I am really ready to go somewhere that is not my office or the grocery store—longing for the good ol' days! The other day I was reminiscing about my pre-COVID 19 trip to British Columbia at the end of 2019 for the BC Wood show. I was so impressed with the cross-laminated timber (CLT) and mass plywood panels (MPP), I was hoping to get to use them on a project. Amazingly we started a project in 2020 that incorporated MPP for our roof and we just happened to get the MPP shop drawings in January. It is so cool and here's why!
The panels can carry the snow loads we have and can cantilever in the strong dimension and the weak dimension enough to create some very cool overhangs and a great looking roofline. The manufacturer helped us with the engineering of the panels and now has provided shop drawings that make it easy for the design team and contractor to review and verify the design.
The beams in this project are right up to the bottom of the MMP, and this creates a really clean look. The connections to the supports are made with screws; all of this is shown in the shop drawings and meets our vertical and lateral load requirements. So simple.
Now I just need to find a project that can use them for floors and roofs at multiple levels—got one?
As we move forward on this journey, I am just thankful for where I am, even if that is really at home and at work without a lot of interaction that is not phone, email or Zoom. Maybe that’s a topic for the next newsletter; how much I hate Zoom meetings and not seeing my family, friends, clients and teammates in person. Until then, be well!