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By late 2017, construction industry leaders predicted that the Colorado Front Range economy would continue to boom throughout 2018. So it has.

It's nice to have options. New construction can incorporate a number of structural support elements, the basic three being steel, wood or concrete. 

Structural design is all about calculating loads. The engineering firm Nishkian offers a succinct description: "Loads are commonly understood as forces that cause stresses, deformations, or accelerations. 

The child's game of Tiddlywinks demonstrates the principles of eccentric loads. When certain property and design limitations result in offset centers of gravity between a column or wall and its footing pad, you need to engage a balancing act. 

Every pound counts in architectural design. The more materials used, the more expensive the building. However, too little material results in a weak edifice.

When pouring concrete, rapid set-up and drying can ruin your day. The warmer the day, the greater the danger of a quick set. 

Many of our customers are asking us, "Why is steel costing so much?" It's a fair question with no simple answer.

There exists two ways to pre-stress the concrete in your building project: pretension and post tension. Pretension happens at the precast facility, where the tendon assembly is placed into the concrete form and stressed at the factory to engineered specifications. 

You can erect nearly anything with steel: homes, shops, hangars, factories, warehouses, high rises, entertainment/sports arenas and shopping malls. The inherent compressive and tensile properties of steel lend more versatility to architectural design than any other conventional framing system.

Off all building materials, non have the range and versatility of steel. Like stone and concrete, it has tremendous compressive strength and can be formed into nearly any shape.