In a previous post Tony Bryer says...
One of the crunch things in your question is that the steel plating
to an existing beam will do nothing unless you jack the timbers first
to remove the load they are carrying.


Tony:

That certainly would help and would be considered good construction
practice. However, if you apply the steel plates BEFORE you take out
the post then loads will transfer to the steel plates.

BTW, I will post the "trick" part of the question later today.


--
Bob Morrison, PE, SE
R L Morrison Engineering Co
Structural & Civil Engineering
Poulsbo WA