American Buildings Long Span III roof profile

Long Span III is American Buildings Company's formed metal panel for roof and wall applications. This record identifies its 24-gauge steel roof-panel section in manufacturer drawing MD-L3P24, revision 4, dated December 6, 2024. The drawing is included in Miami-Dade approval 24-0516.15, issued December 26, 2024 and scheduled to expire May 22, 2029. The dated drawing is the dimensional identity to state on a replacement inquiry. It separates a measurable Long Span III roof sheet from the many generic R-panel descriptions that share a nominal 36-inch cover and 12-inch rib spacing. The manufacturer photograph on this page shows the named Long Span III roof at its Let's Play Soccer project in Utah. Its visible Galvalume ribs help identify the appearance, while the drawing provides the actual dimensions for quoting.

Long Span III has a documented earlier name. American Buildings' 2020 MD-L3P24 approval called the same numbered section Classic Roof Panel. The 2021 revision retained MD-L3P24, changed the title to Long Span III and explicitly recorded 'Revised Panel Name' in its revision table. The 2024 renewal kept that Long Span III identity and the principal section dimensions. A building record or an old invoice may therefore say Classic while the current filed drawing says Long Span III. Provide both names when searching archives or asking American Buildings about the original installation. The older name is an alias in this measured lineage, not a reason to order a second, unverified profile.

The 2024 manufacturer cross-section gives 36.0000 inches of installed coverage and places the main ribs at 12.0000-inch centers. Six-inch half-module callouts locate the repeated pattern. The principal metal rib rises 1.2720 inches from the pan in the engineering drawing. Its illustrated crest is 1.0095 inches and its base is 3.2813 inches. The principal web is marked 47.43 degrees. Between the tall ribs are shallow reinforcing ribs; the drawing marks a 0.1830-inch low-rib rise and a 29.53-degree web. Count the high ribs and the low features together when surveying an existing roof. Two sheets can share cover and main pitch yet differ at the shallow bead or side-lap edge, preventing clean nesting.

The shallow bead immediately to the right of the illustrated central high rib has a 1.3353-inch toe-to-toe dimension. A separate shallow bead at the left of the section is dimensioned with 0.7069-inch halves, so the right-hand value should not be used as a universal width for every low rib. At the right terminal, the drawing labels a 0.7865-inch crest and also prints 0.7934 and 0.4426 callouts on the rising and returned outer edge. Those two terminal figures should travel with the full drawing rather than be detached as guessed bend lengths. The sheet's general notes allow plus or minus 1/32 inch on unspecified dimensions and plus or minus two degrees on unspecified angles. Its 42.75-inch coil width is steel feed stock, not the 36-inch installed cover or a finished GRP blank.

American Buildings' older Long Span III panel specification describes nominal one-and-one-quarter-inch ribs on 12-inch centers, with 36-inch coverage and a half-on-twelve minimum roof slope. Its partial profile sketch, printed as revision 8/15, uses a 50-degree-plus-or-minus main-web description and a 26.5-degree low-web callout. The signed 2024 approval section instead prints 1.2720 inches, 47.43 degrees and 29.53 degrees. The older sheet is useful for identifying the product family and the way it was marketed, but those simplified older angle labels should not be blended into a replacement section identified as MD-L3P24 revision 4. The original one-page ordering sheet here keys its dimensions to the 2024 engineering drawing and links to that full official file.

The 2020 Classic drawing and 2021 Long Span III drawing show the same principal 36-inch cover, 12-inch pitch, 1.2720-inch main rise, 0.1830-inch low rise and two printed web angles. Revision 3 records the name change; revision 4 records a renewal. These documents are available together in the file section so a supplier can examine the panel history and the dated section that applies to the proposed order. Matching the numerical section does not establish that every older installed panel has retained factory edges or that unrelated manufacturers' R-panels use the same forming tools. A physical sample from the building resolves the condition of the specific roof being repaired.

Long Span III uses a high-rib side lap with a purlin-bearing leg beneath the joined rib. The 2024 approval set includes a side-lap detail showing the overlapping roof sheets, stitch fastener position, tape mastic and roof-support fastening pattern. The 36-inch measure is effective coverage after sheets are joined, not the dimension across a loose sheet including its free tail. The cross-section explicitly notes that one end varies to allow for blank-width tolerance while the opposite end is held constant. These end notes are central to a replacement order: identify the over-lap edge and the under-lap bearing leg on an intact sheet, then keep that edge orientation marked on every photograph and measured sketch.

A roof survey should record the weather-facing side, direction in which the panel runs from eave to ridge, and the direction in which successive sheets were installed. Photograph both free side edges at a square-on angle with a ruler in the same plane. Record whether an edge has been cut at a rake, opening or repair. A small offcut from a field-trimmed edge may not preserve the original return or bearing leg. For a mixed old-and-new roof, ask the fabricator to form a short trial piece, join it to a sound existing sheet, and check the crest, shallow beads, contact faces and overlap width before pricing a production run. The full signed drawing remains the controlling section reference.

