SNIP
>I read a bit about "american construction techniques" a while ago and, as opposed to what is done in other countries, where main columns (mostly in the corners) support the weight of a house, here the weight of the house is supported by a number of wood beams (2" x 4" sections) every 16" or so.
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>This came to be because many many years ago, it was very difficult to get wood good enough to use as main supports, so ingenuititious builders came up with a solution: distribute the load among a number of less-capable beams and use more of them (in the walls). This way the structure is technically over-supported if all the beams are first quality, or just supported if some of the beams are allowed to fail.
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>Please note that higher buildings are built differently, but 99.999999% of all structures that are 4 or less floors high are built in this stupid way.
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SNIP
That's interesting, Alex, and with perhaps an opportunity to change that.

Two or so years ago I saw a thing on TV about made-to-order beams of any dimensions wanted.
As I saw it it was plywood on steroids.
A beam of, say, 15inches x 15inches x 60feet was made of very much smaller bits of wood of varying sizes, all fairly long (maybe 2+feet) but maybe 1inch x 1inch, .5inch x 1.5inch, etc. The beams were made of these pieces bathed in glue, compressed together and then pushed through a microwave oven to harden the glue. They were said to be much stronger than a beam of equivalent solid wood.

I could see such things with waterproof/fireproof glue allowing a whole new way to build buildings.

cheers