Real Wind in the Real World

Our engineers and designers do a lot of work to make sure our buildings stand up to the elements—wind, snow and seismic activity. We often mark our buildings with wind ratings, saying they will stand up to wind speeds of X miles per hour. Sometimes Mother Nature likes to check our math.

Last week a big storm hit Iowa and Illinois and other midwestern states with a derecho. Some reports referred to it as an inland hurricane, with 75 mph winds and about 15 tornadoes. A derecho is different from other storms because it involves straight line winds—sometimes gusting to 100 mph—over an area 250 miles long. Many trees were toppled and structures were damaged in last week’s weather.

We are glad to report that two of our agricultural storage buildings in Illinois were in the thick of it, and they survived the storms with no damage. A photo of one of our buildings after the storm is below.

Legacy makes some very large tension fabric structures, so we pay a lot of attention to local wind conditions. We achieved Florida Product Approval a few years ago, meaning our buildings have passed rigorous testing standards set by the state of Florida. Legacy buildings are approved for use in High Velocity Hurricane Zones (HVHZ).

Our fabric is tough, but it’s the combination of our solid steel rigid I-beams, our tough fabric and our patented fabric attachment system that makes our structures so resilient. The steel provides all the structural support in our buildings, while the fabric keeps the wind and weather out.

We recently installed a structure at a military base in Guam that was rated to withstand winds up to 195 mph.

If you are considering a tension fabric structure, please contact us. Our consultants can explain our wind ratings, our snow load ratings and our seismic code compliance. You can rest assured that our buildings can pass Mother Nature’s toughest tests.