Click here for a more detailed description of integrated project delivery. This is a model of a timber structure that we were hired to build several years ago. There are so many things wrong with this design. We had no input in the original design. 164 bolts and several steel plate weldments that required a lot of slotting. The slots alone caused problems, wood is anisotropic. Problems occur when wood is slotted and the environment changes the humidity rises and falls.the temperature rises and falls. The long through slots allow the timbers to twist and check. The loads on most of the connections are shear and moments. We like to see compression and tension. If I told you to break a 2×4 would you try to bend and twist it or would you try and pull it apart.
Here is our solution. We went from 164 bolts to 24 bolts, we went from 32 slots to 5 slots, we ended up using 14% of the original amount of steel in the weldments. If you believe in working with a fabricator while designing your project PLEASE contact us.
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