THE EWPAA’s laboratory in Brisbane became an impromptu television studio when ABC-TV’s current affairs program Landline decided its national audience should know more about engineered wood, and cross-laminated timber in particular. Source: Timberbiz
The program will start with the rejoinder that every once in a while a product or technology comes along which is a game changer – think the microwave oven, the iPod, e-book readers or the world wide web itself.
Fronting the camera, EWPAA general manger Simon Dorries said he believed new CLT technology would have a similarly revolutionary impact on the construction industry.
Talking up what has been described as ‘jumbo ply’, he said it was a remarkable idea, a remarkable product and maybe one day Australia would have its own CLT manufacturing plant.
CLT is made from solid wood planks bonded together into large panels and then sandwiched into three, five or seven layers with the in-between layers running cross directionally.
“It is stronger and more resistant than typical wood frame construction. “You can’t destroy a wall easily – it is really very, very resistant,” Dorries told Landline.
“Buildings using CLT are quarter of the weight of the same building using concrete. Having less mass also means they will behave better during ground disturbances such as earthquakes.”
Panning the laboratory, the camera picked up shelves of tested engineered wood samples – structural plywood, LVL, formwork and I-beams.
Landline, with more than two million viewers, and many more watching on-line and on iPod, has been ABC-TV’s main vehicle for current affairs coverage of regional and rural issues and events since 1991.
The multi-award winning show typically features stories, ranging across agri-politics and economics, business and product innovation, animal and crop science, regional infrastructure, climate and weather trends, regional and rural services, music and lifestyle.
The program airs on Sundays at noon, Mondays at 11 am and 6 pm on ABC 1, and on Saturdays at 8 am and 2 pm on the Australia network.
