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The importance of wildfire suppression and effective firefighting measures has increased globally. In recent years, human activities and global warming have increased wildfires in all parts of the world.
Making use of the properties of forest machines
New funding will help the government reach its target of 30,000 hectares of new trees per year across the UK by 2025.
£2.5 million will plant trees in cities, towns and the countryside, tackling climate change and creating habitats for wildlife.
£1.4 million, part of the £640m Nature for Climate fund, will plant 850,000 trees near rivers and watercourses, better protecting homes and reducing flood risk.
This follows the recent announcement of £80 million for the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, supporting thousands of jobs in the environment sector.
A cash boost of nearly £4 million to plant more trees up and down the country has been announced by the government today (5 December). This will see hundreds of thousands of new trees planted, including in towns and cities and near rivers to reduce flood risk, and help meet the government’s commitment to increase planting to 30,000 hectares per year across the UK by 2025.
A pot of £2.5 million will support schemes that establish new ways of planting trees in our cities, towns and countryside. Led by Defra, Natural England and the Tree Council, this will use five pilot studies delivered on the ground by Local Authorities to develop cost-effective and innovative approaches to planting trees outside woodlands over the next two and a half years. This could include schemes such as community tree nurseries, agroforestry and hedgerow management, or planting trees from locally collected seed. These new trees will help tackle climate change and create habitats for wildlife.
A further £1.4 million has been awarded to the Environment Agency to fund ‘woodlands for water’ – 15 projects to plant over 850,000 trees that will protect around 160km of river and help to reduce the risk of flooding to over 500 properties.
Tree planting can play a valuable role in reducing flood risk, slowing the flow of water to nearby communities. Tree planting near watercourses can also act as a buffer for agricultural pollution and improve water quality.
The ‘woodlands for water’ funding, which forms part of the £640 million Nature for Climate fund to support the Government’s tree planting commitment, will support projects such as:
Forestry Minister, Lord Goldsmith, said:
“We are going to have to break down the barriers to planting trees outside of woodlands if we are to deliver our ambitious tree planting commitments. Trees are the backbone of our urban and rural environments, and increasing planting is an effective way both to tackle climate change and stem the appalling collapse of biodiversity.
“These ambitious new initiatives will help deliver tree planting on an unprecedented scale. They will help to regenerate our urban areas, as well as our watercourses and create a network of green corridors for both people and wildlife to thrive.”
Sara Lom, CEO The Tree Council, said:
“We are delighted to be working with local authority partners at the heart of this important project, in line with our mission to bring people together, to find creative solutions to establish more trees in our communities in a practical and sustainable way.”
Chair of the Environment Agency, Emma Howard Boyd, said:
“This £1.4 million fund is one part of the wide range of measures to improve the nation’s resilience to the impacts of climate change. It will accelerate efforts to reach net zero and help achieve the government’s 25 Year Environment Plan goals for nature through effective nature-based solutions.
“The projects chosen will provide invaluable benefits to communities and our environment – from reducing flood risk and protecting homes, to capturing carbon, improving water quality and encouraging biodiversity.”
In addition to today’s announcement, the government recently consulted on a new England Tree Strategy to accelerate tree planting and improve the management of our existing trees and woodlands.
The Prime Minister also recently announced a further £40 million additional investment into the government’s Green Recovery Challenge Fund – this will go towards creating and retaining thousands of jobs in the environmental sector.
Jartek Invest Oy has signed a major contract with Fargesbois in France. Fargesbois belongs to Piveteau Group which is one of the major wood processors in France. Piveteau has several processing sites and is known for value added projects and innovative thinking. Jartek delivers a sorting line for green lumber. The project is so called brownfield project. Besides delivering a new sorting line, a lot of connections to the existing process are also added. The delivery consists of latest innovations by Jartek; multiple servo feeder and machine vision systems to name a few.
