Mass timber construction is taking the construction industry by storm, and there are no signs of it slowing down. Leading forecasts from Polaris Market Research project the global CLT market to triple from USD 1.1B to 3.7B by 2030. Innovations promoting cost reduction and efficiency are helping...

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...

As MiTek has been hard at work to improve the way the building industry works by increasing the use of offsite components, we have heard from Architects of Record and Engineers of Record that they need more support to be able to specify components. In multifamily construction, there is a high...

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...

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...

Mass timber buildings use cross-laminated timber (CLT) or mass plywood panels to create horizontal diaphragms to transfer wind and seismic forces into the vertical elements of the lateral-force-resisting system. Spline connections resist shear forces at the panel joints, which I discussed in...

The future of full-scale structures testing and product development is here – and it is BIG. Our Tyrell Gilb Research Laboratory built a brand-new Million Pound Rig to help in the testing of our new Yield-Link® brace connection (YLBC), along with our many other products. Hear from Mike...

As the current lab manager of the newly renamed Karen Colonias Research Laboratory, I’m proud to share what our lab does and what Karen meant to us. Our lab is responsible for testing new and existing connector, fastener and Truss plate products in support of our product development...

One of the first mixed-use designs I worked on as a consulting structural engineer was a four-story wood-frame building over two levels of parking. Designing the main lateral-force-resisting system with plywood shearwalls was a challenge for this project that required new details to meet the...

In our October article, Because Good Ingredients Matter, we focus on the word quality and the many ways that MSR lumber has become synonymous with high quality structural building components. Having laid the groundwork for why MSR has become so important for optimizing truss designs and an...