Structural and Civil Design for Data Centers

What you'll learn

• Plan data center sites with grading, cut-fill balance, heavy-haul and fire access roads, and stormwater management using the rational method and detention design
• Plan site utility corridors and size fire water mains, cooling water supply and storage, fuel containment, duct banks and diverse fiber routes
• Specify floor loads and design slabs on grade, foundations, equipment pads and vibration isolation for heavy and concentrated data center loads
• Interpret soil classification and tests, estimate consolidation settlement and its timing, plan earthworks and compaction control, and select ground improvement for problem soils
• Select structural systems and combine dead, live, collateral, rain and equipment loads, including rooftop equipment, ponding and overhead services
• Check steel beams, joists and girders for strength and deflection, and design roof diaphragms, lateral systems, expansion joints, hangers and fire protection
• Determine snow, wind, tornado and seismic loads under ASCE 7 and the IBC, including risk categories, drifts and anchorage of equipment and racks
• Design tilt-up, precast and multi-story concrete systems, check punching shear, and control cracking, durability and embodied carbon
• Plan prefabricated and modular construction, including transport, lifting, certification, interfaces and phased capacity blocks
• Design roofs, walls, air barriers and louvers for water, air, vapor and wind performance, and check assemblies for condensation
• Set resilience objectives and design for floods, extreme winds, wildfire, hostile vehicles and blast, using probability, standoff and redundancy
• Plan construction sequencing, quality assurance and concrete acceptance, estimate embodied carbon, and develop a civil and structural campus concept design