How Do You Determine Fabrication Tolerances During Design? Glenn Traylor How does a component manufacturer determine what fabrication tolerances should be used during truss design? To answer that question, we first need to clarify what is meant by “fabrication tolerance.” Per ANSI/TPI 1–2014, the guidance is 3.3.2 Fabrication Tolerance. All... Read More May 2024 Issue #16298 Page 35
Optimizing Truss Design Alpine Team Establishing a truss design process that progresses seamlessly from start to finish serves as a critical backbone for efficiency and ensures essential quality control measures. While individual processes might vary from designer to designer, here is a sample step-by-step process. Resist the... Read More May 2024 Issue #16298 Page 96
Minimum Uniformly Distributed Live Load For Habitable Attics MiTek Staff An attic truss with 7 feet room height – should it be designed for 20 psf (pounds per square foot), 30 psf, or 40 psf room live load? Per International Residential Code (IRC) Table R301.5, the minimum uniformly distributed live load for uninhabitable attics with limited storage is 20... Read More May 2024 Issue #16298 Page 104
Innovating from the Ground Up: Welcome to the Future! Caleb Knudson At Simpson Strong-Tie, Risk-Taking Innovation is central to our mission of helping people design and build safer, stronger structures. We’ve devoted a tremendous amount of effort and resources to thoughtfully cultivating a culture of innovation. And as Engineers, we’ve been armed... Read More May 2024 Issue #16298 Page 114
The Last Word: How to Repair a Bridge Truss, or Any Sagging Truss Joe Kannapell When a ship hit the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, MD, its fate was never in doubt. But that was not the case when a barge hit the Eads Bridge near St. Louis, MO, another steel arched truss bridge. The Key Bridge lost one of its main supports, while the Eads Bridge lost one of its truss... Read More May 2024 Issue #16298 Page 150
Design Connections: Resilient Designs Cost Less Than You Think Geordie Secord In last month’s article, Designing for Resiliency, I present some of my thoughts on how changing the design approach for wood trusses could aid in making future homes more resilient to the types of climate extremes that seem to be ahead of us. Whether you think that climate change is a... Read More April 2024 Issue #16297 Page 86
The NHERI TallWood Project Simpson Strong-Tie Staff Q & A with Steve Pryor, P.E., S.E., Senior Manager, Testing and Research Operations, Engineering, Simpson Strong-Tie As a research partner in the National Hazards Engineering Research Infrastructure (NHERI) TallWood project, Simpson Strong-Tie participated in a series of earthquake shake... Read More April 2024 Issue #16297 Page 108
All Things Wood: Substantial Wood Truss Content at Virginia Tech Course Frank Woeste Sponsored by the Virginia Tech Continuing and Professional Education program, a three-day program on light-frame and mass timber construction design topics will be offered on May 14–16, 2024 in Blacksburg, VA. Joining me as instructors this year are Scott D. Coffman, PE, John Holland, MBA,... Read More March 2024 Issue #16296 Page 64
Design Connections: Designing for Resiliency Geordie Secord As I write this, I am sitting inside a warm office in Northern Ontario, looking out the window at near blizzard conditions, with heavy snow falling and –35° wind chill. Although it is very unpleasant outside, this isn’t necessarily unusual weather for this location, but what is... Read More March 2024 Issue #16296 Page 90
Up to the Test: The Heavy Seated Knife Plate Beam Hanger for Mass Timber Paul McEntee In response to the increasing demand for mass timber construction, Simpson Strong-Tie has created mass timber solutions for these builds. These product additions include our Heavy Seated Knife Plate (HSKP), ACBH concealed beam hanger, and CBH concealed beam hanger. Gain insights into... Read More March 2024 Issue #16296 Page 108