Earlier this year Jartek delivered a smaller project to France, but this contract is a real breakthrough to the market. Jartek has cooperated for years with its French partner Finnsobois mainly in Thermowood kilns. The cooperation has now also extended to mechanical processing. “We would like to say a huge thank you to our partner Finnsobois and especially Fargesbois for the trust towards our company”, says Kari Puustinen, Sales Director of Jartek, by continuing that “we see a big potential on the market with the help of our partner. There is really a place for our fast tailor made lines with good references”.
This is not the first time when Fargesbois turns to Finnish technology. Piveteau Group has several debarkers by Valon Kone and a saw line by HewSaw which started up in 2009 in Farges. “This will become an excellent showroom for us in the future”, says Puustinen. Piveteau Group is very innovative and open minded. “When choosing our partner for the project we looked openly for companies who can fulfill our demands. Jartek was a natural choice for us”, says Philippe Piveteau, CEO of Piveteau Group.
This order increases a record high order book for Jartek in addition to a large-scale contract to Russia a few months ago. “It is a privilege to be part of these great projects in the current global situation”, concludes Puustinen.
The importance of wildfire suppression and effective firefighting measures has increased globally. In recent years, human activities and global warming have increased wildfires in all parts of the world.
Making use of the properties of forest machines
Finnish forest machine company Ponsse Plc, together with rescue departments, has developed firefighting equipment installed in the load space of a forwarder for fighting wildfires.
As wildfires usually take place far away from roads, accessing fire sites by fire trucks may be impossible or at least slow. Instead, a forest machine is designed to be agile in the terrain, and it can reach its destination quickly and easily, also in difficult conditions. Rescue workers normally carry fire hoses to wildfire sites manually or using an ATV and then connect a sufficient number of hoses together to reach the fire. It is easier to limit a fire and protect residential areas when using a forest machine than manually.
“Forest machines are the most natural and effective way to access a forest fire area. Operations in difficult terrain are second nature to them, and they have more than enough capacity in their hydraulic system for demanding conditions”, says Juha Haverinen, forwarder product manager at Ponsse. “When the rescue authorities asked us if we were willing to start developing this product together, we were ready right from the beginning, because rescue professionals and our customers round the world had a clear demand for firefighting equipment”, Juha says.
Firefighting equipment is available for the PONSSE Buffalo, PONSSE Buffalo King, PONSSE Elephant and PONSSE Elephant King forwarders. The minimum loader requirement is PONSSE K90+. The optional equipment is available for new forest machines, or it can be retrofitted on forwarders of the 2015 model series or newer.
A thoroughly considered technical system
The firefighting equipment designed by Ponsse is brought to the fire site on a transport base by a truck with a demountable platform, from where it is lifted into the load space of a forwarder using the forwarder’s loader. After the firefighting equipment is securely fastened and the electrical and hydraulic connectors are connected, fire suppression and fighting can begin.
“Our firefighting equipment consists of a 10 m3 water tank, which can be filled with the system’s powerful pump from a natural source, such as the sea, a stream, lake or ditch, or from the tank of a fire truck if possible. The water cannon has a range of 47 metres and a turning radius of 360 degrees”, Haverinen says, and specifies that when filling the water tank, a safe distance of 20 metres from the forwarder must be maintained.
The powerful pump fills the water tank very quickly, in just six minutes. At full power, it takes roughly 10 minutes to empty the tank when extinguishing a fire. The maximum speed of a forwarder is 20 km/h on public roads and 5 km/h in the terrain. This must be considered especially when the tank is filled from the tank of a fire truck, because large volumes of water must be transported to the site.
The water cannon and a fire hose can be used simultaneously. Using the remote control, a firefighter can adjust the water pressure, water cannon direction, spray angle and pattern (water mist or solid stream), whereas the water cannon’s water flow is adjusted manually. During firefighting activities, the forest machine and rescue personnel can be protected from heat radiation using a water mist pattern.
“The water tank is made from aluminum to make it as light as possible. In terms of its volume, the water tank is designed to fit the load space of a PONSSE forwarder, and it can be lifted into place using the forwarder’s loader. Aluminum is highly resistant to the use of chemicals mixed with water and the use of salty sea water. Baffle plates have been installed inside the tank to prevent water from moving freely in the tank when the machine is driven in the terrain”, Haverinen says.
