As home construction grows, lumber consumption in the US and Canada will increase from 59 billion board feet (BBF) in 2020 to 70 BBF by 2025. Anticipating increased demand and seeking to capitalize on an extraordinary surge in lumber prices above $1,000 MBF in 2021, lumber manufacturers are making significant investments to expand manufacturing capacity. The US South – the largest softwood lumber producing region in North America (20 BBF) – is seeing most of the investment. Simultaneously, smaller lumber producers and much larger corporations will exceed 4 BBF of softwood capacity by 2022 due to many mill modernizations, reopenings, and greenfield projects to increase production capacity. The following are the recent major investment announcements:

• Interfor
  March 2021, Interfor acquired WestRock’s sawmill in Summerville, SC (125 MMBF) for $59 MM (included log and lumber inventories). Interfor will invest $30 MM to increase production up to 200 MMBF annually. Also, in July 2021, Interfor purchased three sawmills from Georgia Pacific in the US South: DeQuincy, LA (200 MMBF) to be restarted in the first half 2022, Bay Springs, MS (140 MMBF), and Fayette, AL (160 MMBF). The acquisition of these three sawmills plus a sawmill in Philomath, OR were cash purchases for $372 MM (including working capital). Interfor plans to invest up to $8 million to revive the DeQuincy sawmill curtailed by Georgia Pacific in May 2020.
• Hunt Forest Products and Tolko Industries
  In July 2021, Hunt Forest Products and Tolko Industries announced a project to build a 320 MMBF sawmill in Taylor, Louisiana ($240 MM). Construction of the new facility is expected to start in early 2022, with commercial operations starting in early 2023.
• Roseburg and Canfor US South
  Also in July, Roseburg announced a $200 MM investment to build a 400 MMBF sawmill in Weldon, NC., and Canfor US South announced a 250 MMBF greenfield sawmill near DeRidder, Louisiana ($160 MM) with startup projected in late 2022. Since 2013, Canfor US South has had over 300% growth.
• Georgia-Pacific
  September 2021, Georgia-Pacific announced the modernization of its lumber complex in Pineland, Texas with a $120 million investment. Construction is expected to begin early 2022 and is scheduled to be completed in late 2022. Currently the mill has the capacity to produce 380 MBF of dimensional lumber each year, but when the new mill is operational and running at full capacity the production will increase to 450 MBF.
• West Fraser
  October 2021, West Fraser entered into an agreement to acquire Angelina Forest Products lumber mill located in Lufkin, Texas for approximately $300 million (financed with cash on hand). This sawmill began construction in 2018, commenced operations in late 2019, and is expected to progress toward full production capacity of approximately 305 MBF over the next three to four years.

The industry knows that the US needs to add about 1.5 million new homes per year to keep pace with population growth and replace existing homes. Forecasters indicate that lumber capacity in North America will fall short of new demand by close to 7 BBF which is equivalent to more than 20 large-capacity sawmills. At Crow Engineering we are currently involved in many mill assessments, modernizations, and capacity expansion projects. With more than 50 years of experience, it is Crow’s  honor and privilege to serve mills and lumber companies. Contact us if your company is planning to take advantage of the current market. We would love to help you make the right decision and achieve your goals.

To ensure safety and minimize the risk of operational shutdowns at a time of high demand, many mills commission a structural assessment of critical facilities. Such assessments typically involve an analysis and evaluation of foundations, framings, and associated construction systems and details. The objective is to determine existing load capacity, identify structural deficiencies, and assess the causes and impacts of potential structural failures.

The extent of such an assessment depends on the condition and complexity of the resource examined, its current or intended use, and the amount of information available or attainable. But whatever the particular circumstances, mills want clear recommendations to correct structural deficiencies – or a new structural design with specific engineering solutions.

Expertise needed

It’s important to investigate thoroughly and know what you’re looking for. For example, in a recent review for one customer, a Crow engineer investigated the performance and construction of bowstring trusses. What initially appeared to be a tension (bottom) chord failure was actually a symptom of a more serious issue: the failure of the compression (top) chord. READ MORE

Essentially, the top chord was compromised and shortened. This caused the more noticeable failure of the bottom chord.

Using an animation, our engineer, simulated on-site conditions and showed what would happen to the truss if the compression chord failed. The animation made it clear that as the compression chord failed, it shortened – causing the tension chord failure. While applying a tension chord splint would alleviate the secondary failure (bottom chord), it would also increase load to the compression chord and exacerbate the primary failure mechanism.

To ensure the safety of this truss chordcompression (top) chord needed to be supported. Critically, it was determined that supporting the truss through the bottom chord only (and only on one side of the shoring tower) would have increased the load in the web members, causing the failure of web members,  shear plates, and strap plates. These conclusions led our engineer to recommend a shoring design to be put in place as soon as possible.

The three levels of a structural assessment

Structural assessments vary. Generally speaking, there are three varieties:  

• Cursory Assessment
  Visual overview of the general condition of the building envelope. It is often used for screening multiple buildings to establish priorities for maintenance and repair or further study.
• Preliminary Assessment
  Site visit to identify problem areas, review available documents, interview of involved parties, and generate a preliminary report of findings and recommendations.
• Detailed Assessment
  Review of documentation, component classification, field investigation, testing, analysis, and report.

Each assessment should be supplemented with a structural assessment report. Such a report looks at working conditions and makes recommendations for immediate and short-term repairs – all based on visual observation, measuring, video/photography, sampling, testing, analysis, and documentation depending on the level of the assessment.

Faulty construction, unsafe structural conditions for gravity and wind/snow loads, substantial structural damage due to deterioration – all of these can be identified with a structural assessment. Addressing these issues can help prevent further facility damage, collapse, equipment loss or damage, and – most importantly – accidents and fatalities.

Do you have structural questions? Call (503) 213-2013 or email Crow info@crowengineering.com to schedule a consultation. Our registered Professional Engineers (PE) can provide a structural assessment and report to evaluate your structural conditions and needs.