FLNRO, with technical assistance from the B.C. Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure and FPInnovations, conducted a case study of the vulnerability to climate change of infrastructure on the 70 km-long in-SHUCK-ch forest service road. The workshop participants followed a process established by the Public Infrastructure Engineering Vulnerability Committee (PIEVC). This case study provided both meaningful analysis of the risks and opportunities faced by the in-SHUCK-ch FSR corridor and the communities it provides access to, and establishes a benchmark for future iterations of the process with resource roads.
A series of recommendations are made that arise from the PIEVC analysis. These recommendations included the need to streamline and focus the PIEVC process specifically for resource roads, capacity building actions by road managers and maintainers, a review of emergency preparedness plans for the communities accessed by the FSR, actions to safeguard FSR infrastructure and residential development on lakeshore debris fans, a general review and inspection of drainage structures, actions to review and improve the resiliency of stream crossing structures and, finally, a recommendation to review the scope and size of the road maintenance program.
In 1997, FERIC studied a partial cutting operation in the Interior Cedar-Hemlock biogeoclimate zone, on a site west of Kitwanga, B.C. The operation used a Skylead C40 16000 skidder-mounted yarder and Mini-Maki II radio-controlled carriage in a standing skyline configuration and in single-and multi-span applications. The study provided information on productivity and costs for the harvesting system, impact on soil surface conditions, and damage to the residual stand. Productivity functions were derived to predict yarding productivity and costs over a range of operation conditions.
This report summarizes a pilot study that investigated how loads that are applied to skyline systems in second-growth thinning operations affect the line tensions and stress distribution in the backspar. The maximum tension in the skyline occurred when the turn was fully suspended under the carriage. In the backspar that was examined, compression was the critical stress. By recognizing how the critical loads produce stresses on backspars, procedures can be developed that will limit these stresses.
The objectives of this presentation are to bring awareness to the relationship between roads and climate change; definite resource road resiliency and adaption; understand the process to identify risks and vulnerabilities to resource roads; review the results from three case studies in BC; and to highlight key learnings and future efforts.
The survey objective was to describe and compare how common cable-yarding systems are currently being applied in Coastal British COlumbia with respect to access requirements. This Field Note summarizes the survey results.
A study by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests (BCMOF), Fraser Lake Sawmills (of West Fraser Mills Ltd.), and the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) compared at-the-stump and roadside processing of stems. FERIC determined the productivity and costs of the two harvesting systems and five subsequent regeneration regimes. The impacts of these treatments on slash distribution, cone distribution, mineral soil exposure, site distrubance, and plantable spots were also examined.
The Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) periodically publishes a guide that summarizes the maximum weights and dimensions for on-highway vehicle configurations hauling logs and operating under the British Columbia Commercial Transport Act Regulations. This latest guide supersedes all previous FERIC guides on this topic.
The Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada (FERIC) periodically publishes a guide that summarizes the maximum weights and dimensions for on-highway vehicle configurations hauling logs and operating under the British Columbia Commercial Transport Act Regulations. This latest guide supersedes all previous FERIC guides on this topic.
In this study, current market share for wood in British Columbia non-residential construction was determined as well as potential for increased consumption of wood, based on a 194-building sample of 2006 building permits from most of BC’s major cities. For the sample, structural materials used in each project were established through phone interviews with each architect, contractor or other individual associated with the construction of the building. Each project was then compared against the height and area limits for combustible construction as defined in the BC Building Code. In actual market share for 2006, 13% of all buildings (which comprise 5% of all area) were primarily framed in wood. Adding in buildings that were partially framed in wood, 25% of all buildings (22% of all area) are using wood, either primarily or in combination with other structural materials. If every building allowed by code to be entirely framed in wood actually was, seven times more constructed area would be using wood than current practice. Adding in the potential for heavy timber roofs on non-combustible buildings yields a total of eleven times more constructed area that could be using wood. This total potential incremental wood consumption is estimated at up to 27 million board feet of lumber-type products (lumber, trusses, glulam, I-joists and composite lumber) and 13 million square feet of structural panels (plywood and OSB). Previously gathered market intelligence in BC and elsewhere in North America was then reviewed together with the market share statistics to help determine a set of near-term recommendations for the BC WoodWORKS! program to help capture some of this potential market.
