Lateral Wind Loads - Residential Construction

[FESI]

Pertaining to the connection between the top of wall and roof structure - mainly between wood or concrete masonry walls and pre-engineered roof trusses - I have noticed that the emphasis has been made on uplift when it comes to proprietary connectors. It seems that most connectors such as "twist" straps and many truss girder connectors are not rated for lateral loads. In addition, the proprietary connectors that are rated for lateral loads typically do not have near the uplift capacity as other connectors. When a connection is evaluated for a load combination (uplift, lateral parallel and perpendicular to wall) I have found that many connectors are very dificult to justify especially in high wind speed areas.

My question is: What are other engineers doing? I know that if I specify two connectors on one truss to resist uplift and lateral loads, the contractor never seems to call and say "thanks".

 

[ron9876]

I live in 140 mph area. The manufacturers don't make one single connector that will transfer the load if the truss is very long. USP's HLPTA anchor seems to be the best for smaller buildings but when you get into larger loads using 2 connectors seems to be the only solution.