Steel Building Design Resists Flood

News about the flood-tested endurance of a 2013 structure in the Chicago area is music to the ears of everyone who has witnessed any of the super storms that keep hitting our shores.

When water came rushing over the Addison Creek’s banks in April due to record-breaking rain, residents and business owners evacuated or took protective measures.

The owners of a nightclub and cabaret in Stone Park constructed earlier this year began calling Jim Ohle, the architect of the 18,000-square-foot, start-of-the-art technology and electronics design, who has decades of experience designing structures capable to resist earthquakes on the West Coast or hurricanes in Florida.

“Hour-by-hour they would call to ask what to do about different problems,” Ohle said, but the building held itself while other buildings in the area suffered considerable damages. The building resisted wind-driven rain and the additional pressure of rising water.

To bring his design to life Ohle worked with Allied Steel Buildings to ensure the engineering plan included flood protection from the nearby river and weather-tight roofing and wall systems.

Allied also used “a sealed enclosure at the base to keep water out,” said Darren Sperling, director of major accounts at Allied Steel Buildings, which protected the club while “three-and-a-half feet of water flooded other buildings.”