Truss: Wednesday’s Word Of The Week
Today we will cover a structural term most people have probably heard before – the Truss. A truss is made up of multiple glulam pieces, connected at their ends, which act together to form a span. Together, they work very much like a beam, with tension at the bottom and compression at the top (the top and bottom parts of a truss are called its Chords.) The chords are connected together with vertical or diagonal parts called Webs. The chords and webs should form a series of triangles.
Because a truss can be made very deep (shipped in parts) with a lot of empty space between the glulam pieces, it can span distances more efficiently or that are impossible with solid beams. However, if the available truss depth is limited, it can be less expensive to use a large, solid beam, due to the costs of steel, hardware, and fabrication needed for a truss.
*Wednesday’s Word Of The Week is a new feature on Unalam’s Wood Times Blog. Each Wednesday our structural engineer, Rik Vandermeulen, will discuss 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.