ordoro

Hello! I found this oldish thread and wondering if you had gotten to any final resolution on it. I am finishing the basement on a two year old house in Colorado and have a very similar situation. There is an I-beam running across the width of our basement and there are wooden braces at both sides running to the joist above on two places, both right next to the steel columns that add support to the I-beam. The joists are all nailed onto the I-beam through a wooden strip that sits in between and I can't imagine these small strips of wood are doing much. They are not attached to the floor and are attached from the side to the web of the joists and just sitting on the lower runner of the I-beam. Clearly they were put there to prevent sideways movement on the I-beam but I'm guessing that was temporary for construction. Any confirmation or thoughts? Would love to remove so I can avoid extending a soffit an extra couple feet. Thanks!