New elixir of life for timber

An all-timber heavy traffic bridge in the Netherlands probably gets more attention for its ‘distinctiveness’ than its engineering. But the Dutch like it so much they have commissioned another of these revolutionary structures with the radiata pine connection.

It is supposed to resemble the hull of an up-turned boat, but could be mistaken for a giant bean frame. Either way, the Sneek bridge across the A7 near Akkerwinde and Molenkrite is the first of its kind.

Opened in 2008, it is the first large-scale bridge for heavy traffic built with Accoya® wood – a modern technology based on the acetylation process.

And the connection with Australasia is that all 1200 m3 of strength-graded timber used for the fingerjointed and laminated Accoya elements of the structure were made with radiata pine from Tenon in New Zealand.

A 12 m-wide steel deck is supported by two curved timber frames in the form of a Gothic arch, and the principal laminated beams are more than 30 m long, and each weigh around 24 tonnes. Manufacturer Titan Wood gives the timber components an 80-year service life.

A second Accoya bridge across the A7 at Sneek is being built and will be open by the end of this year.

Architect Haiko Meijer describes the material as ”the new elixir of life for the timber industry”. And of the design itself, he says it is intended as a landmark for Sneek (pronounced ‘snake’), symbolising the strength of the water, its sailing heritage and the city itself.

(Full story and pictures in the June/July edition of In-Wood Australasia. Subscribe now at: www.inwoodmag.com)

Shonky engineered wood still a threat

Non-compliant engineered wood products from China continue to pose serious threats to human safety and the structural performance of buildings.

Engineered Wood Products Association of Australia (EWPAA) general manager Simon Dorries is a veteran of the campaign to rid the Australasian marketplace of dangerously sub-standard LVL and plywood products – most imported from China.

But despite legal actions and aggressive promotion, he says non-compliant materials remain the biggest issue on the EWPAA’s agenda.

“I have been spending a lot of time lately with the Department of Justice training safety inspectors to identify non-compliant engineered wood products,’ he told inwoodtoday. (Read more)

Pine becoming a ‘luxury’

Pine sawlog prices in New Zealand and Australia have increased nearly 50% in US dollar terms in one year – and the boom continues.

According to Wood Resource Quarterly, domestic sawlog prices in New Zealand for the first quarter of 2010 were up 38% in USD terms (4% in NZD) on the same quarter last year – driven by a 50% USD hike for export logs and 18% for lumber.

Pine sawlog prices have also gone up in Australia by almost 40% in US dollar terms, mainly the result of the strong AUD.

(Read more)

Value-added pulpwood

An ‘integrated’ roadside sound barrier system made of hardwood thinnings is among new ideas aimed at raising the stakes for low-value plantation roundwood.

Senior architecture students at the University of Queensland have taken up the challenge of developing innovative applications for sustainably managed plantation hardwoods in roundwood form – currently diverted to low value applications such as pulp and firewood.

(Read more)

Revive and survive

The “tear it down mentality” of Australian developers has come under fire from a leading architectural firm.

Peddle Thorp, Melbourne is calling on developers to stop knocking down buildings and look instead to reviving existing structures. Design director Peter Brook says Australia has some superb old buildings that, with a little imagination and creative thought, could be revived. "People genuinely like old buildings as they have character, history and resonance. We should be working harder to keep them."

Instead, he believes the country is suffering from a "tear it down mentality". (Read more)

Solar king takes to the trees

Hans Tholstrup (pictured) – futurist, creator of the world's first solar car and Quixotic crusader – has a new passion in life: trees.

“The luckiest tree in my book is one that becomes a mast on a ship … There is nothing prettier than a wooden boat with its gaffe rigging and its stubby, strong little mast. A tree that can go and see the world! How lucky is that?” the Danish-born adventurer marvels from his modest home on the central Queensland coast.

This interview with one of Australia's more colourful personalities will feature in the July edition of In-Wood Australasia.