Bracelok enews - March 2021

We have good news for K-12 schools, Community Colleges and other DSA facilities. DSA now allows GRIDLOK® suspended ceiling bracing to be substituted for the IR-25.13 approach. GRIDLOK® and BRACELOK®, our wall bracing solution, both have OSHPD OPM’s and it is that standard that has been adopted for all DSA projects.

GRIDLOK® works with all Armstrong®, CertainTeed®, and USG® heavy duty ceilings. GRIDLOK® is more resilient, lowers cost and requires fewer braces per square ft in higher seismic areas and reduces the embedment of deck anchors. Overall reduced cost with greater resilience.

Architects, engineers, GC’s, and ceiling contractors can easily take advantage of GRIDLOK® ceiling bracing or BRACELOK® partition wall bracing using the OSHPD OPM details:

GRIDLOK® OPM

BRACELOK® OPM

Project focus - Kaiser Permanente and GRIDLOK®

Project: Kaiser Permanente, Ontario, California
Engineer: Saiful Bouquet Structural Engineers
Architect: HMC Architects
Installation: Sound Control

Saiful Bouquet, Structural Engineers specified GRIDLOK® for a project ay Kaiser Permanente in Ontario, California. The successful bidder to implement the ceiling project was Sound Control.

Kevin Hoppe, the firms CEO says “this was our first project using GRIDLOK® and we are totally sold on this solution. It installs quickly, our team loved working with it, and we are helping the other AEC trades by being so flexible. It’s an all-round success- the ability to place it anywhere along the main grid and its 360 degree rotational capability is a winning combination. We are looking forward to installing GRIDLOK® at other OSHPD and DSA projects.” The architects are HMC.

GRIDLOK® bracing to walls approval

Bracing in hospital corridors is often challenging. GRIDLOK® is now certified for bracing all types of wall types. We worked with our partners to define what was needed and now OSHPD have approved this capability.

New addition to BRACELOK® range - COMING SOON!

Our work with demountable wall manufacturers has resulted in an innovation in the BRACELOK® range of wall bracing solutions. Featuring a new narrower base plate designed specifically for demountable partitions, it will complement our existing BRACELOK® RETRO, while providing the opportunity to connect to narrower top plate using either screws or bolts.

Expected bulk delivery in April, with the ability to order immediately on our online store.

Ceiling Seismic Bracing Innovation at Sound Transit

Sound Transit is the provider of light rail, commuter rail and bus service in the Central Puget Sound area. As Sound Transit expands the network of service, accompanying supporting infrastructure is required.

The Sound Transit Operations and Maintenance Facility East Buildings are a new light rail operations and maintenance facility that accommodates the inspection, service, maintenance, storage, and deployment of 96 light rail vehicles on the east side of Lake Washington. This 165,000 square foot facility includes 30,000 square feet of suspended acoustical ceilings.

The need to install the suspended acoustical ceilings in compliance with the current seismic bracing code requirements led Acoustical Design Inc. to use the GRIDLOK seismic bracing solution that has an ICC-ESR Evaluation Report for the installation of seismic bracing pods. The ICC-ESR Evaluation Report provides an easy method to provide “deferred submittal” information to gain approval of the seismic restraint system of the suspended acoustical ceilings.

Kip Cramer of Acoustical Design Inc., the acoustical ceiling installation contractor on this project, choose the GRIDLOK seismic bracing system for the ease of approval using the ICC-ESR report, and to take advantage of using 2 rigid diagonal struts in lieu of the traditional 4 wire diagonal brace. These diagonal struts allowed for easier installation in the congested plenum of the project.

GRIDLOK was developed in highly seismic active New Zealand and is now installed in almost every new building in New Zealand. The GRIDLOK system has been rigorously tested in New Zealand and in the United States and has ICC-ESR certification and California OSHPD OPM (preapproval) certification for use in Hospitals.

The Cities of Seattle and Bellevue have reviewed the GRIDLOK system and the ICC-ESR reports.

Bryce Hodgson, President of Plenum Inc, GRIDLOK and BRACELOK’s North American distributor, said “The installation of the product at Sound Transit is a good example of a contractor led initiative in bringing these solutions into the Pacific Northwest.

We have had significant adoption in many States since we entered the US market, just as COVID was impacting the industry, after having previously firmly established the product in New Zealand and Australia.

We regard Kip Kramer and his team at Acoustical Design as exactly the right type of partner to bring innovative solutions into this market. They have been in business for many years, have a sterling reputation, and stay at the forefront of innovation by recognizing that their competitors have often been slow to change their practices” said Hodgson.

In many cases improvements in seismic practice only come about because of a major earthquake, which is how the BRACELOK partition wall solution, and the GRIDLOK suspended ceiling solutions came into existence.

After the 2011 Christchurch, New Zealand earthquake, where 185 lives were lost, there was a recognition that traditional wire and post installations were inadequate for bracing ceilings in high seismic zones. Now any heavy-duty grid from Armstrong, CertainTeed or USG can now be used with GRIDLOK knowing that they have both ICC-ESR and OSHPD OPM pre-approvals.

The General Contractor for Sound Transit was Hensel Phelps, a National Construction Company with its Headquarters in Colorado. The full contract for this project had an award amount of approximately $219 million. 

