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I'd like to build a sukkah with rafters made of metal. (In order to ensure the schach only rests on wood, I plan to lay wood on top of the metal rafters, and the schach on top of the wood.) Is there a point at which the rafters invalidate the sukkah space beneath them? For example, if there are 2" wide metal rafters every 18", is it ok to sit anywhere in the Sukkah, or must I make sure to sit in between the rafters so that there is no metal above me?

Related but not identical question: How many rafters invalidate the sukkah?

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If I understand the question correctly this article provides the answer and tells you what works. See in particular the following passage:

My understanding is, that you are concerned about the metal poles of the marquee, which are ABOVE your kosher Schach. If we consider the poles non-kosher Schach, non-kosher Schach only disqualifies the sukka (depending where it is) when it is 4 Tefachim wide (approx. 31 cm. ) in a large sukka. So, in your case, since it is less than 5cm width, it poses no problem. (Shulchan Aruch 632:1) On the other hand, if the metals poles are needed to support the Schach, the schach should not lie on them directly. You should put a strip of wood on the poles to separate the schach from the poles.

See also this article Schach supported by metal beams

And see also the excerpt below from https://oukosher.org/blog/consumer-kosher/preparing-sukkot-5777-qa/#fn10

How should the schach be supported?

One should not rest schach directly on metal or plastic, but rather on wooden beams placed on top of the metal poles.10

And see also the action headed Invalid Schach and Airspaces in this article

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  • Those answers are close but I think not quite what I'm asking about. In my situation, the order from bottom to top is this: ground, person, metal rafters cutting across the sukkah, wood beams, schach. Is it ok to sit directly under the metal rafters?
    – Josh Grinberg
    Commented Jun 19 at 21:15
  • Both quoted articles say that schach should not rest directly on metal; wood should be placed on top of the metal and schach should rest on the wood on top of the metal. And see also the action headed Invalid Schach and Airspaces in this article halachipedia.com/…
    – Edward B
    Commented Jun 19 at 21:30
  • Ah, the "Invalid Schach and Airpsaces" section is relevant: "If there are less than 3 tefachim of invalid schach in middle of the sukkah, the sukkah is valid and one may sit underneath that invalid schach." Do rafters than runs the length of the sukkah (e.g. 2 inches wide x 12 feet long) and are 18" apart count as what Halachipedia refers to as "less than 3 tefachim"? If so, then that's exactly the answer to my question.
    – Josh Grinberg
    Commented Jun 19 at 22:22

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