COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE STRENGTHS OF SOLID AND GLUED LAMINATED TIMBER

COMPARATIVE ASSESSMENT OF THE STRENGTHS OF SOLID AND GLUED LAMINATED TIMBER
 
Structural glued laminated timber is an engineered structuraltimber glued up from suitably selected and prepared pieces ofstress graded lumber either in a straight or curved form with the grain of all pieces essentially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the member (APA, 1996; Manja et al., 2010). According to the American plywood association (APA, 2013), glulam has remained the most resource-efficient approach to wood building products when it comes to optimizing products from a carefully managed timber resource. Glued laminated wood can be built out of defective wood without losing its strength properties as reported by Reginaet al.,(2010). The application of glue laminated timber as a construction material would therefore make many species of timber previously regarded as non-merchantable useful for structural purpose. Clearly, this has the potential to revamp the forestry industry making it a massive employer of labor. Glulam can also be manufactured from small diameter fast growing tree, thereby bridging the supply deficit from slow growing trees(Evalinaet al.,2010). According to the American institute of timber construction.