Structural Engineering & Design magazine's February 2010 issue features an article on wind-resistant wood design that details design advancements in the 20 years following Hurricane Hugo. The article was developed from a white paper that APA Engineered Wood Specialist Bryan Readling, P.E., and Senior Engineer Ed Keith, P.E., wrote for a recent Hurricane Hugo symposium.
APA has updated the APA System Report: Design for Combined Shear and Uplift from Wind, Form SR-101. This publication provides designs for utilizing wind uplift resistance capabilities from wood structural panels. The updated report also includes information on resisting lateral shear forces and wind pressure perpendicular to the wall.
A Guide to the 2009 IRC Wood Wall Bracing Provisions, a new publication aiming to improve understanding and application of the 2009 International Residential Code (IRC) lateral bracing requirements, is now available for purchase from the ICC store.
Three new APA publications describe economical systems that help builders achieve higher performance with plywood or OSB wall sheathing. These brochures are available as free downloadable PDFs from the APA Publications Library.
Question: Where can I find allowable lateral loads for APA-rated portal wall construction?
With modern home designs maximizing windows and minimizing wall sections, meeting the International Residential Code (IRC) requirements for wall bracing can be a challenge. APA developed the portal frame for wall bracing to help provide segments as narrow as 16 inches that can be counted toward the overall bracing percentage required by the code. These recommendations are detailed in the new APA Technical Note: Portal Frame Bracing Without Hold-Down Devices for Use in Continuously Sheathed Walls, Form J740.
The APA Publications Index, Form B300 NN, has been updated. The revised 2008 index provides a complete listing of APA design and construction guides, product guides, builder tips, case histories, industrial publications and other materials available from the Association.
I’m trying to understand if alternate braced walls are permitted in SDC 'D' in the 2006 IBC and have two questions.
Question 1: Footnote “a” of Table 2308.12.4 requires that the bracing have a h/w ratio not exceeding 2:1, so are the alternates per Section 2308.9.3.1 and 2308.9.3.2 permitted?
New structural insulated panel (SIP) CAD details are now being offered at www.apacad.org.
An illustrated Guide to the 2006 IRC® Wood Wall Bracing Provisions, co-authored by APA and the International Code Council® (ICC), is now published and available to purchase. The 10-chapter, 164-page book is designed to help building officials, designers and builders apply the bracing requirements of the 2006 International Residential Code (IRC).
For the last several years, APA staff has worked, primarily through committee process, with code officials, industry groups and researchers on issues related to wall bracing, structural insulated panel acceptance, and R-Value requirements that significantly impact our wall sheathing markets. Those efforts were rewarded during May's International Code Council's (ICC) Final Action Hearings on 2006 code revisions in Rochester, New York. Among several APA proposals that gained acceptance were three major victories for wall sheathing. Accepted provisions, discussed below, will appear in the 2007 Supplement to the International Codes which publishes this fall, capping an 18-month code development cycle.
