Having done some research now on inverted queen post trusses, they are similar to the truss in the barn, but not exactly. The center section of the truss is a queen post truss, with two symetrical posts, but there are two additional, unbraced, slightly shorter posts flanking the two middle posts (queen with handmaidens?), so the steel cable bottom chord is in five distinct sections, not three like a true inverted queen post truss.

Wish I had a URL to post a sketch to. Result is perhaps somewhere between an inverted queen post truss and and inverted bowstring truss, with a horizontal top chord.

Last edited by OKarch; 08/20/10 04:29 AM.