Bøger i Timber Design Files serien

There has been an increasing use of architectural timber battens in Queensland, and indeed Australia wide, over recent years and while they can certainly look excellent when first installed, they have the potential to be a maintenance nightmare. Following the failure of a high profile batten project where one fell to the ground, it needs to be recognised that there is the potential in a people occupied space for litigation.When researching the subject I came to the conclusion that while these concerns were valid, they did not have to be the accepted consequence of using timber. If some basic steps are taken it will result in a long lived feature that ages well even in tropical and subtropical architecture. The following chapters will take you through the issues involved in designing to achieve that end. I could find no books on the subject so, without the generous help of those I have acknowledged, this design aid for professionals would not have been possible.Most of the projects illustrated are from Queensland in Australia which the travel advertisements say is renowned for being "beautiful one day and perfect the next" (just another way of saying it is a harsh climate). Systems that work in the Queensland environment will perform better in cooler climates.

This book looks at the origins of timber joints and fasteners and plots their development up to the present day. It looks closely at guidelines for using stainless or Galvanised fasteners and gives guidance on detailing external joints. The book contains a number of case histories of buildings with different joint types.

My frustrations experienced trying to sell trouble free, low maintenance bridges has prompted me to write this book so standards will be raised. This book is intended to assist the following: Footbridge purchasers: Footbridges can and do fail and the best time asset owners have to address that risk is at the time of purchase. This book will, in part, give guidance to the asset owner on preparing the specification and so avoid shortcomings that have been seen in some kit bridges. Professional designers: My intention is not to teach you how to engineer the structure. This book will allow you to take the skills you already have and allow you to recognise where extra care has to be taken. By detailing your bridges well they will age gracefully and exceed your client's expectations. While there is little actual engineering in this book, just detailing, you can find span charts in my other publications: -Boardwalk Design Guide-Deckwood Selection Guide and-Commercial Barrier GuideTo some extent this book is my personal journey with footbridges and I recount the mistakes I have made and mistakes made by others. From these you will see how logical timber design is and how easy it can be to design out the durability issues that can be associated with timber. This book will have been a success if purchasers become more discerning in their approach to footbridges in general and designers approach timber footbridges with confidence.