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Timber Application in Construction Industry and its Promotion

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

Timber Application in Construction Industry And Its Promotion

Leopold Mbereyaho1*, Samuel Tuyishime1, Jean de Montfort Uwintwali1, Theophile Kayiranga1, Chantal
Tumukunde1
1
University of Rwanda, College of Science and Technology, P.O. Box: 3900 Kigali, Rwanda. *Email: lmbereyaho2015@gmail.com

Article Received: 12 March 2019 Article Accepted: 10 July 2019 Article Published: 03 September 2019

ABSTRACT

Wood materials have been in use from prehistoric time until today with different types of timber under application in various structures even multi
storied buildings. Wood is an environment friendly from the time it is planted to when it is processed into timber and used as a construction material.
In Rwanda, while the plantation of trees has been promoted, their application in construction was still limited to simple houses in rural areas or in
some cities where attention was made to touristic expression. The main objective was to investigate on timber application in local construction and
make proposals for its promotion. The methodology consisted of relevant interviews, assessment of some timber strength characteristics and its
affordability. It was established that such species as Eucalyptus, Grevillea, Red Wood and Pinus were the most used in local construction while the
conducted tensile test showed that Eucalyptus had the best strength estimated at 47.37N/mm2. The cost analysis showed that timber material was still
at 21% more affordable than conventional materials such as steel. Therefore timber can be used in construction and the wood manufacturing industry
needed to be promoted, and all species strength characteristics to be established.
Keywords: Wood, Timber, Timber species, Tensile strength, Construction industry, Local market.

1. INTRODUCTION

Wood as a natural organic material has been used in construction of different structures including but not limiting to
houses and bridges. Construction industry is one of sectors which have been developing fast in Rwanda from last
15 years, many infrastructure facilities are being put in place and while artificial modern building materials such as
concrete are in demand throughout the country, not only their costs have never decreased, but also the extraction of
respective raw materials has been conducting to environment degradation. There is a need for investigating on other
sources of local materials, especially based not only on their potential performance and affordability, but also on
their green aspects. Wood is considered as one of these sources. Globally, wood has been in use from prehistory to
current times, and even with apparition of other more modern construction materials, wood still is considered.
Wood is considered as a material for the future and presented its different advantages, and architects and engineers
are encouraged to reconsider concrete and steel materials and instead use sustainably harvested wood to reduce the
amount of carbon dioxide associated with construction [1]. Timber is a highly sustainable building material, as it is
an environmental friendly, affordable, flexible in usage and durable materials; while the problems associated with
its usage such as attack by insects, fungi, fire, depletion of natural resources etc. can be ameliorated with the aid of
preservative treatments, fire retardant and afforestation [2]. However in some country wood is too expensive for
local people and concrete becomes the major construction material instead; and as alternative solution some
innovative ideas are under consideration such as waste-wood composite [3]. In general timber/wood has many
good properties such as module of elasticity, compressive to parallel grain, shear strength, hardness, impact
bending etc. [4], and for example bamboo as one of wood species traditionally used even in western countries and
can be competitive to materials more commonly used [5].

Wood products are used for construction and furniture in Rwanda. There are a number of wood species available on
the local market. The most used include Eucalyptus (45%), Grevillea and Cypress, Bamboo, Pinus, etc.[6].

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

Imported wood species include Libuyu, Muvula and Markhamia. Traditionally, people used to construct their
houses using timber for wall components and then fill their voids using mud mortar. Currently, the use of timber
can be found in a variety of application, from housing to commercial, residential, and industry buildings, especially
in roof structure where eucalyptus is mostly used. The lastly developed application field has become tourism. The
timber is also used for making formwork of RCC structure, beam, column, staircase, ceiling, flooring etc. Because
of its intense in construction industry, the government of Rwanda has set a target of increasing the national forest
cover from the present 10 per cent to 30 per cent of the national territory by the year 2020 (www.rema.gov.rw). As
far as the wood application in local modern housing is concerned, it is still limited due to lack or little information
on its full potentials for more important structures. Some of buildings constructed using timber are presented below
(see figs. 1-3).

