Before the days of the personal computer, or even the hand-held electronic calculator, there was only the sliderule. Certainly, there must be a few of you out there who remember the sliderule, and maybe even how to use one?
The reason we ask about this comes clear when we tell you there are more than 200 stress calculations required to properly design even a very basic roof truss. A good slipstick (what slide rules used to be called) user could probably do those 200 calculations in a half-hour or so, meaning that he or she could design as many as 16 simple trusses in a work day. When you consider that there are about 100 trusses incorporating 30–40 different shapes in the average house, you realize that the truss industry really couldn’t exist until the advent of the personal computer.
Indeed, the truss system most often is the only truly custom designed, engineered and fabricated structural component of a house or light commercial building. But oh, what nifty things the truss industry has brought to the party! Architects now have far greater flexibility in what roof styles they can design. By and large, if the architect can draw it, we can engineer and build it.
Build it we can, but it requires an amazing amount of computer power, along with the state-of-the-art software developed by MiTek, Inc., and of course, people who have the brainpower to fully utilize the software.
When the takeoff, design and production engineering phases are complete, it’s time to build your trusses. This we do to the stringent standards imposed by the Uniform Building Code, and even more importantly, to those of the Structural Building Components Association. Evergreen Truss & Supply is a long time member of both the SBCA and TPI. We take great pride in the fact that we strictly adhere to the guidelines and quality control requirements provided by these organizations.
