Toll Free: 1-800-825-0316 | Local: 816-779-6441 | Fax: 816-779-7361 |
Without the roof sheet metal installed I was concerned about the purlins and as a last ditch effort installed ½” rope down the center of each bay over and under alternating purlins. By cinching the ropes tight, I was hoping that the rope would act to dampen the vortex vibrations in the 15’ long purlins. We completed 10 of the 12 bays before the winds got too high to safely stay up in the man lift. The damaged members were in the 2 bays that we did not have time to complete. 
The westerly edge of the Hurricane Ike’s eye wall passed about 5 miles to the east of us. Prior to the hurricane passing, we had winds from the East, broadside on the arena. The winds shifted to the North as the hurricane passed us, and then came from the West for a few more hours. The structure was definitely subjected to a full load test.