To prevent corrosion damage, the equipment must be maintained regularly, especially if water is pumped from natural sources, as sand or other material may then access the tank. It is also important to clean the water tank thoroughly after the use of chemicals or sea water in the tank. Pumps must be protected against freezing when the equipment is stored in cold conditions.
Financially viable
Installing firefighting equipment on a forest machine is financially viable. A forest machine contractor who enters into a firefighting agreement can carry out productive harvesting activities in the forest when the firefighting equipment is not needed.
“In practice, this means that a rescue department owns the firefighting equipment, and it is stored on a transportation platform at the fire station. Rescue departments sign agreements with local forest machine contractors on the use of forest machines in firefighting activities. When there is a fire alarm, rescue personnel transport the firefighting equipment to the fire site and the forest machine contractor drives their forwarder there. Then, they can start firefighting activities together”, Haverinen says.
Local rescue department responsible for planning firefighting activities
Trained rescue personnel are always responsible for limiting and extinguishing fires, as well as supervising firefighting activities. The firefighting equipment is controlled by a firefighter, while the forest machine operator follows the instructions given via a radiophone. The forest machine operator does not require any rescue training to enter into an agreement on firefighting activities.
The firefighting equipment includes a wireless reversing camera. It is installed on a forwarder as optional equipment so that the operator can see behind the equipment. This ensures the safety of rescue personnel around the forest machine. The reversing camera is also necessary when setting the grapple in the transportation position.
The firefighting equipment meets the requirements of EU Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. Before any delivery of the firefighting equipment to market areas outside the EU, it must be ensured that the equipment meets local requirements and regulations.
In the spring, the merger between Eco Log and Gremo was announced. Now SP Maskiner AB is also joining the joint group and for Eco Log it is an important part of the company’s long-term plan. Over the past two years, Eco Log has followed a clear growth strategy and Anders Gustafson, CEO of Eco Log, can state that the work so far is going according to plan.
A lot has happened with us at Eco Log in a relatively short time, including the acquisition of the sales company Eco Log Försäljning AB and the merger with Gremo, which means that we now have the market’s most comprehensive forwarder line-up. The merger with SP widens our range even more, making Eco Log a complete supplier with a comprehensive product that covers the many and varied needs of forestry across the Globe, says Mr Anders Gustafson.
The merger with SP means that a new Eco Log harvester head will be launched, based on SP technology but with Eco Log’s design and unique features.
It is very exciting to develop and follow up the results on a unit optimized for Eco Log’s machines. I am positive that it will be a very competitive combination, says Mr Anders Gustafson.
At the same time, production of SP’s existing range continues as before, and Martin Bredenfeldt, CEO of SP Maskiner AB, sees that the merger provides both stability and the opportunity to invest in the company and the products going forward.
Today we offer units with high performance and quality, which we will of course continue with. Existing customers can feel completely confident that our current products and the SP brand remain and that we will also have the opportunity to invest in it even more in the future, says Mr Martin Bredenfeldt.
Facts about the merger between Eco Log and SP Maskiner AB
The main owners of the two companies, Accent Equity and Weland, have agreed that the companies will merge under the Eco Log Group. The group will consist of Eco Log Sweden AB, Eco Log Försäljning AB, Gremo AB, Gremo Maskinservice AB and SP Maskiner AB. The head office will be located in Söderhamn while the operations for SP will continue to be conducted in Ljungby. In total, sales in the Eco Log Group are estimated to amount to approximately SEK 800 million in 2021. Sales of the regular unit range will continue to be handled via SP’s dealer network, while the new Eco Log units will be sold together with the machines via Eco Log’s dealers.
SP Maskiner AB was founded in 1978 and is today a world-leading supplier of Swedish-made harvesting units with the concept of delivering units that fit all brands and models.
