It is well known in construction that tensile strength of a beam is mainly determined by its height and much less from it's width ie. if you want to make a stronger beam you need to add height to it. That is the case both with steel I-beams and and with wood beams/trusses.
Based on this, if a beam is say 1/2 of a tefach wide but several tefachim high with enough strength to carry a half of a brick would that be kosher as a korah?
Shlomo Benzaquen, Kochav Yaakov, Israel
It would appear that this would be a machlokes between Rabbi Shmaya (Rebbi Shimon) in the Yerushalmi(Eiruvin 1:4) and the other Tannaim. Rabbi Shmaya says that if the beam is strong it does not need to be broad as well, but this view is disputed by Rabbi Meir (who requires both breadth and strength) and Rabbi Yehuda (who requires only breadth but not strength). Rebbi Shimon's view is accepted for Halakha by Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in the Yerushalmi but does not appear in the Bavli and therefore is not accepted by the Poskim.
Yoel Domb