Ground Snow vs. Flat Roof Snow MiTek Staff MiTek Engineering software gives you two options to input snow load – Ground Snow and Roof Snow (flat roof snow). What is the difference between ground snow and flat roof snow? Ground snow load, pg, is obtained directly from the American Society of Civil Engineers Standard (ASCE 7)... Read More July 2023 Issue #15288 Page 96
The H1A Hurricane Tie – An Update for a Classic Paul McEntee Simpson Strong-Tie recently released an updated model of our H1 – now the H1A. As a consulting engineer, I remember how much I disliked updating my standard details when products were discontinued. I thought it would be informative to explain the modifications and some of the reasons for... Read More July 2023 Issue #15288 Page 108
The Last Word: The Rise of the Floor Truss Joe Kannapell Among the first advocates for floor trusses were two men who would later create an acclaimed component plant. Dwight Hikel and Chris Ditzel made early inroads at Fort McHenry Lumber, such that Ditzel declared in 1972, “I think we will be eventually doing 2-1/2 times the volume in floor... Read More July 2023 Issue #15288 Page 132
Floor Truss Technology, Part I: Parallel Chord Trusses Joe Kannapell Floor trusses have been golden for the component industry for over half a century, and their origin is worth recounting and celebrating. Because of their flexibility and utility, wood trusses dominate apartment construction and have taken it up to 5 stories. Getting there, however, has required... Read More June 2023 Issue #15287 Page 10
Four Examples of Process Improvement Considerations Todd Drummond Right now, many CMs are waking up to the increased pressures of a slowing home-building market, and all the capital investments they have made are just not going to be enough because all their competition has done the same. Now that the new build season is ramping up to full swing, the ones who... Read More June 2023 Issue #15287 Page 27
MSRLPC Streamlines Design Values Comparison with New Online Tool MSR Lumber Producers Council The MSR Lumber Producer Council’s new Design Values Comparison Tool makes it possible for component manufacturers and other lumber buyers to easily build a comparison table based on species, size, and grade that includes design values for both visually graded and machine-graded dimensional... Read More June 2023 Issue #15287 Page 68
Design Connections: Preventing Truss Collapses Geordie Secord Over the many years I’ve worked in the truss business, I’ve had the unfortunate experience of visiting numerous job sites where the trusses have collapsed. Without fail, every one of those collapses has been the direct result of improper bracing, improper hoisting, or a combination... Read More June 2023 Issue #15287
Load Duration Factor MiTek Staff Lumber has ability to handle higher stresses under shorter periods of time. This characteristic is known as Load Duration Factor. Load Duration Factor typically ranges from 0.9 to 1.6 and is based on the amount of cumulative time the load is applied to the structure. Per the National Design... Read More June 2023 Issue #15287 Page 92
The Development of the Truss Plate, Part X: Split Decision on Truss Plates Joe Kannapell Four distinctly different types of truss plates came onto the market in the 1950s, but only two made it into the 1960s: the short toothed and the long toothed, neither requiring nails. These two types continued to evolve over the next decade, although along distinctly different paths, and under... Read More May 2023 Issue #15286 Page 10
Should We Seal All Engineered Drawings? Glenn Traylor Recently, while conducting an ANSI/TPI audit, a splice caught my eye. When I investigated further, I realized that the bottom chord of the truss I was investigating had a very short, 2” chord segment. I immediately assumed the truss builders had cut a short block to make up for a miss-cut... Read More May 2023 Issue #15286 Page 37