The 2024 approval drawing describes 24-gauge steel with at least 0.023-inch base-metal thickness and a minimum 98.7-ksi yield strength. It gives a half-on-twelve minimum allowable roof slope and a five-foot maximum approved panel span for the detailed steel assembly. Its companion sheets show where the panel is attached to supports, the side-lap stitch pattern and closure details around the roof. Those values belong to the approved construction described in the notice. A replacement request should therefore include more than a section outline: supply the support spacing, roof slope, whether the existing sheet spans one or several supports, the locations of end laps, and any local details that affect sheet length.

The manufacturer-hosted Long Span III specification from 2015 also lists 29-, 26-, 24- and 22-gauge materials for the broader panel line. That range does not turn the 2024 24-gauge Miami-Dade section into an approval for another gauge. State the actual existing metal thickness if it can be measured, and request a quoted gauge and coating for the new material. If the work includes a translucent insert, treat its laminate thickness, support spacing, fixing and load information as a separate material specification. The drawing's steel pressure table and coil-feed width do not describe the performance or tooling of a fiberglass replacement.

Start a metal quotation with the 2024 MD-L3P24 revision-4 PDF and the one-page profile sheet in this file section. State American Buildings Long Span III and its Classic Roof Panel archival name, 36-inch installed cover, 12-inch major pitch, 1.2720-inch drawing rise, 47.43-degree main web, 0.1830-inch shallow-rib rise and 29.53-degree low web. Point the shop to the complete section for the illustrated terminal dimensions and the bearing-leg side lap. Add each required finished sheet length, quantity, location of any end lap, preferred steel gauge and finish, roof slope and the existing support spacing. A full-width, undamaged field sample and clear images of both original edges give the supplier a way to compare its proposed tooling with the panel already on the building.

Ask each metal shop to identify the actual formed section it proposes to make, including installed coverage after nesting, available gauge, coating, maximum continuous length and side-lap hand. The quote should state whether it would use an existing roll set, obtain factory supply, or price a special roll-forming run. The next step is a short trial sheet fitted to the existing roof, especially when only one or two panels are being replaced within a larger run. If the roof needs a measured takeoff or a repair sequence, the built-up metal roof installation service can help document sheet lengths, support conditions, edge details and where the new panel meets sound existing metal.

For a translucent GRP sheet, supply the same dated 2024 metal section and a full-width physical sample preserving both side edges. State which neighboring sheets are metal, whether the GRP piece must join one metal side or both, the required finished length and number of sheets, and the desired translucent color or light transmission. Ask the fiberglass fabricator to return its own cross-section or short sample for a direct lap fit check. The 36-inch steel cover, two web angles and photographed roof are starting geometry; the GRP producer must identify its own laminate and forming process and provide support and fixing information for the material it will actually supply.

American Buildings currently lists a translucent R-Panel roof product and hosts a Glasteel woven-fiberglass data sheet under the R-Panel name. Those materials make American Buildings a sensible first product inquiry, but they do not establish that the translucent R-Panel nests against MD-L3P24 revision 4. Ask the manufacturer to compare its current fiberglass section and both laps against the dated Long Span III drawing and a sound field sample. Dipcraft Manufacturing separately accepts corrugated-fiberglass shape inquiries using a measured section and available tooling, giving another GRP feasibility route. Keep the metal and fiberglass proposals separate so each supplier names the exact section, material, sample and manufacturing path it is offering.

For a fiberglass match, request a profile review from Dipcraft Manufacturing.

The same measured metal replacement request can be sent to five geographically different Texas roofing-sheet businesses. Metal Warehouse serves the Sherman area in North Texas, Xtreme Metals works near Flint and Tyler in East Texas, Quality Metals has forming facilities around San Antonio in Central Texas, Lucid Metal Works describes roofing-metal fabrication in Houston, and All Precision Metals lists formed R-panel roofing in El Paso. These are practical contacts for a tooling and feasibility conversation. Their public pages do not identify all five as owners of American Buildings MD-L3P24 rolls. Send each the same 2024 section PDF, the one-page summary, full-width existing sample and required quantities so proposed solutions can be compared on equal measurements.

Request a written statement of the proposed effective cover, main and minor rib dimensions, web angles, lap hand, gauge, finish, lead time and whether a trial length can be made. If a shop offers a standard R-panel, compare its formed section against the 2024 Long Span III drawing and physically join the sample at both sides. A brand label or similar one-and-one-quarter-inch rib does not answer whether the purlin-bearing leg and shallow features nest. A GRP enquiry follows the separate fiberglass route, using the same dated drawing but a different material and tooling review. The official and archived PDFs below let the buyer, the building owner and each fabricator work from the same historical profile identity.

• North Texas — Sherman: Metal Warehouse — formed roof-panel quotation and full-width sample comparison for Long Span III geometry
• East Texas — Flint/Tyler: Xtreme Metals — in-house sheet forming and a measured special-profile inquiry
• Central Texas — San Antonio: Quality Metals — regional roll-forming and replacement-sheet tooling inquiry
• Gulf Coast — Houston: Lucid Metal Works — roofing-metal fabrication and exact section review
• West Texas — El Paso: All Precision Metals — formed roof-sheet quote and physical side-lap comparison