How do we get wood structures strong enough to hold second and third floors?

Question

How do we make houses and buildings out of wide wooden slabs that are strong enough to hold the people, furniture, and rest of the structure?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

Wood’s compressive strength is very strong. That means you can put a LOT of weight on it without crushing it. If you think about it, this makes sense, since trees are basically wood stacked dozens of feet in the air.

Commonly, [wood can withstand 5000 pounds per square inch](https://woodbin.com/ref/wood-strength-table/) without being crushed. That’s as much as concrete.