The Sound Transit network has plans to expand their light rail system which will more than double in size and the light rail fleet will more than triple from 62 to 214 vehicles. 

Project: Sound Transit Operations and Maintenance Facility East

Location: Bellevue Washington

General Contractor: Hensel Phelps

Specialty Contractor: Acoustical Design Inc

Product: GRIDLOK Ceiling Bracing

Manufacturer: www.bracelok.com

Successful launch of BRACELOK® at the Healthcare Delivery Conference

This was the first year BRACELOK® have attended this event, and it far exceeded our expectations. With 450 enrolments there was a very high level of interest in our bracing solutions for part high walls (BRACELOK®) and suspended ceilings (GRIDLOK®).

 “Ever since we launched in the U.S., we have invested heavily in obtaining both ICC, LARR, and OSHPD certifications always believing that the Healthcare market would eagerly accept these solutions” said Scott Simpson, Chief Technical Director.

“Within days of the conference we had made significant presentations to groups who saw the benefit to the Healthcare construction market, and we connected with many more who want us to present over the next few weeks” said Simpson.

Bracelok’s proven solutions BRACELOK® and GRIDLOK® originated in seismic New Zealand, following the devastating Christchurch earthquake of 2011 where 185 people lost their lives.  BRACELOK® has subsequently spent significant amounts to ensure that the world’s most rigorous standards for bracing, as established by OSHPD and ICC have been exceeded, with our patented solutions.

People in the industry respect the fact that BRACELOK® came into the U.S. market on the basis that we would first obtain the certifications and then go to market with these solutions, rather than promise that we would obtain these certifications. Now we are calling on Architects, Structural Engineers, General Contractors and Specialty installers, with a fast-growing list of users.   

With an ability to order online, and a fulfilment center in Los Angeles, customers who order before noon, get the product shipped to them the same day, with a range of delivery options. We have reduced the friction in getting these solutions by enabling delivery direct to the work site, or to any other location.

With the Healthcare Delivery Conference success, we are now looking forward to the next healthcare event -ASHE PDC Summit 2020 in San Antonio March 23-24 – where we expect more than 1700 attendees, and where we will be at Booth 735. 

If you have any questions you can reach our team on 619 917 1688.

CertainTeed® releases new Seismic Technical Guide

CertainTeed® releases new Seismic Technical Guide, including a section on wire limitations and GRIDLOK® Rigid Bracing benefits and effectiveness in conjunction with Certainteed® heavy duty grid.

To view cliclk here: https://www.certainteed.com/resources/CTC-Seismic-Suspension-Systems-Tech-Guide.pdf

BRACELOK Online Store Opens for Business

Seismic bracing for wall and ceiling systems has never been easier – with our ICC-ES and OPM certifications, fast access to BRACELOK™ and GRIDLOK® is now available. 

Simply visit our easy to use online store to place your order anytime.

Pay by credit card, local taxes calculated for you and order before noon for same day shipping.

Shipping from our Hawthorne, Los Angeles fulfilment center (near SpaceX) ensures efficient delivery to construction sites nationwide.

If you have any questions you can reach our team on 619 917 1688.

BRACELOK™ Builds Resilience in Federal Courthouse

Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse

The team at BRACELOK™ are proud to have been involved in the seismic upgrade of the Sandra Day O’Connor Courthouse in Phoenix, Arizona.

It was a pleasure to work with project architect Harley Ellis Devereaux, CBRE, Bering Strait Corporation’s Eagle Eye and the GSA Architect on this Federal building.

The pre-approval of BRACELOK™ through the OSHPD OPM accreditation service in California provided confidence to all parties in our pre-engineered, seismic wall bracing solutions for this project in Arizona.

We want to thank all of the project teams for their collaboration and coordination on this important piece of Federal infrastructure.

For more information on our certifications and drawing files please click here.

A swarm of 1,000 earthquakes hit Southern California — how nervous should we be?

The seismic storm that unleashed more than 1,000 small earthquakes in San Bernardino and Riverside counties these last three weeks elicited what has become a typical reaction in quake country.

To some, the “swarmageddon” 40 miles east of downtown Los Angeles brought fear that a bigger threat was coming. To others, as long as they didn’t feel a shake, it was easy to just put it out of their minds.

The California earthquake drought is an opportunity. Will we take it?

A collapsed apartment complex after the 1994 Northridge earthquake. (Rolando Otero / Los Angeles Times)

Research published this week confirmed that California has been in a century-long earthquake drought. Analysis of geologic records on the state’s main faults — the San Andreas, San Jacinto and Hayward — going back 1,000 years shows that the gaps between large quakes are, currently, longer than to be expected from random variation. Southern California has been particularly quiet for the last 25 years, with the rate of small and moderate earthquakes almost half of what it had been in the previous half a century.

This hiatus in major shaking means that we aren’t getting as much movement as plate tectonics require. So at some point we’ll start having more frequent earthquakes, and things will — over geologic time — average out again. (We won’t necessarily have a bigger earthquake, just a period in which they are more frequent.)

As the U.S. Geological Survey scientists point out, because we don’t know why we are in a drought, we don’t know when it will end.

But we do know that it will end. The Pacific plate is still on its very slow move carrying Los Angeles toward San Francisco. Just as the rains came this winter, some year the big earthquake will come.