Accent Equity: http://www.accentequitypartners.se/
Weland Group: https://www.weland.com/sv-se/foeretaget/koncernen/
Contact
Anders Gustafson: Tel +46703207510 | CEO Eco Log Group
Martin Bredenfeldt: Tel +467344252221 | CEO SP Maskiner AB
Freres Lumber Co. Inc. is using a custom below-the-hook attachment, manufactured by Caldwell, to lift long lumber loads at its Mass Ply Panel (MPP) facility in Lyons, Oregon.
The 15-ton capacity, 53 ft.-long, motorized rotary leg lumber lifter handles lamellas (thin layers / plates) of structural composite lumber, used to manufacture MPP products. It is attached to a 20-ton capacity overhead crane with two hoists; the lifting equipment and attachment were provided by U.S. Crane & Hoist, also of Oregon (Wilsonville).
“I was confident in Caldwell,” said George Beaudoin, general manager at U.S. Crane & Hoist. “Having worked with them for a number of years, I knew that they had a wide range of product solutions as well as the ability to design custom lifting solutions. The Freres team and I discussed a few different options and ideas. Lumber applications can present some challenges due to the length of the loads as well as the width. There are times when the long loads require multiple hoists operating in a tandem-lift scenario and there are other times when a custom lifting device is a better solution. As crane manufacturers, it is extremely helpful for us to be able to work with a company like Caldwell. It gives us the ability to make sure we are providing the best possible solution to the end user.”
The crane, hoists and lifter combine to lift product from a roll case and place it into inventory. The maximum unit dimensions that the motorized lifter picks is 60 ft. long by 30 in. high by 4 ft. wide. This is approximately 600 cubic ft. of material at 37 lbs. per cubic ft., which weighs a little over 11 tons. The lifter itself weighs another 6 tons.
Kyle Freres, vice president of operations at Freres Lumber, said: “We knew we needed to pick extremely long units, and we were aware that lumber lifters had been utilized in the past due to our relationship with LVL [laminated veneer lumber] producers. The lifter was a natural fit for that reason. The 4 ft.-wide units may be made up of 2 ft. by 2 ft. pieces. The lifter is also able to pick a unit from inventory and place it onto another roll case, which delivers the product to the next manufacturing phase.”
The rotary leg lumber lifter, which is in daily use, can effectively lift two bundles of lumber side-by-side, fully supporting them from underneath. Freres explained that the lifter “forks” or “legs” are rotated out parallel to the length of the machine. This allows the lifter to drop on top of the unit of product that is to be picked. Once the “legs” are under the unit they are rotated 60 degrees so that they are below the unit. When the crane starts lifting it picks the package with it. The aforementioned roll cases have rolls spaced so the lifter can set the unit gently onto the case.
Freres added: “Due to the length of our product, and the requirement to pick both 2 ft.- and 4 ft.-wide material, we could not consider a standard sheet lifter. Having units split down the middle and still have the lifter function properly was an important requirement. Our shortest packages are 32 ft. in length and the lifter was required to handle all lengths between there and the maximum [60 ft.].
“It has been very successful; we have had no issues with the lifter that I am aware of. Start-up issues were limited to having to fine-tune the location of the roll cases to work successfully with the lifter legs. We would order another if we had an opportunity to build a facility like our current one, but we have no need of it at the current site.”
Beaudoin said: “At the time, the lifter for Freres was the first custom device that I was involved in. Thankfully, I had worked with Caldwell many times for other devices such as Posi-Turners [Freres has one], gantry cranes, jib cranes, etc. For the Freres rotary leg lumber lifter, Caldwell was my first and only call and they certainly came through.”
The rotary leg lumber lifter has not required any unscheduled service or maintenance.
Main Image: Caldwell Lumber Lifter 2020 Freres Lumber. The rotary leg lumber lifter is in daily use.
Caldwell Lumber Lifter 2020 Freres Lumber
Freres Lumber Co. Inc. is using the attachment to lift long lumber loads at its Mass Ply Panel (MPP) facility in Lyons, Oregon.
