Wood Engineering and Construction Handbook. 3rd ed.

Citation

Cooke, T. (1999), "Wood Engineering and Construction Handbook. 3rd ed.", Structural Survey, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 179-180. https://doi.org/10.1108/ss.1999.17.3.179.1

This comprehensive co‐authored North America timber structure design manual contains contributions from a further 11 authors, thus advising the reader of the comprehensive coverage this text gives to timber design. The preface states, “the purpose of this handbook is to provide all the information and procedures needed to design virtually any type of wood structure, or wood component”; the authors, assisted by their contributors, must be very close to achieving this aim.

Before placing your order with your bookseller, potential readers are advised that the manual is written using imperial numeric units; it is also based on the design recommendations published by various North American Standards authorities, which differ in many respects from our current EU guidelines. But don’t be discouraged, this text does contain considerable information that will be useful to the UK reader.

The handbook starts with the now almost obligatory chapter concerned with the properties of wood as a constructional material. Unusually, this is followed by a chapter that reviews a range of preliminary design considerations, including; species, standards, grades, load duration, seasoning, fire and sound protection. It is particularly refreshing to see this overview approach prior to the structural design process, rather than leaving these essential requirements to be evaluated after the structural design analysis is completed.

The text then follows the now traditional pattern set by many structural textbooks, with chapters devoted to; columns, bending members, mechanical fastenings, trussed sections and structural wood panels. Following these component and elemental design processes, is a chapter that evaluates the lateral stability of the collective elements that form the building. Explanatory diagrams accompany the numerous calculated examples of timber sheer walls.

Two of the remaining chapters in the book were particularly interesting. Richard Avent wrote the first of these on the use of adhesives in the manufacture of timber components, for structural connections and the repair of timber members. Readers are taken through the classification and selection process appropriate for each adhesives type, followed by calculations of jointing methods. A number of pages are devoted to the use of epoxy adhesives in the repair of damaged timber members. The other fascinating chapter by Alfred Mangus is devoted to permanent wood foundation structures. Many readers will immediately expect to see the chapter devoted to timber piles. Not so, the chapter covers among other things, timber pad foundations, and plywood sheathed timber retaining walls typically used in basement wall construction.

Overall, this is an excellent text for those who intend to practise in North America; however, it is suspected UK readers will categorise the book as a useful text to widen their knowledge in timber framed construction.