Hi Ken:
Good luck on your master's, may it lead on to bigger and better things for you!

A few years ago I stumbled across a problem in an 1865 church attic. The bottom chord of the 45 foot truss had dry rotted off near the one end, and had dropped down.

The church council at that time obtained the service of a local engineer to come up with a solution. The solution was to splice in a new 12 by 14 section of timber, and use 3\4 inch thick steel plates and pressure rings along with 3\4 inch bolts to secure everything again. Of course the truss's chord was jacked up to the proper elevation before the repair was done.

No glue was used and the cuts were just butted together.

I believe it was a bit of overkill, but I realize that the bottom chord was doing alot of work. The truss was a bridge type of truss, and carried some of the load of the timberframed spire of the church.

I hope this might help,
NH