Superstrong but lightweight steel beams

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Imagine an I-beam you could carry on your shoulder–you’d be thankful you could haul it without needing a crane, but you probably wouldn’t want to build structures out of it, thinking it surely wouldn’t be strong enough.

Well–wrong! A new material called LSB, or LiteSteelBeam, is as strong as any hot-rolled steel I-beam, but it’s 40% lighter. The result of six years of research and testing, LSB “can be cut, drilled, screwed, bolted, welded, and nailed using standard tools.”

Already in use in Australia, LSB is now being manufactured in the U.S.

via fine homebuilding

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