The motion of throwing and securing log load wrappers can cause a great amount of stress on drivers’ shoulders and overexertion-related musculoskeletal injuries are quite common among log truck operators. Sections 4.46 to 4.53 of BC’s Occupational Health and Safety Regulations outline the requirements for taking steps to prevent musculoskeletal injuries in the workplace. FPInnovations, in collaboration with the Load Securement Working Group (a subcommittee of the Log Truck Technical Advisory Committee that focuses on initiatives that reduce the risk of injuries to log truck operators), has conducted a literature review and surveyed contractors for ideas on how to reduce or eliminate the risk of injury. The result being simple to complex solutions being investigated that had the potential to reduce or eliminate the injuries related to throwing wrappers. The most promising solutions were shortlisted and will be investigated in further detail as part of project phases 2 and 3.
This report summarizes rock breaker technology and its feasibility for use by BC Timber Sales (BCTS) road building operations. An overview of hydraulic ripper, rock hammer, and rock splitting equipment is provided in the context of current resource road construction practices. The feasibility of using rock breakers in BCTS operations is summarized by location through interactive mapping and a comparison of rock hardness and machine productivity. The report also addresses the potential safety benefits of using rock breakers and provides recommendations to BCTS regarding their use.
Reduced surface evaporation rates are marketed as a competitive advantage by water-enhancer manufacturers. In this report, a new test method is developed and applied to quantify the evaporation rates of various commercially available water-enhancer products in a controlled environment. These quantified evaporation rates were then compared to the evaporation rate of water which served as the benchmark.
Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Wildfire Management Branch has recently contracted two Sikorsky S-61N heavy helicopters. Both helicopters are equipped with an external tank (max. volume 1000 U.S. gallons) and have on-board injection systems that are capable of mixing class A foams and water-enhancers.
Currently, there is limited data on comparative drop footprints of foam and water-enhancers (suppressants) for these heavy helicopters. To fill this knowledge gap, AAF has asked FPInnovations to conduct drop tests in different wildland fuel environments. This study focuses on mapping the drop footprints of water, foam, and water-enhancers in an open field at specific flight parameters.
In 2020, Alberta Agriculture and Forestry’s (AAF) Wildfire Management Branch contracted two externally tanked heavy helicopters with on-board injection and mixing systems. The two heavy helicopters are Sikorsky S-61N helicopters with modified Isolair tanks, capable of dropping water, foam, and water-enhancers. Drop tests were conducted using these helicopters to understand the relative footprints of different suppressants.
This study focuses on using drop footprint data to estimate recovery rates of water, foam, and water-enhancers in two scenarios – an open field and a forested stand. These estimates may provide a primarily understanding of how best different suppressants can be used for different applications.
Les forêts aff ectées par des épidémies d’insectes, en l’occurrence par la TBE, présentent une structure de peuplement hétérogène. Cela s’explique, entre autres, par le niveau de défoliation qui n’est pas nécessairement le même d’un arbre à l’autre. La récolte de ces peuplements engendre des coûts supplémentaires. Ceux-ci sont occasionnés par une perte de productivité des machines associée au temps supplémentaire requis pour produire un panier de produits répondant aux spécifi cations des usines. Par ailleurs, les récents développements en télédétection ont montré un grand potentiel pour réaliser des cartes précises et détaillées pouvant améliorer le processus de planifi cation et le déploiement d’opérations forestières. C’est dans ce contexte que des études ont été menées depuis 2014 sur la Côte-Nord. Elles ont permis de mesurer les pertes de productivité des machines et de développer une cartographie plus fi ne permettant de guider les opérateurs vers les endroits où la valeur des tiges assure la viabilité des opérations.
A biomass heat map is a tool to help visualize the cost of biomass that is residual from harvest operations. The heat map is important because it can inform decision-making and economic feasibility studies. Its visual impact can trigger new thoughts and innovations in the human mind that a table of numbers can not... like: Where might we build a new plant? Should we compete at an existing delivery point, or not?
The services offered related to forest operations are outlined in this general brochure. Information on workshops, professional services, virtual library, online tools and opportunities for assessment and support are detailed.
Les services offerts liés aux opérations forestières sont décrit dans cette brochure. Les informations sur les ateliers, les services professionnels, la bibliothèque virtuelle, les outils en ligne et les possibilitées d'interventions sont détaillées.
Forest operations across Canada are encountering increasingly difficult road conditions and more frequent access interruptions related to wet and weak road sections. Resource roads are considered a liability by many forest companies and their business model has been to create the lowest cost, lowest standard, resource road network possible that also will provide tolerable levels of access (i.e., some but not too many failures and hauling disruptions). Increasingly difficult operating conditions and frequent access interruptions, however, drive up costs and threaten the economic sustainability of forest operations.
