Timber Construction Design Handbook

Moving from steel or concrete into glued-laminated timber, cross-laminated timber, or other engineered wood systems, many structural engineers discover that familiar intuition does not transfer cleanly. Wood behaves differently depending on the direction of the grain, connections often govern a design more than the members themselves, and if your work also touches the European Eurocode 5 framework, two code systems describe overlapping ideas with different symbols and non-interchangeable numbers.

Most engineers meet engineered wood construction through scattered manufacturer literature and isolated code sections, one project at a time, without ever walking a complete design sequence from material behavior through connections to whole-building performance. Cross-grain behavior, fastener group action, capacity-design ductility requirements, and diaphragm classification are each easy to get partly right — and partly right is often exactly what fails a peer review or an inspection.

This handbook closes that gap. Across twenty chapters and five parts, it works through structural timber design in project order — material behavior and the ASD/LRFD load framework, glulam and CLT member design, dowel-type fastener and connection design, lateral systems and diaphragms, and fire-resistance and durability detailing for exposed mass timber — with a Eurocode 5 comparison in every chapter. Each chapter follows one structure: learning objectives, a worked numerical example, a "Mistake Autopsy" built from a realistic documented error, a field-scenario capstone, and practice problems with answers — plus eight reference appendices (design values, section properties, fastener capacities, a Eurocode/US symbol cross-reference) for ongoing use.

Working through this handbook, you will be able to:

• Apply reference design values and adjustment factors for sawn lumber, glulam, and CLT correctly, including load-duration, wet-service, and stability factors that are frequently misapplied

• Design a dowel-type fastener connection from first principles, from single-fastener yield theory through multi-fastener group effects and brittle tear-out checks a simplified table can miss

• Evaluate proprietary connector hardware for evaluation-report currency, rather than assuming a published capacity still applies

• Design and verify diaphragms and lateral force-resisting systems — shear walls, braced and moment frames, and CLT panel systems — with capacity-based ductile detailing

• Address fire-resistance design for exposed mass timber and the durability/moisture detailing that protects connections and long-term performance

• Set a US-code calculation next to its Eurocode 5 counterpart and see where the two frameworks agree in principle and differ in number

Key topics include material behavior, glulam beam and column design, CLT panel design, bearing and serviceability, dowel-type fastener theory, proprietary connector selection, lateral-system and diaphragm design, fire-resistant mass timber design, durability and moisture management, and four case studies carrying a design from concept to connection detail.

Written for practicing structural engineers needing a fast, code-grounded reference; engineers-in-training who need a design problem worked step by step; and advanced students meeting engineered wood construction as its own discipline. It assumes familiarity with basic wood-frame construction and does not re-teach platform-framing fundamentals. Like any reference, it supports — and does not replace — a licensed engineer's independent review, the locally adopted code edition, and current manufacturer documentation.

Add this practical, code-grounded reference to your library and start working through the design and detailing methods it covers, chapter by chapter, project by project.