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Duane Bozarth
 
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kevin wrote:

First off -- good luck.

....
I would be real hesitant to use railroad ties for anything in this
project, other than laid flat on the ground for a temporary base.
Especially if they are old, used, or weathered. Remember, these things
are designed to lay flat to take a load, not raised on end. Loaded
end-wise, they could split, splinter, or collapse. ...


A 6x8 unless it is so rotted/split that it is falling completely apart
to begin w/ is not going to fail at a 30" column height. Nor would it
fail at a full length in compression unless that were the case.

It is also highly unlikely that simply raising the one side back to its
original level is going to create a major additional lateral wind
load...he's "only" raising it 2-1/2', after all. While that's a lot of
sag for a building in functional terms, it isn't much in the overall
height of what is probably something like 40' to the ridge beam...

That said, I agree that short lifts w/ adequate bracing and extreme care
is warranted to make sure the structure doesn't shift unexpectedly. If
would, of course, help to have some idea of what overall shape the rest
of the structure is in. If it's stood in the present condition and only
sagged downward rather than leaned greatly, it would appear to be pretty
well constructed.