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Pitched And Tapered Beam: Wednesday’s Word Of The Week

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Pitched and Tapered Beams are another classic glulam shape that, like the Tudor Arch, takes advantage of a curved and shaped glulam member to support a simple building shape with a beautiful structure. A pitched and tapered beam is ideally used for a clear, symmetrical roof span of low slope, most commonly 3/12. The beam is shallow at supports, tapers to a deeper section near midspan, and has a curved middle section to transition between the two roof planes.


Pitched and tapered beams are very commonly used on top of cantilevered columns to create simple picnic pavilions, but can be used in a variety of buildings when a single, clear span beam runs up and down a roof slope. Radial tension forces tend to be high at the curved section of these beams, so southern yellow pine is recommended, as other species usually require steel reinforcing. Inside radius for the curved section should be 20′ or greater for the most economical design.


*Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, discusses a new term associated with glulam manufacturing. He will do this until we run out of words. If there is a timber or glulam term that you have heard of and want to know more about, let us know in the comments.

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