Grimly Curmudgeon wrote:
Bruce wrote:

The important thing here is to get a professional opinion from a
qualified structural engineer - something to beat Anglian over the head
with. Nothing less than that will do any good.

For sure. If I was doing any brickwork like that by the seat of my pants
in the middle of nowhere I'd have been looking at a length of I-beam or,
at a pinch, two L-sections opposing each other and straps welded across
between them underneath.
Ideally, I'd have looked up some prog to punch the numbers into, though.


It isn't just a question of finding a piece of software to punch numbers
into. Three years at University and a similar amount of structured
training, followed by a uniquely demanding examination which has to be
passed to obtain professional qualification, teaches rather more
understanding than that.