You use Sign-a-mateWEB as follows:
First, you access the login page on the Internet where you
enter your unique user name and password. The application confirms
that you are a valid user by checking the database of authorized users on our
web server. Upon successfully logging in, you are presented with
a project setup page where you can enter some identifying information about
the sign job being estimated.
From this page, you choose from a set of standard sign configurations.
After choosing the sign configuration, you select which elements you would
like to have estimates generated for. These can include the
structural support members (poles), spread type foundation, drilled caisson foundation
and vertical slab foundation.
After submitting your project setup information, you are presented with
a page where you can enter the sign's geometrical parameters. Based on
the parameters entered, Sign-a-mateWEB calculates the exact area(s) and centroid(s).
At
first, the page looks complex; however, after examining the page, you
find that many of the possible inputs have default values or are calculated by the
program if you do not have a special need to impose limits.
In addition to geometrical parameters, you enter the Basic Wind Speed and Exposure
Category. This allows Sign-a-mateWEB to accurately compute
the design wind pressure for a given location per the procedure given in ASCE 7-02[1]. If you do not know what the
Basic Wind Speed should be, you can click on a link that will take you
to a page containing a map of the United States showing wind speed contours. You can click on the location on the map where the sign is to
be installed and the program will automatically enter the correct wind speed.
In the hurricane prone regions of the country, the wind speed map is broken down
into three large, easier to read maps that actually display the county outlines.
Similarly, clicking on Exposure Category follows a link to a page containing definitions
for the three possible categories. You can read about the three options
and choose the most appropriate category for your installation.
In
addition to geometrical and wind speed parameters, you can provide some additional
inputs such as allowable soil pressure values, minimum foundation depth (possibly
because of frost line requirements), limitations on the types of structural members
to select from, and others. Standard default values are
provided for most of these additional parameters.
After all inputs are entered, you click a button. Results are computed
on the server and displayed at the bottom of the page. The program
lists all foundation dimensions and the resulting concrete volume, soil pressures
resulting from the design wind load, reinforcing steel and a list of feasible structural
members. The structural members are chosen from a database of members
that includes every steel pipe section and every square and rectangular steel tube
section in the A.I.S.C. Manual of Steel Construction[2],
and the list of pipe sections published by LaBarge Pipe & Steel Company[3].
The structural members are listed according to their weight, from lightest to heaviest. If
you request all feasible members (i.e., pipes, square tubes and rectangular
tubes with no limits on their cross section dimension or depth to width ratios
), a large number of feasible sections can result. You can pare down
the feasible section list somewhat by limiting the choices of types of sections
(e.g., only pipes and square tubes) or by limiting some of the section's geometrical
parameters. We have also provided the ability to customize
the list of sections that feasible members are selected from.
You can review the results, update any of the available inputs and have Sign-a-mateWEB
recompute the results as many times as necessary. When you are satisfied
with the results, you can click on a link that will display the results as
a PDF (Portable Document Format) document to allow printing
and saving to your computer (Click
for an Example).