Addie Albro is an architectural engineering student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo. She’s working on completing her senior project while learning how to design with steel, timber, masonry, and concrete. We recently had the opportunity to host Addie and other Cal Poly undergrads at our Tyrell Gilb Lab in Stockton, California. She shared her experience visiting the lab and what inspired her to enter the engineering field.
LTTP2 — an Update to a Classic Light Tension Tie
It would give you an incomplete idea of the new LTTP2 light tension tie if we didn’t first discuss the original LTT series. The LTT20 tension tie first appeared in our 1987 Connectors for Wood Construction catalog as a post-pour, wood-to-concrete connector. The LTT20 installed with nails only, but we realized we could add holes for bolts, so the LTT20B gave the customer the option to use either nails or bolts. Around the same time, we created the narrower LTT19 for installation on 2x joists or purlins. For more than 30 years, the LTT19 and LTT20B quietly anchored walls to roof diaphragms or shearwall posts to foundations. Continue Reading
Meet the Engineers of Simpson Strong-Tie
Learn about our engineering department and the many hard-working people that help us with the innovation, research and development of our products. Our engineers are innovative problem solvers who apply the principles of science, math and technology to help give us a better understanding of how structures perform, advance our design technology, and improve building safety. Our research and development activities have led to many advances in the building industry. Over the years, we’ve developed countless products that help ensure structural safety and reduce cost and have created new construction systems to improve the way structures are designed and built. Read on to learn more about the various roles within our engineering department and hear a few of our engineers say what they enjoy most about working at Simpson Strong-Tie.
Introducing the Simpson Strong-Tie 2021 Excellence in Engineering Award Winners
We’ve created a new, annual Excellence in Engineering award to honor and recognize the outstanding contributions of individuals in our Engineering department.
Engineering Scholarships for 2022–2023 College Students
Attending college next year? Consider applying for scholarships to ease the financial burden of college tuition. Even better, some scholarships have mentorship programs that can provide individuals with networking opportunities and more. When applying for college scholarships, keep in mind that each scholarship has its own qualifying criteria to address in your answers or materials. The list below concentrates on scholarships for those interested in engineering or STEM-related fields of studies. You’ve worked hard to qualify for college, so don’t miss out on financial help you may also qualify for!
Field-Adjustable Sloped and Skewed Hangers — Introducing New LSSR Sizes
With the recent introduction of our new LSSR rafter hangers for 2x lumber, we thought we’d provide some background on how these new hangers were developed and why.
How a Top US Homebuilder Turbocharged Market Growth and Managed the Job Start Process with the Scalable LotSpec Solution from Simpson Strong-Tie
As one of the top 10 private homebuilders in the US (and one of the top 25 overall), Gehan Homes has explored its fair share of technologies promising efficiency and productivity gains. When it came to pulling home designs, plans, elevations, and options into full job start packets (JSPs), the Texas-based homebuilder managed to generate about 400 JSPs per year before the productivity cost of eight hours each began to limit growth.
Yield-Link® Moment Connections in the Great White North
Resiliency is a term which is becoming more commonplace within the field of structural engineering, not just in North America but worldwide. As part of a nation that prides itself on being progressive, engineers in seismic zones of Canada are already exploring innovative solutions that may help create economic structures with resiliency in mind. But what do we mean by resiliency?
In the fields of engineering and construction, resiliency is the ability of a structure to absorb or avoid damage without suffering complete failure. Structural resiliency is the ability of a building or structure to remain sufficiently sound and intact following a shock event as to allow rapid resumption of normal use.
The Legacy of Loma Prieta
Every year on October 17, we take a moment to reflect on the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. The 6.9-magnitude earthquake was one of the most powerful and costly quakes to shake the San Francisco Bay area since the 7.9-magnitude earthquake of 1906. The quake caused an estimated $6 billion in damage and, tragically, resulted in 63 deaths and 3,757 injuries.
Many of those casualties were due to failing infrastructure when sections of the Nimitz Freeway collapsed.
Simpson Strong-Tie was founded in Oakland, California — practically in the heart of the Bay Area. Earthquakes were never far from the minds of our founders. It’s why even before Loma Prieta our mission was to provide solutions that help people design and build safer, stronger structures. However, it’s safe to say the earthquake not only reinvigorated our mission but inspired countless structural engineers who would go on to define the next 30 years of Simpson Strong-Tie research and development into community resilience.
Providing Performance Data for Shallowly Embedded Anchors
In the last few years, Simpson Strong-Tie has heard from a number of structural engineers expressing frustration with the lack of performance data for shallowly embedded, post-installed anchors (shallow anchors). Engineers of Record (EOR) have identified a common application for shallow anchors as those related to attachment of sill plates for structural and nonstructural wall-to-podium slab connections. One dilemma faced by the EORs originates in their desire to prevent damage to concrete podium slab reinforcement, especially where reinforcement is located close to the slab’s top surface to resist negative bending moments. EORs further indicate that shallow anchors are frequently needed for the following attachments: hanging MEP fixtures; attaching nonstructural components associated with tenant improvements; and anchoring light equipment.