Structural building element

A timber I-beam which falls in a stress grade range of F8-F17which corresponds to short duration modulus elasticity (E values) of 9,100- 14,000, said I-beam for use as a roof truss or floor support, the timber I-beam comprising a top chord, a bottom chord, a series of multiple timber blocks adhesively connected to the top chord and the bottom chord, and nails extending through the top chord into at least some of the timber blocks, the I-beam having a first end and a second end forming spaced flanges of the I-beam, the bottom chord extending along a longitudinal axis, said flanges spaced from each other and supported by said series of multiple timber blocks lying in a single plane and each separated from the next by an interstitial gap adapted to receive building services, said series of multiple timber blocks comprising a first-end block at said first end of the I-beam, a second-end block at said second end of the I-beam, and a plurality of blocks spaced between first-end block and the second-end block, the I-beam forming a uniplanar, intermittent web,

• wherein:
• each of the top chord and the bottom chord has a right side outer surface and a left side outer surface and a single inner face that extends on a single plane continuously from the right side outer surface to the left side outer surface, the inner face adapted to face the respective other top or bottom chord;
• the upper and lower ends of each block are square cut and adapted to abut the inner face of each of the top chord and the bottom chord;
• the inner face of each of the top chord and the bottom chord is substantially flat and the entirety of each of the top chord and the bottom chord has no groove feature to engage with the upper and lower ends of each block;
• adhesive is applied between the end faces of the blocks and the respective inner faces of the top and bottom chords, the blocks being secured in position between the top and bottom chords until the adhesive can form a strong bond wherein it is the adhesive that provides long term mechanical strength for the I-beam;
• the lengths of the blocks, in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the plate are at least 50-mm and at most 240 mm;
• the gaps between the blocks are at least substantially equal to the length of the blocks in the direction parallel to the longitudinal axis and the intervals of the blocks along the length of the I-beam are at most 1500 mm;
• and
• the thickness of the blocks is between 19 mm and 90 mm.