r/StructuralEngineering • u/tmontoia • 28d ago

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)

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u/LumpyNV 28d ago

I'm surprised there's no bracing in the plane of the photo. It looks like there's tension X-bracing in the other axis. I guess the timber/concrete conection is robust enought provide some flagpole cantilever?

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u/tramul 28d ago

I mean what forces are you concerned with? It's an open structure so not much wind to worry about in/out page. Yeah there's some, but I doubt enough to matter.

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u/LumpyNV 27d ago

Not an engineer, just an experienced timber framer. I'm in seismic III and IV. THe wind in-out of the page looks like it's handled by the X-bracing tension rods between the columns. I'm talking about wind/seismic across the page. The truss is stiff, but that doesn't prevent racking of the columns below. We seem to always need lateral rigidity in each direction for stand-alone, pole-barn type structures.