Figure 1: Commercial building at Gikondo/ Nyenyeri

Figure 2: One story Guest House building in Kinigi/Musanze district

Figure 3: Traditionary house in Musanze disctrict at Kinigi

The purpose of this study was to analyze timber potentials for application in local construction sector, and to make
some proposals for its promotion. Specifically, the study consisted in analysis of timber availability, its current
application status and its limitations, its strength performance as well as its affordability.

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

2. MATERIALS AND METHODS

For this study, samples of eucalyptus, Grevillea and cypress (red wood) as wood species most locally available
were taken from local wood market for testing. Before the testing process, some visits to local construction
projects sites and companies were conducted to get views about application of timber in local construction. Then,
laboratory test with timber samples were performed in order to check their mechanical properties, and at the end
economic comparative analysis with purpose to check the affordability of timber materials was embraced.

2.1. Visits to different companies and constructions for interview

The respondents were people with knowledge and skills in construction materials field such as civil engineers or
site engineers, builders, traders, lecturers, and technicians. Also, the population near or owners of some of timber
houses were included. The total number of 180 people participated in the interview. The stratified sampling method
was used as the researchers wanted purposely inputs from different expertise categories in the field.

The collected information was about availability of building materials in general and timber species in particular;
timber application rate and limitations, affordability level of timber in comparison to other building materials,
availability of any information about timber strengths and standards, and suggested strategies for promotion of
timber application in local building construction. The respondents’ statistics is presented in table 1 below, while
results from this interview activity are presented in the subsection 3.1.

Table 1: Respondents categories and statistics

S/N Categories of people Number of Number of Number of Percentage of

people Questionnaires Questionnaires return
submitted returned

1 Civil Engineer 40 40 40 100%

2 Lecturers 25 25 25 100%

3 Builders 40 40 31 78%

4 Traders 35 35 30 86%

5 Others (Technicians, 40 40 20 50%

foremen, etc)

TOTAL 180 180 146 81%

2.2. Testing of timber materials

With purpose of assessing the tensile strength, three samples from each timber species were tested. For that test,
specimens of solid circular cross section were used with 13mm diameter and 150mm length. The following are the
formulae used for calculating stress and strain:

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

F
Stress( )  ( N / mm 2 ) (1)
S

Where F: Load (N); S: Surface (mm2)

L
Strain ( )  (2)
Lo

Where ∆L: Extension (mm), Lo: Initial length (mm)

Results from testing are presented in the subsection 3.2.

2.3. Economic comparative analysis

The purpose of this analysis was to check the timber materials affordability, particularly with comparison to steel
materials when both are applied to the roof structure, as their common area of application. While applying BS
EN10210-2:1997 standards, the given roof structure was designed using steel and timber, and the cost for materials
spent on that roof was estimated, using the unit cost method. Results are presented in the section 3.3.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

3.1. Results

Results from interviews with respondents are presented in the below graphics (Figs. 2-8).

The chart presented in Fig.5 summarizes the views of respondents about the availability of different materials. It
can be seen that according to 52% of respondents, timber was more available than other local materials.

Figure 5: Materials availability in Rwanda

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

The chart below in Fig.6 presents the respondents views about the trees species available in Rwanda, with around
61% of respondents confirming that Eucalyptus was the most available.

Figure 6: Types of trees species available in Rwanda

The chart below in Fig.7 presents the respondents reasons for their preference of timber for building construction.
The results show that 35% of respondents prefer timber in construction because of its availability, while around
32% thought that timber was the most affordable.

Figure 7: Factors influencing on the timber preference

The next chart in Fig.8 presents the respondents views about demerits of timber as a construction material. The
chart shows that 31% of respondents find challenges in the high costs for protection and maintenance.

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

Figure 8: Limitations hindering the timber application

The chart below in Fig.9 presents the respondents views about the materials affordability, and 47% of respondents
consider timber as more affordable than other local building materials

Figure 9: The economical stage of local materials

The chart in Fig.10 presents the respondents views regarding strategies for promotion of timber application in local
construction. Though respondents had different views, a good part of 47% considers the planting of more trees as
the important strategy.

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

Figure 10: Strategies for promoting timber application

The chart in Fig.11 below presents the views of respondents about their materials preference in walling
construction. Even if the selection of any material will mainly depend on the intended building function, the results
show that 36.1% of respondents would prefer the use of blocks for wall structures.

