Customer Reviews

Timber Construction for Architects and Builders

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Each chapter in this book illustrates some aspect of modern timber engineering. The early chapters introduce the reader to the basic properties of wood. From then on, the reader is treated to subjects such as the depredations of termites, wood construction and fire safety, the value and limitations of mechanical connectors, the use of timber trusses, the earthquake resistance of wooden structures, and the value of shop drawings in construction.

The branch-trunk junctions of living trees are an example of moment-resistant joints (Chapter 2, page 13 therein). A good tutorial on the flexure of a beam is provided in Chapter 5 (pp. 15-16 therein). A simple model, consisting of sheets of paper, illustrates how the layers of the beam variously go into compression, tension, and/or shear.

There is a chapter (Chapter 7) on traditional joinery, written by Ben Brungraber. The main focus is on mortise-tenon joinery. Chapter 15 discusses covered timber bridges, notably the Town lattice trusses. There is also information about a video on the construction of a modern Town-lattice-truss covered bridge. I have seen this video, and found it quite fascinating.

This is not an engineering book. There are only a few sections that are quantitative, and the mathematics used is straightforward and well-described.