Beautiful #Glulam Bus Canopy

Here are a couple of photos of curved beams that we made for a new bus canopy.

 
These are curved beams, and not arches. It's common to think that anything curved is an arch, but it's not quite that easy. Arches and beams act differently in buildings. For instance, arches are compression members and foundations need to be designed to keep the arch legs from kicking out when loaded. But, because of this, you can span greater distances with smaller arches. For the same distance, you'd need a much larger beam (and more material usually means a greater cost.)

On the other hand, a curved beam acts almost the same as a straight beam in a building. This is the case for slight curves - cambers - and more significant curves - like these. Pitched and tapered beams are another special curved beam. You do have to remember that because the ends are not restrained, you do have to design for horizontal movement at the ends.

A special thank you goes out to our New England salesperson, Bernard Janarelli, and the contractor PM Construction for sharing these construction photos with us.