Project Phase 1

 

I realize that people in the class have a wide range of previous experience (or lack thereof) with wood structures, so I intend to be flexible in how I grade.  Tell me about your past experiences and then build on those as the semester progresses. 

The primary purpose of the first phase of the semester design project is to prove that you understand Chapters 2 and 3 in the textbook.  You are free to use any wood structure, but a multi-story building with at least one interior wall or column is preferred.  By the end of the semester I hope each of you will have a design for your own custom wood home.

If you have not already selected a structure, you can use this sample house.  In this phase of the project, you can ignore windows, doors, stairs, etc.  You can assume all of the lumber is Spruce-Pine-Fir.  If you wish, you can also assume that the house is to be built next to the Puck at the middle of the S&T campus.

You are welcome to sketch your designs by hand or use software.  AutoCAD is available in most of the S&T computer labs.  Alternatively, you can go to students.autodesk.com, register using your S&T email address, and then download a copy of AutoCAD (or any other Autodesk product) for your own computer.  You are also welcome to use Google SketchUp, which has lots of tutorials on YouTube, or any other software program.

Please submit a printed or emailed report (or memo) including the following items by class time next Tuesday, February 12 Thursday, February 14.  We will NOT do peer evaluations for the first phase.

  1. A brief description of your previous experiences with wood structures.
  2. An isometric view of the structure.  This can be a hand sketch, a computer model, or an image/photograph you have found (please provide the reference).
  3. A floor plan that shows at least the load-bearing walls in the structure.  
  4. A description of the structure's width and length, roof pitch and height dimensions, height of the ceilings, materials used, etc.  See the sample house as an example of the minimum information to include.
  5. The intended usage (occupancy information), if not a house.
  6. The location the structure will be built, the terrain, wind exposure, etc.
  7. The dead and live loads and how they are distributed through the structure.  Consider all of the loads discussed in Chapters 2 and 3.  Use the homework and textbook examples as guides.  This is where you can prove to me how well you understand these chapters.  I am looking for quality instead of quantity (number of pages), but a clear and thorough derivation would be appreciated.  Please practice your professional skills.  Sketches can be hand drawn, computer drawn, screen captured from one of the books, etc.  Equations can be hand written.  You are welcome to use ASCE 7-2005 and IBC 2006 or newer documents.  You can also use helpful aids, like the USGS seismic design map, county information, terraserver, etc., but please list references if you do.
  8. It is okay to make assumptions.  Professionals have to learn to deal with ambiguity.  Just mention your assumptions, concerns, etc. in your derivation.
  9. Anything else you feel is appropriate.  You are welcome to showcase your awesome artistic and/or technical skills!  :)