The Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to characterize the bridge material selection decisions of highway officials across the United States. Understanding product choices by utilizing the AHP allowed us to develop strategies for increasing the use of timber in bridge construction. State Department of Transportation engineers, private consulting engineers, and local highway officials w...

The joint supply of timber and other services from forest environments plays a central role in most forest land debates. This paper defines a general conceptual model of timber supply that provides the context for discussing both individual harvest choice and aggregate supply models. While the structure and breadth of these models has developed considerably over the last twenty years, unresolve...

This paper offers a detailed, quantitative and exhaustive experimental comparison in terms of mechanical properties of three different layouts of carbon composite materials (CFRP) used to strengthen existing old timber beams highly affected by diverse natural defects and biological attacks, testing the use of pultruded laminate attached on the tension side of the element (LR), CFRP fabrics tota...

Deformations of timber, caused mainly by anisotropic shrinkage, can be partially directed by controlling annual ring orientation through different sawing patterns. Ring orientation also affects the movement of water from within the board to its surface, with rapidity of drying having implications for the wood colour. Here sawn silver birch (Betula pendula Roth) timber was classed into two group...

It is now an accepted fact, in gender and development writing at least, that women in many Third World societies play a vital role in the management of natural resources. Because their activities are often supported by a deep knowledge of resource management issues, women should play an integral role in every environmental project. Nevertheless, many environmental projects have emerged--such as...

The biomass for energy purposes, coming from forestry and timber industry for energy, can provide various environmental and socio-economic benefits. Among all renewable energy sources, forest biomass represents both an important alternative source to fossil fuels and an opportunity for the socio-economic development of various marginal mountain areas in Calabria. This survey aims at estimating ...

In contrast to nailed connections, little research has been done on bolted connections using a reversed cyclic loading scheme, although cyclic loading provides important information about energy absorption and damping properties, which is essential when analyzing seismic performance. Dowrick (1986) noted that the hysteretic characteristics for the primary connection of a subassembly govern its ...