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The goal of the work was to evaluate mechanical performance of full-scale timber beams containing scarf joint with a dowel. Work focused on standard testing using modular system to obtain effective stiffness and strength of the beams with and without the joint. The work further researched a contact zone between two timber parts of the joint – at the scarf face. This was carried out using non-destructive optical technique – digital image correlation (DIC) and newly developed algorithm. The joint was made of Norway spruce, dims. 6×0.2×0.24 m and was loaded by two modes: a) 3-point bending and b) 4-point bending. During the loading, a sequence of images was acquired for further investigation of contact zone using the proposed algorithm. The joint with scarf and dowel provided enough effective stiffness, ie. 73–93% for 3-point bending test and 71% for 4-point bending with respect to MOE measured on reference solid beams. Effective strength of the joint was also relatively high and in a range of 55% and 60% with respect to reference solid beams in both 3-point and 4-point bending tests. Contact length differed for loading modes. Mean contact length in symmetrical 4-point bending was about 40%, for asymmetrical 3-point bending test, it was approx. 20% on face closer to support and 44% on a face closer to loads.