this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2026
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"Too weak" for the specific load applied to it, i.e not supported/ aided enough by its community of members
There is the possibility of misconfiguration, but ultimately, a member can be too weak even if the configuration is correct.
But, according to the little poem, would we not say thst member was "too isolated"? E.g bearing too much of the load by itself when it would have been more responsibke to make neighbouring members bear the load?
No, we would not. The beams have a loading that they must adequately support. They have a span that is dictated by the column spacing. There are moment, shear and deflection requirements that must be met.
You cannot just throw in supports (i.e., columns, bracing) everywhere to reduce the span until it works, otherwise you impact the usability of the building space and drive up the cost of construction.
Reducing the beam to beam spacing means you are increasing the number of structural elements and therefore cost, and probably also using the material inefficiently. The expensive part of a beam is the connection, and you typically want to reduce the number of connections and crane lifts as much as possible.