The long trade battle over the pricing of Canadian softwood-lumber shipments to the U.S. has become more intense, after a U.S. trade panel’s Dec. 7 ruling that the exports have hurt domestic producers.
Based on 2016 tests of a composite cross-laminated timber-and-concrete floor system, architect-engineer Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has released guidance on how to analyze composite timber floors and predict their behavior in wood frames.
Two Applied Technology Council hazard-mitigation projects targeting nonductile concrete buildings are benefitting from information gathered during an Oct. 9-13 reconnaissance trip to Mexico City, less than a month after the Puebla-Morelos earthquake.
This year, seven major new-
construction fires at four- to six-story wood-framed residential sites caused property loss exceeding $400
million, says the National Fire Protection Association.
In earthquake-prone Seattle, developer Wright Runstad & Co. announced the start of construction of Rainier Square Tower, an office-residential high-rise that represents the first use of a radically different core structure.
Successful performance in fire tests of three types of off-the-shelf metal connectors for glue-laminated-timber column-to-beam assemblies will make it easier for designers to get approval for GLT structural systems in buildings up to 85 ft in height, says the Softwood Lumber Board, which sponsored the tests.
When Caterpillar began its current investment in 3D-printing components for heavy equipment earlier this decade, the company’s engineers and chemists tried to manage their expectations.
The nascent 3D-printing industry is working toward the goal of printing large-scale structures with specially designed feed material, but researchers working at a smaller scale are currently exploring techniques for printing a wide range of materials in complex shapes.