Structural and Internal Integrity - A frightful test.

(from Ken)

I’ve been contemplating a cantilever design for an overhang on the barn (avoiding posts).  I lay in bed thinking of structural forms and have perused countless photos and engineered drawings on the internet.  Well today I decided to give one of my ideas a try a massive bolt holding each support in place (1st part).  All was going well.  hole drilled and lined up, the bolt ratcheted down into the beam.  It seemed tremendously strong.  I was even impressed.  Then I got the brilliant idea to test its structural integrity.... if it can hold me (200lbs) then a series of them should be quite good.  So I stepped out on the beam, and all seemed good for a moment... then down it went.

Well these things happen rather fast.  Had I a moment to think about it, I likely could have just dropped to the ground and been alright (only about seven feet up - I’m sure Rosetta is happy I wasn’t trying this on the second story north side where I’m planning another one).  But instead of just dropping, I reached for the beam, then something else, then slid down the side of the barn, and then finally hit the ground on my feet I think, and the beam I had attached didn’t fall on me (that was nice).  So other than the abrasion I could feel down the side of my leg, and the skin tore off a few places on my arm (not real bad), I thought all was good - other than being a bit disappointed in my engineering (ok - very disappointed!)... but...

Apparently there was also an internal integrity test going on.  As I stood there assessing what happened and making sure I wasn’t bleeding so much that I would have to stop working, I became...well, I’m not exactly sure...it wasn’t lightheaded exactly, but I knew something wasn’t looking good.  I thought about heading to the house, but wasn’t sure if I would make it.  I managed to get to the excavator and sat down on one of the tracks.  Things sort of faded a bit, but I never fainted.  I tried to asses what was happening but couldn’t make any sense of it.  I hadn’t hit my head, I hadn’t really hit anything hard.  I thought when I’m able to move again I should go to the house and call someone.  So I sat and sat, breathing hard, sweating like crazy, and feeling nauseous.  It seems my internal integrity was not up to the test either.

Some time passed and I eventually got up and started moving around again.  I went up to the barn and looked over things some more, then decided to go ahead and cut some more wood and install some more beams before it got too dark to see.  Not sure what to make of all of that, maybe I was just really really disappointed that the first structural test didn’t hold.  As for now I’m feeling good, and rethinking how to improve my plan.  I’ll include a photo when I come up with something that works!