Snow Loads: Guide to the Snow Load Provisions of ASCE 7-16 supplies detailed, authoritative explanations of the snow load provisions contained in Minimum Design Loads and Associated Criteria for Buildings and Other Structures, Standard ASCE/SEI 7-16. With clear, concise language, Michael O’Rourke illustrates the key concepts for applying the provisions to the design of new and existing structures that could collect falling or drifting snow.

Like its predecessors that accompanied earlier versions of ASCE 7, this new edition of Snow Loads discusses flat roof loads, sloped roof loads, partial loads, and all types of conventional drift loading. Driven by recent changes to the ASCE 7 snow load provisions, this guide describes:

• Application of new ground snow load tables for seven states: Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington;
  
• Latest research from Norway and Japan on the probability of snow sliding off roofs;
  
• Current thinking on how snow density changes over a winter season;
  
• Snow loads on air-supported structures;
  
• Updated provisions for nonbuilding structures, including open-frame equipment structures, pipes, and cable trays; and
  
• Calculation of snow loads on process piping, which is especially useful to the petrochemical industry.

This guide includes 35 worked examples of real-life design problems, as well as answers to 20 frequently asked questions, including a new one on snow capture by solid walls.

Snow Loads is an essential supplement to ASCE/SEI Standard 7 for all engineers, architects, construction professionals, and building officials who work on projects in regions subject to snow.