Superwood on study agenda

Wood beams strong enough to span the roof of a tennis court or factory will feature in studies in the two main civil engineering schools.

Auckland and Canterbury universities are to benefit from a Carter Holt Harvey investment of $100,000 over three years in fellowships to study aspects of wood.

Students, who now pore over concrete and steel, will learn about the strength of laminated veneer lumber - wood that has been laminated together in layers to produce beams three times stronger than knotty timber.

The laminated veneer is now manufactured at four plants in New Zealand. Carter Holt's plant at Marsden Pt is working to capacity, its roof supported by the laminated beams.

The fellowships will start a career for a wood academic. The fellows will work on research and teach about wood.

The research and development manager of Carter Holt's Futurebuild unit, Hank Bier, said researchers were now putting the beams together with steel and concrete to increase strength sixfold.

Carter Holt is focusing on structural timber as a core business. The laminated veneer plants essentially turn wood into a structural product that can be used for commercial buildings as well as residential.

The company has lowered the specifications on structural timber sawn in mills after it was found to be weaker than specified. It remains under investigation by the Commerce Commission under the Fair Trading Act. Pam Graham