Caldwell Lumber Lifter 2020 Freres Lumber
The maximum unit dimensions that the motorized lifter picks is 60 ft. long by 30 in. high by 4 ft. wide.
Caldwell Lumber Lifter 2020 Freres Lumber
The lifter is attached to a 20-ton capacity overhead crane with two hoists.
Caldwell Lumber Lifter 2020 Freres Lumber
The 15-ton capacity, 53 ft.-long, motorized rotary leg lumber lifter handles lamellas (thin layers / plates) of structural composite lumber
Caldwell Lumber Lifter 2020 Freres Lumber
The crane, hoists and lifter combine to lift product from a roll case and place it into inventory.
Contact for editorial enquiries: Darrin Noe, dnoe@caldwellinc.com
Award winning company and author join forces for a successful “Combi’nation”
An excellent new children’s book has been launched just in time for Christmas. Collaboration between forklift manufacturer Combilift and award-winning Irish author Emer Conlon has resulted in “The Forklifts and their Secret Superpowers”, which depicts the main Combilift products as cartoon characters. Innovation has been a hallmark of Combilift and this has now been extended to capture children’s imaginations.
The combination of a children’s book and one of the largest indigenous companies in Ireland may not seem a likely fit, but according to Emer this is a novel way to communicate with existing and potential customers, as well as being involved in the education of the next generation. “I also wanted to use it as a marketing tool for the adults and so I used the USPs of the actual forklifts and turned them into the superpowers of the characters. That way both adults and children would get something from the book. “Martin McVicar (Combilift MD) really liked the idea – especially the educational aspect for children and as a result, CombiKids was created. So Combilift is ‘Lifting Innovation’ and now CombiKids is ‘Lifting Imaginations’”
“The aim was to achieve a balance between Combilift branding and creating a story, filled with drama and excitement featuring endearing characters that children would fall in love with. The Combilift adventure is a real page turner and the book also has a couple of ‘baddies’ – but these are of course not Combilift trucks!” For further enjoyment, there is an activity section at the back which includes something for all age groups such as one-off activities (join the dots and a word search puzzle) and activities that can be completed again and again (a Maze, Spot the Difference and a Map of the World). These add to the engagement and interaction that children will get from the book.
The CombiKids book highlights overcoming difficulties, the importance of friendship and that bullying is unacceptable. Needless to say, the hero is always a Combilift truck who “saves the day”. Also as the forklift trucks are all different shapes and sizes, there is a focus on the importance of being accepting of others’ differences, no matter what they look like or what shape or size they are.
Martin explains, “We believe it is very important to be involved with the education of the next generation and to that end we already have a number of programs including apprenticeships, tours, etc. However, our new CombiKids initiative will involve even younger children as they would ‘buy-into’ the Combilift brand by creating an association with it. This will encourage future engineers and other budding talent, as well as motivating children to read. It is a great way to highlight Combilift to a wider community that may not be overly familiar with it”.
Combilift is a proud member of Guaranteed Irish, and the CombiKids book reflects the company’s ethos of supporting local businesses and the importance of Irish jobs – particularly during Covid19. The book was printed, illustrated and typeset in Ireland. Combilift is also very mindful that charities are suffering during the pandemic in terms of support and donations and has committed to donating ALL proceeds from book sales to the deserving charity, Make a Wish Ireland. To purchase the CombiKids book or for further information on the characters, visit www.Combi-Kids.com
Germany’s best wood SCHNEIDER is investing around EUR 80 million in a completely new sawmill in Messkirch. The sawmill will have an annual capacity of 200,000 m3 (85,000 MBF) of sawn lumber. All lumber drying will be performed in four OTC model continuous kilns from Sweden’s Valutec.
“We were looking for a kiln supplier who could provide high-capacity lumber kilns that required minimal maintenance, and Valutec was able to offer the best solution. They also have extensive experience of continuous kilns and excellent references here in Germany. It’s why we chose them,” says Andreas Schilling, MBA, Project Manager, Technical Systems Planning at best wood SCHNEIDER.
