Timber iQ October - November 2019 // Issue:46 | Page 33

INTERNATIONAL PROJECT
forest land value, and improved forest management practices
to reduce wildfires and encourage biodiversity. All these
benefits lead to an abatement of climate change.
The project had the full support of the National Hardwood
Lumber Association (NHLA) and the Indiana Hardwood
Lumbermen’s Association (IHLA). A partnership was also
established with SmartLam, the first CLT manufacturer in the
United States, timber structural engineering expert Chris
Carbone from Bensonwood, and Clemson University’s Wood
Utilization + Design Institute. IKD has also collaborated with
the Indiana department of Nation Resources, the Hoosier
National Forest office, and the Indiana Society of American
Foresters.
increased resistance to fire, and higher quality appearance in
visible settings. The proposal aims to jumpstart and
accelerate the development and use of HCLT fabricated from
parts of logs harvested from Indiana forests that can
currently only be used to produce low value wood products.
It seeks to demonstrate the viability and the benefits of a
new, high value timber market in Indiana and the mid-west.
This has the potential to initiate a cascade of effects:
positive job growth in rural forestry and manufacturing,
expanding and diversifying hardwood lumber markets, higher
Construction images
of the upper tier of the
Conversation Plinth
being lifted using a
boom crane on site.
12m long finger joint hardwood boards being prepared to be
loaded into a CLT press.
The Conversation Plinth lights up the evening.
www.timberiq.co.za
// OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2019
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