Timber Pole Construction: An Introduction

The book offers a general introduction to timber poles as a construction material. Timber poles have served throughout history as a low-cost, environmentally friendly and structurally efficient building resource. As a result of the establishment of both commercial plantations and community forestry programmes world-wide, the availability of forestry thinnings for poles is rapidly increasing and the potential for their use has never been greater. The book covers the processes of harvesting and protecting the poles through to specific applications in the construction of domestic and industrial buildings, and other types of construction such as bridges and retaining walls. Key areas of preservation and jointing are addressed in detail and there are illustrations throughout. This manual intends to be descriptive rather than prescriptive, providing areas that can be developed into solutions depending on specific circumstances and a number of case studies show some ideas put into action. This new edition will be a useful guide not only to field practitioners in housing and construction projects, but will also be of interest to the non-specialist.