Starting in 2017, FPInnovations has launched a project to provide its members with techniques and strategies that will offer more reliable and strong road sections and reduce overall road costs. A state-of-practice survey of FPInnovations members provided researchers with a comprehensive understanding of conventional means of responding to wet, weak road conditions in Canada. The report summarizes the responses to wet, weak resource road sections that were identified in the state-of-practice survey and provides an overview of the chief causes and related site indicators for wet, weak road conditions.
Recommended best practices are provided for a variety of conventional industry responses to wet, weak road sections. These address common misconceptions and knowledge gaps that reduce the effectiveness and increase the overall cost associated with the industry responses. These best practice recommendations were based upon findings from a literature review, product manufacturer information, and from researcher expertise.
The report also considers improvements to conventional practices, and advanced solutions that are potentially more effective and economic than the state-of-practice but are not widely exploited by industry. Eleven potential solutions from these two categories were compared and ranked in order of potential. The practice improvements selected for further study were soil compaction, and corduroy and access mats. The advanced solutions selected for further study were geosynthetics that offer both soil reinforcement and enhanced drainage, geocells, and TPCS, a technology to improve truck road-friendliness. Starting in 2021, FPInnovations will initiate field trials and life cycle cost analyses of these technologies.
This report presents the importance of best management practices for mitigating erosion from resource roads and preventing sediment from entering a watercourse. Key to achieving these goals is the understanding of erosion from the road surface and the level of connectivity from the delivery point of the sediment-laden water onto the forest floor and the watercourse. This report provides a list of best management practices that is specific to resource roads.
The research and technology transfer has national implications that will support bioenergy facilities and rural and Indigenous communities across the country. The CWFC is continuing this work to increase our understanding and expand the safe and sustainable use of biomass for bioenergy.
Le transfert des connaissances et de la technologie soutiendra les installations de bioénergie ainsi que les communautés rurales et autochtones dans l’ensemble du pays. Le CCFB poursuit ce travail a n de mieux comprendre et d’élargir l’utilisation sûre et durable de la biomasse pour la bioénergie.
The researchers suggest partial harvesting - in this case, thinning forests in 20-year increments during the natural pest disturbance periods. The result is a cost-effective and sustainable way to harvest trees and maintain resilient forests.
Les chercheurs suggèrent une récolte partielle; dans ce cas, l`éclaircissage des forêts par tranche de 20 ans pendant les périodes de perturbation naturelle des ravageurs. Le résultat est un moyen durable et économique de récolter des arbres et de maintenir des forêts résilientes.
Forests make up nearly 35 per cent – 347 million hectares – of Canadian land. For the forest sector, that’s a lot of inventory to manage and monitor. To run any successful business, inventory needs to be monitored. That’s why researchers at the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre (CWFC) are enhancing current inventory systems to improve how forest managers, provincial governments, and other communities across Canada manage forests.
Le Canada compte 347 millions d’hectares de forêt, ce qui correspond à près de 35 % de sa super cie. C’est beaucoup de stocks à gérer et surveiller pour le secteur forestier. Pour gérer avec succès une exploitation, une surveillance des stocks s’impose. C’est la raison pour laquelle les chercheurs du Centre canadien sur la bre de bois (CCFB) s’emploient à améliorer les systèmes d’inventaire actuels de manière à améliorer la façon dont les aménagistes forestiers, les gouvernements provinciaux et d’autres collectivités du Canada gèrent les forêts.
The FastTRAC project brought together scientists, foresters and economists from the Canadian Wood Fibre Centre, Laval University, FPInnovations, the Government of Québec, J.D. Irving, and the New Brunswick Tree Improvement Council. They demonstrated tree genomic-assisted selection at the operational scale and highlighted the economic benefits of FastTRAC technology.
Des chercheurs primés du Centre canadien sur la bre de bois du Service canadien des forêts (CCFB/SCF) mènent cette recherche génomique dans le cadre d’un projet appelé FastTRAC (Fast Tests for Rating and Amelioration of Conifers / Tests rapides pour l’amélioration des conifères). Ces travaux transforment les programmes traditionnels d’amélioration génétique des arbres, ils améliorent la sélection des arbres et ils dotent les producteurs de semences de recherches et d’outils essentiels.
La recherche sur les cultures intensives en courte rotation du CCFB fournit les connaissances et la technologie dont nous avons besoin pour atténuer les effets du changement climatique en améliorant la façon dont nous gérons les forêts et utilisons les produits ligneux récoltés.
