A pilot study into the suitability of lesser known tropical hardwoods for marine engineering has produced promising results.
Conducted by TRADA Technology Ltd and the Institute of Marine Sciences, University of Portsmouth, the objective was to find FSC alternatives to traditional and non-certified hardwoods used by marine engineers.
The project aimed to devise a rapid screening method to determine the natural resistance of timber species to limnorids, invertebrates that attack timber within the tidal range in UK waters.
Twenty-five hardwood species were tested in two categories – “readily available species” such as balau, greenheart and opepe, and “FSC certified species” including cupuiba, cumaru, loure gamela and acariaquara.
The results ranked the species in order of their resistance to marine borer attack and the method of evaluation used has the potential to be developed into a standard laboratory test method. No British Standard or European Norm is currently available.
Dr John Williams of TRADA Technology said with CCA-treated softwoods under scrutiny and future restrictions on their use likely, the work will create new possibilities for the use of hardwoods in marine and fresh water construction.
The findings of the study will be published shortly.
