Oregon Code Officials First To Approve Hybrid Mass Timber Buildings

Oregon has become the first state in the U.S. to provide a prescriptive path for the construction of hybrid tall-timber buildings.

The Statewide Alternate Method, SAM No. 18-01, issued Aug. 8 by the State Building Codes Division, is based on provisions developed by the International Code Council's tall wood building ad hoc committee.

The provisions call for the use of concrete, steel or masonry for the vertical elements of the seismic force-resisting system.

The state move is based on the approval by ICC of 14 provisions put forth by the TWB at the ICC's committee action hearing in April. The ICC action "reinforced the overwhelming scientific evidence for the codification of prescription allowances for this construction material and method," according to the state's Building Codes Division.

Previously, the state code limited mass and heavy timber buildings to six stories.

Nadine M. Post, ENR's former editor-at-large for buildings, is an award-winning journalist with 45 years of experience covering trends, issues, innovations, controversies and challenging projects. Post has written about many industry giants, including 10 ENR Award of Excellence winners. And she has covered disasters, failures and attacks, including the 1993 bombing and the 2001 destruction of the World Trade Center. Project stories include the redevelopment of the World Trade Center; the 828-meter-tall Burj Khalifa; Los Angeles’ Disney Concert Hall; and Seattle's Bullitt Center and Rainier Square Tower. In 1985, Post wrote McGraw-Hill's book Restoring the Statue of Liberty (1986) for the restoration’s architects—Richard S. Hayden and Thierry W. Despont.

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