Dear Customer,

Thank you for your interest in trusses.  Aside from the great structural advantages that trusses provide, they can save time in any construction project.  Although they are convenient, trusses must be properly handled and braced to form a structurally sound roof system.

A single truss is an exceedingly strong engineering product, but any set of trusses must be sufficiently braced to act as a unit.  There are two types of bracing that must be used in any truss system, temporary erection bracing and permanent truss bracing.  We provide a brochure with every delivery of Collins trusses entitled “Summary Sheet: Commentary and Recommendations for Handling, Installing & Bracing Metal Plate Connected Wood Trusses.”  This brochure is published by the Truss Plate Institute and discusses the topic of bracing at length, we strongly urge you to read this brochure, as we believe it contains invaluable information.

One area of bracing that we wish to address in this letter is the continuous lateral bracing of truss members in compression.  This type of permanent bracing is often overlooked by builders, but is of equal importance to the integrity of your structure.  Please review the engineering drawings of your trusses carefully.  If any internal member of a truss requires bracing it will be noted in these drawings, the particular location of this bracing is also shown.  Installation of this bracing prevents lateral buckling of members in compression and its importance cannot be overstated.

Because proper truss bracing is as important as proper truss design, please call a truss design technician if you have any questions regarding proper truss bracing.

Sincerely,

Collins Truss Systems

Northeast Panel & Truss