CE 2031 – Structural Design, July – Oct 2016

Timber Design Exercise 1

An outdoor deck of 5 m x 30 m attached to a house consists of a timber deck mounted on two

parallel reinforced concrete beams which are supported by reinforced concrete columns. The
deck needs to be replaced and you have been requested to provide a design for a new timber
deck.

It is recommended that C24 timber should be used for the deck. It is important that the design be
economical. In the absence of reliable data on price of timber, the total volume of timber may be
used as a measure of cost and hence you should try to minimize the total volume of timber to be
used.

The sketch given in Fig. 1 shows the general layout plan. Timber cross beams are to be mounted
on the existing reinforced concrete beams, placed 4 m apart, centre to centre. Rectangular
notches (depth = 50 mm) are to be provided in the bottom of each beam to facilitate their placing
on the concrete beams of section 225 mm x 400 mm. The spacing and the section of these timber
beams have to be provided in the design. Only standard timber sections may be used.

The deck is to be made of timber planks spanning in the direction of the concrete beams (i. e.
perpendicular to the timber cross beams). Assume that the planks are fitted together by means of
“tongue and groove” longitudinal edges. The thickness of the planks has to be provided in the
design. Assume that the standard finished thicknesses available are 28, 34, 46 and 68 mm.