Washington CLT: ‘The Greatest Thing Since Sliced Wood’

 

Cross laminated timber, or CLT, is being touted as a revolutionary and environmentally friendly building material that can support structures reaching 12 stories and potentially higher, and could a game-changing economic factor that timber communities have been looking for since the industry began to decline three decades ago.

“It’s the greatest thing since sliced wood; that’s my tag line,” said former state senator Brian Hatfield, Gov. Jay Inslee’s personal pick as his go-to guy for studying ways to breathe life back into the state’s wood products industry.

CLT’s potential economic impact on a timber area like the Twin Harbors is not lost on Hatfield, or 6th District Congressman Derek Kilmer, a Democrat from Gig Harbor.

“God knows we’ve got proximity to the natural resource base,” said Kilmer. “This has the potential to be a real win-win for the area; certainly a win for the economy. The timber industry has been around a long time. We’ve taken some shots to the chin over the last few decades, but I think this provides an opportunity to have the Olympic Peninsula take the initiative and show the world that timber towns can be relevant, and innovative, in the 21st Century.”

What is CLT, and what makes it such a promising alternative to more traditional wood and steel – and even heavy timber – construction? The CLT Handbook, produced by Canada-based FP Innovations in 2013, describes cross laminated timber as “several layers of lumber boards stacked crosswise (typically at 90 degrees) and glued together on their wide faces and, sometimes, on the narrow faces as well.”

From The Daily World: thedailyworld.com.

 

Latest News

Kerwood Joins Hansen-Rice

Hansen-Rice, Inc. (HRI) announced that Terry Kerwood and Matt Peerboom have joined their heavy industrial team as a business manager and director, respectively. Kerwood’s role is owner/ client advocate and liaison. As director, Peerboom…

Boise Cascade Operation At Elgin Is Up In Air

Boise Cascade has issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act notice to its employees at its operations in Elgin, Ore. “We issued the notice in order to ensure that all employees are aware it is…

Westmill Industries Moves Headquarters

Westmill Industries has moved headquarters to a new, larger facility located in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Can. With more than five times more office, warehouse and shop space, and more than 10 times more yard and covered…

CalPlant Gears Up For First Board

CalPlant I, the new rice straw-based MDF plant in Willows, Calif., is starting up and commissioning all areas of the mill. This includes the straw preparation…

Find Us On Social

Newsletter

The monthly Panel World Industry Newsletter reaches over 3,000 who represent primary panel production operations.

Subscribe/Renew

Panel World is delivered six times per year to North American and international professionals, who represent primary panel production operations. Subscriptions are FREE to qualified individuals.

Advertise

Complete the online form so we can direct you to the appropriate Sales Representative. Contact us today!