Pres-Lam is a method of mass engineered timber construction that uses high strength unbonded steel cables or bars to create connections between timber beams and columns or columns and walls and their foundations. As a prestressed structure the steel cables clamp members together creating connections which are stronger and more compact than traditional timber fastening systems. In earthquake zones, the steel cables can be coupled with internal or external steel reinforcing which provide additional strength and

energy dissipation In thermodynamics, dissipation is the result of an irreversible process that takes place in homogeneous thermodynamic systems. In a dissipative process, energy (internal, bulk flow kinetic, or system potential) transforms from an initial form to a ...

creating a damage avoiding structural system. Pres-Lam can be used in conjunction with any mass engineered timber product such as glue laminated timber, laminated veneer lumber or

cross laminated timber Cross-laminated timber (CLT) (a sub-category of engineered wood) is a wood panel product made from gluing together at least three layers of solid-sawn lumber, i.e., lumber cut from a single log. Each layer of boards is usually oriented perpendicu ...

History

The concept of Pres-Lam was developed at the

University of Canterbury The University of Canterbury ( mi, Te Whare Wānanga o Waitaha; postnominal abbreviation ''Cantuar.'' or ''Cant.'' for ''Cantuariensis'', the Latin name for Canterbury) is a public research university based in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was ...

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

by a team led by Professors Stefano Pampanin, Alessandro Palermo and Andy Buchanan in collaboration with PreStressed Timber Limited (PTL). The system stems from techniques developed during the US PRESSS at the

University of California in San Diego The University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego or colloquially, UCSD) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Diego, California. Established in 1960 near the pre-existing Scripps Insti ...

during the 1990s under the leadership of New Zealand structural engineer Prof. Nigel Priestley. Beginning in 2008 a 5-year research campaign was begun under the Structural Timber Innovation Company. During this period the first examples of Pres-Lam structures were completed in New Zealand. Following the systems success, international research efforts have begun at

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

, the

University of Basilicata The University of Basilicata ( it, Università degli Studi della Basilicata), colloquially known as ''Unibas'', is an Italian public research university located in Potenza, with a satellite campus in Matera. It was founded in 1982 and is organ ...

Washington State University Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant unive ...

and several other research institutions. In 2017 the NHERI Tallwood project was started with funding from the

U.S. National Science Foundation The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent agency of the United States government that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National I ...

focused on further validation of Pres-Lam in North America.Pei, S., Lindt, J.W.v.d., Ricles, J., Sause, R., Berman, J., Ryan, K., Dolan, J.D., Buchanan, A., Robinson, T., McDonnell, E., Blomgren, H., Popovski, M. and Rammer, D. (2017). Development and full - scale validation of resilience - based seismic design of tall wood buildings: the NHERI Tallwood Project. ''New Zealand Society of Earthquake Engineering'', Wellington.

Notable structures

* The

Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology (NMIT) is a public tertiary education institution at the top of the South Island in New Zealand. NMIT's main campus is in Nelson with other campuses in Blenheim, Marlborough, Woodbourne and Richmond. I ...

Arts and Media Building – The world's first Pres-Lam Building * The College of Creative Arts,

Massey University Massey University ( mi, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa) is a university based in Palmerston North, New Zealand, with significant campuses in Albany and Wellington. Massey University has approximately 30,883 students, 13,796 of whom are extramural or ...

– Uses Pres-Lam frames to augment vertical load carrying capacity and well as high seismic loading * The Kaikoura District Council building – Subjected to the

2016 Kaikoura earthquake Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * '' Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film ...

without damage and subsequently used as response headquarters * The

house of Natural Resources – the first Pres-Lam building to be constructed outside of New Zealand * Peavy Hall – a three-storey mixed use education building under construction

Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...

campus in Corvallis, Oregon, United States.

References

{{Reflist Earthquake engineering Engineered wood