LERA's Joe Yamin Publishes Article on Hudson Park and Boulevard's "Engineered Art"
Joseph Yamin, Associate recently published an article in Civil + Structural Engineer magazine about the unmissable steel light tower located in Hudson Park and Boulevard, designed by James Carpenter Design Associates. LERA provided the structural design of the tower, in addition to several other structures around the park, including the adjacent cafe, playgrounds, fountains, seating areas and underground mechanical vaults.
In his article, titled "Engineered Art: Fifty-Foot-Tall, Steel Light Column is a Beacon for the West Side of Manhattan," Joe describes the detailed fabrication and engineering that went into the design and construction of the 50-ft tall, free-standing steel structure, composed of 52, 1/8" thick vertical plates equally spaced along its circumference. In order to combat potential harmonic resonance due to vortex shedding, which would create large deflections and stresses, the geometry of the structure was optimized to achieve a global natural frequency such that the equivalent static pressure from vortex shedding approximately equaled that which was induced by the standard code-prescribed 3-second wind gust. LERA's innovative solutions helped to meet these goals without compromising the desired architectural aesthetics.
