Steel Construction Manual, 13th Edition (Book) 13th Edition

Item as described, except that it appeared to have never been used.

All happy and yay!

Wouldn't it be great if someone collected the section properties of all the standard steel shapes into a single handy reference?Oh wait.I'm more of a machine designer than a structures guy and to be honest I do find this book kind of clunky to use. But I certainly don't regret buying it. (Used, we don't have to comply with the codes it references.)

I was required to buy this book for a steel design course, and was annoyed at first with how expensive and bulky this book was, since I assumed we would only be using it for the tables. Once I knew how to use the book, though, I grew quite fond of it. Not only are the tables clearly marked, but the Manual and the commentary in the back were better than our textbook at explaining which equations to use and how to apply them. We now call this book our "Bible" because it has helped and guided us through our steel courses, lol. It was the best money I ever spent on a textbook, and I'm not even considering ever giving the "Bible" up.** EDIT 08/24/2013 **Since my last review, I've graduated college and started working. This is the only college "textbook" that has crossed international borders with me where I still use it for quick reference. And after 2 years of getting tossed around in a backpack, and then getting squashed in luggage, it's held up pretty well.

This book is extremely usefull in the selection and sizing of steel members for steel construction. It is very useful in calculating the deflection from uniform and non uniform loads on beams and determining the shear and and tensile stresses on bolting. Welding details are also well defined in this manual and it gives you a smorgasboard of pre-qualified welds that are very useful when selecting a design. No matter if you're an engineer, designer, or detailer involved in the design of steel structure, you will find this book a must have.

Keep in mind that there is a 14th edition now. However, this manual is still an excellent reference for practicing engineers. I got it some time ago. It contains both LRFD and ASD design guidelines; I use the ASD once and a while to check work from other engineers. However, the book is intended for LRFD mainly, and the charts are great.

Use it all the time

It is so good, no page was removed out or no scratches or marking in any pages only minor pencil mark to do underline on key point. But overall fantastic. I would recommend to buy this used item and save $$$.