Round timber in construction: Notes for structural design
Prepared by TRADA Technology in 2003 for the Forestry Commission and published here with their permission.
The use of round timber for structural applications can provide designers with attractive features in sympathy with local surrounding in a range of applications from housing and agricultural buildings to major engineering structures such as bridges. However Structural Engineers designing round timber elements are often faced with limited information with which to support design evaluations and connection detailing.
This sheet has been prepared on a "product specification" model and gives a technical and normative background to the design of round timber structures. It brings together basic terminology, grading and species selection advice together with suggested simplified design approaches and key references for further detailed information.
Note: Full details of standards and other items are given in the References section.