Structural Assessments of In-Situ Wood Members: Best Practices for Determining Allowable Design Stresses in Existing Structures

This webinar provides a technical framework for evaluating the load-carrying capacity of timber in existing buildings. Participants will review wood mechanics and field methodologies for visual grading, exploring the application of American Society and Testing of Materials Standards (ASTM) standards to in-situ materials including sawn lumber, glulam, and mass timber.

The presentation further focuses on forensic capacity adjustment using non-destructive testing and microbiological analysis to assess decay. Attendees will learn to adjust published allowable design stresses according to National Design Specification (NDS) factors, specifically addressing the structural implications of checks and splits. The session concludes with exemplar case studies, providing defensible protocols for the safe load-rating and rehabilitation of historic timber systems.

Speakers:

Matthew Anderson is the owner of Wood Science Consulting, Inc. He is a wood scientist who specializes in investigations relating to wood and wood-base materials. He has been consulting for nearly 20 years on a variety of issues associated with wood and wood-base materials such as; wood decay, insect attack, marine borers, marine and foundation pilings, failure analyses, visual grading of lumber and timbers in-situ, mechanical testing, resistance drilling, wood species identifications, finish problems associated with decking, siding and exterior trim, and the inspection of treated materials.

Russell Edgar is a wood scientist and owner of Madera WoodTech, LLC, a consulting firm for the forest products industry. From 2002-2024 he was the Wood Composites Manager at the University of Maine’s Advanced Structures & Composites Center. His expertise includes manufacturing and testing of wood-base composites, lumber testing and derivation of design values and inspections of structural timber systems.

NCSEA Webinars and Digital Events Cancellation and Refund Policies

Webinar Cancellation

By NCSEA: If a webinar is canceled by NCSEA, all registered attendees will be notified via email. NCSEA will issue a full refund if the event cannot be rescheduled. If the event is rescheduled and a registrant can not attend on the rescheduled date, NCSEA will offer a credit in the amount of the purchase price.

By Registrant/Attendee: Cancellations must be made at least 24 hours in advance of the webinar (or the first webinar in the case of a series or bundle) and in writing via email (ncsea@ncsea.com) with the subject line “NCSEA Webinar Cancellation” and include the following in the body of the email: Title of Webinar, Order/Invoice Number, Name of Registrant, and Reason for Cancellation. No telephone refund requests will be accepted.

If the request has been approved, NCSEA can do one of the following:

• Refund the amount back to the original order payment method (a $25 cancellation processing fee will be assessed)

• Issue a full credit on the purchaser’s account that can be used towards a future webinar/event.

If you are unable to attend the webinar and the cancellation deadline has passed, a recording will be available (in most cases) in the Education Portal after the webinar has concluded.
Refunds are not granted due to attendee technology issues. It is your responsibility as the webinar attendee to test your computer setup prior to the start of the webinar.

On-Demand Purchases
All on-demand (recorded) webinars, courses, and series sales are final.