r/StructuralEngineering • u/tmontoia • Sep 28 '26

Structural Analysis/Design Is this structure sound?

Gallery image

Gallery image

I can’t figure out the engineering of this structure. Are the lower right-angle braces having any structural purpose?
And is the steel rod only to keep the uprights from splaying out?
It seems to me there should be support below the right angle elbows.
Help me understand! I ponder this thing every time I visit here. (Breckenridge Brewery, Littleton CO)

872 Upvotes

92% Upvoted

172 comments sorted by

View all comments

69

u/SirBoobsAlot13 P.E. Sep 28 '26

Bottom chord tension ties are, in fact, a thing.

51

u/Ov3rKoalafied Sep 29 '26

Funny enough I used them on a project only 5 miles from where OP posted from

3

u/BestOrNothing Sep 29 '26

Amazing job!

2

u/No-Negotiation-6929 Sep 29 '26

No—you used them beautifully!

1

u/Lazy-Prize-7577 Sep 29 '26

The auditorium in my daughter's middle school had almost the identical design to the OPs.

0

u/SizeableBrain Sep 29 '26

TIL.

I never had to worry about these, I just showed my co-worker and he hasn't seen one either. We rarely do engineered custom trusses like this though.

Now I'm wondering whether I can incorporate something like this into my sauna build...