Patent ID: 8695295

Claim:
A timber structural member including: a first timber round having a diameter of about 75 mm to about 300 mm and a first cooperating surface extending longitudinally along the length thereof, and a second timber round having a diameter of about 75 mm to about 300 mm and a second cooperating surface extending longitudinally along the length thereof, wherein the first cooperating surface is shaped to cooperate with the second cooperating surface and the two timber rounds are secured together to form a structurally integral unit in which the first cooperating surface is in contact with the second cooperating surface and the first timber round is substantially parallel to the second timber round, wherein the first cooperating surface is a flat surface provided by removing a minor segment along the length of the first timber round, and the second cooperating surface is a flat surface provided by removing a minor segment along the length of the second timber round, and wherein the first timber round is secured to the second timber round by a plurality of fasteners spaced along the length of the member, the plurality of fasteners including adjacent fasteners provided at alternating acute and obtuse angles from a longitudinal axis of the structural member, in a manner that an acute-angled fastener and an adjacent obtuse-angled fastener form a V-shape along the longitudinal axis in a sectional side view, and wherein the structural member is provided with a plurality of holes passing through the first and second rounds, each hole of the plurality of holes being shaped to receive one of the fasteners, the plurality of holes including holes formed at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the structural member and holes formed at an obtuse angle to the longitudinal axis of the structural member, wherein the holes formed at an acute angle include holes formed at an angle of from 45° to 70° to the longitudinal axis of the structural member, and the holes formed at an obtuse angle include holes formed at an angle of from 110° to 135° to the longitudinal axis of the structural member.