AWC Releases 2018 Manual for Engineered Wood Construction

Leesburg, Virginia (Feb. 25, 2019)—The American Wood Council (AWC) has released the 2018 Manual for Engineered Wood Construction, which contains design information for structural lumber, glued laminated timber, structural-use panels, cross-laminated timber (CLT), poles and piles, I-joists, structural composite lumber, and connections.

Some of the key updates in the 2018 Manual include:

• Changes to the cross-laminated timber (CLT) chapter to reflect new American National Standards Institute (ANSI)/APA – Engineered Wood Association PRG 320-2018 revisions
• Updates to tables to add fastener-head pull-through values consistent with the 2018 National Design Specification for Wood Construction (NDS)
• Added references to the new AWC Technical Report 15 (TR15) Calculation of Sound Transmission Parameters for Wood-frame Assemblies
• New reference to revised AWC Technical Report 10 (TR10) Calculating the Fire Resistance of Exposed Wood Members

“With updates to provisions for CLT in the 2018 NDS and 2018 International Building Code, this manual provides another tool designers and code officials have at their disposal to assist with wood design and construction,” said AWC Vice President of Technology Transfer John “Buddy” Showalter. “For example, Tables M10.2-1 and M10.2-2 were updated based on new ANSI/APA PRG 320 revisions to design properties for CLT layups.”

The Manual provides design information for structural applications of many wood-based products and their connections in accordance with requirements of the standards referenced. It incorporates dual formats, providing design provisions for both allowable stress design and load and resistance factor design. Informational chapters are organized to parallel those found in the NDS.

The manual is organized for use with the AWC 2018 Wood Design Package, which includes the 2018 NDS and Commentary, 2018 NDS Supplement: Design Values for Wood Construction, and the 2015 Special Design Provisions for Wind and Seismic and Commentary.

For more information, visit awc.org.