The sawmill in Messkirch is a greenfield project, and it will be one of Europe’s most modern sawmills once completed. For example, forklifts will be replaced by gantries between the lumber feed and the trimmers.
“Being entrusted with this investment is proof that we offer leading edge technology. In the case of a completely new sawmill, we have much greater latitude when it comes to the lumber drying process, and with four OTC model continuous kilns, we provide the ideal balance between availability, capacity and the right end-product quality,” says Robert Larsson, Valutec CEO.
The kilns are built in stainless steel and equipped with Valutec’s latest Valmatics 4.0 control system. It’s the only system on the market to use built-in simulator technology to optimize drying processes for all types of lumber kilns.
OTC kiln assembly will begin in the summer of 2021, and commissioning is scheduled for the following winter. The sawn timber produced and dried at the location is used exclusively in the course of own further processing.
For more information, please contact:
Robert Larsson, CEO at Valutec
robert.larsson@valutec.se
Andreas Schilling, Project Manager, Technical Systems Planning at best wood SCHNEIDER
andreas.schilling@schneider-holz.com
Remsoft has assisted Forestry Corporation with the bushfire recovery process, providing optimization modelling technology to efficiently schedule crews to harvest the burnt timber.
Forestry Corporation of NSW, a state-owned business responsible for the management of state forests within New South Wales, Australia, has reached an important recovery milestone following the country’s 2019-20 bushfire season. More than 3 million tons of fire-affected timber has been harvested, hauled and sold from the organisation’s bushfire-affected softwood plantations at Bathurst, Bombala, Grafton, Tumut and Walcha.
The milestone represents around 71,000 truckloads of logs and is a significant boost for communities recovering from the devastating bushfire season. Forestry Corporation is working with local harvesting and haulage contractors and mills to help ensure timber is available for the NSW community to rebuild after the fires.
Stora Enso has received approval for producing and delivering CLT panels to the U.S. in accordance to the International Building Code (IBS), company announced. The CLT panels can now be produced to be certified in compliance with the North American CLT standard ANSI/APA PRG 320-2019, Standard for Performance-Rated Cross-Laminated Timber.
The changes in the 2021 issue of this code now allow to construct buildings from mass timber of up to 18 storeys, compared with just five before. This clearly paves the way for a new market in mid-rise wooden construction and fossil-based materials such as concrete and steel can be replaced to a much greater extent in North American construction.
The CLT panels by Stora Enso will be manufactured in its biggest mill, in Ybbs in Austria. Stora Enso plans to apply for the same certification for Zdirec mill in the Czech Republic, its 4th CLT production facility with an estimated start-up in Q3 2022. The CLT panels from Ybbs can be produced with a width of up to 9.68 feet (2.95 meters) and a length of up to 52.5 feet (16 meters).
“Previously, we have been restricted to buildings no taller than five storeys or special one-off assignments, so this is a real game changer for us. This ‘license to operate’ is very exciting news for the North American market and gives us the opportunity to provide CLT also to the US and Canada,” said Steve Lieberman, Business Development Manager for North America at Stora Enso.
“The mid-rise building segment has been traditionally using concrete and steel, but the certification means that wood as a raw material has the possibility to reach the market in a much bigger way than before. The massive-engineered wood element CLT is particularly useful for building wooden constructions that go beyond five storeys”, he added.
“We have proven already in other overseas markets such as Singapore or Australia that we can deliver for big and small projects across the globe from our production facilities in Central Europe. We’ve had some very successful and big projects such as The International House in Sydney or Library at the Dock in Melbourne or also the Singapore Management University. Expanding these activities to North America is definitely another milestone in our vision to be a global leader of innovative wood-based solutions”, stated Gernot Weiß, Head of Business Line CLT. “We believe strongly in the growth of CLT and the outstanding dynamic development of the North American market.”
The ICC-ES Evaluation Report ESR-4381 and Listing Report ESL-1170 can be found on the company’s CLT downloads page.
Photo: Steve Lieberman, Business Development Manager for North America at Stora Enso.