Figure 11. Walling materials

The chart in Fig.12 below summarizes the views of respondents about the material application for roof structure.
The above comparison between steel and timber shows a slight preference of timber over steel with 58.3% against
33.9%.

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

Figure 12: Materials most used for making roof structure

Results from tensile test of Eucalyptus (E), Greveria (G) and Red wood (RW) are presented in Fig.13 below, under
graph showing the stress – strain variation for all three types of timber. It can be seen that the tensile strengths for
the tested species are respectively equal to 47.37N/mm2, 29.32N/mm2, and 34.59N/mm2 for Eucalyptus, Greveria
and Red wood. In this diagram, the horizontal axis – X, presents the values for strain, while the vertical axis –Y,
represents the stress values.

Figure 13: Stress – strain diagram for three species of Timber

From these results it is clear that the eucalyptus tensile strength is the highest among the three considered species,
while the tensile strength of is the lowest among others.

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
(Peer Reviewed Journal), Volume 3, Issue 3, Pages 145-154, July-September 2019

Results from economic comparative analysis through the considered roof structure are presented.

As it was stated above, this analysis was proposed in order to assess the affordability of timber materials comparing
with steel which has the similar area of application and was placed second after timber, according to its application
on roof structures. The Pratt truss structure bellow presented was analyzed and designed considering both
materials, timber and steel (Fig.14). Eucalyptus as the most strong was used.

Figure 14: Pratt truss roof structure with dimensions

Using unit cost estimation, it was established that timber materials on this roof would cost 1,525,150 Rwf (around
1,750USD), while steel would cost 1,934,970 Rwf (around 2,215USD); this means timber materials is around 21%
more cheaply compared to steel materials both used on the same structure.

3.2. Discussion

The fact that timber material, especially Eucalyptus was relatively available is also confirmed by the report of
Rwanda Water and Forestry Authority [6]. Regarding timber application in modern construction, timber was
mostly preferred for roof structures, mainly because of its availability and affordability. This affordability was also
confirmed by the cost comparative analysis for timber and steel materials spent on the roof structure, respectively.
The tensile strength established for all three species, are 47.37N/mm2, 34.59N/mm2, and 29.32N/mm2 for
Eucalyptus, Red wood and Greveria respectively. These results are in line with general strength characteristics of
timber [7, 8]. The fact that local eucalyptus showed less strength if compared to other species [9, 10] may be
explained by the strength variation in function of growing condtions [11]. The obtained value of local timber proves
that they can be used for the structures of high load carrying capacity, if they are protected against termite and
woodborer attack and fungal decay, as well as against humidity. The study, however, understood that not all testing
data about physical, chemical and mechanical properties for all most available tree species were available.

4. CONCLUSION

Timber is locally relatively available and affordable, and the country strategy is to plant more trees. Timber is an
environment friendly material for construction industry. The study proved again that timber strength performances
especially eucalyptus, were good enough for even more modern constructions, and its cost was still affordable.
However, it was also noted that its application was still limited mainly to roof construction. In order to promote the
timber application in local modern construction, it is suggested that all properties and performances should be
established, especially through testing. Finally, such factors as the planting of more trees, improving laboratory

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 Mediterranean Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences (MJBAS)
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facilities, and training of more experts in the wood and timber technology would contribute to the application
promotion.

REFERENCES

[1] Oona Horx-Strathern, Christiane Varga, Georg Guntschnig, The future of Timber Construction,
Zukunftsinstitut GmbH, 2017.

[2] Abimaje, J. and BABA, Adams Ndalai, An Assessment of Timber as a Sustainable Building Material in
Nigeria. International Journal of Civil Engineering, Construction and Estate Management. Vol.1 (2), pp. 39-46,
2014.

[3] Meng-Ting Tsai, Anthony Sugiharto Wonodihardjo, Achieving Sustainability of Traditional Wooden Houses in
Indonesia by Utilization of Cost-Efficient Waste-Wood Composite, Sustainability, 2018.

[4] David E. Kretschmann, Wood handbook, Wood as an Engineering Material, United States Department of
Agriculture Forest Service Forest Products Laboratory General Technical Report FPL–GTR–190, 1999.

[5] P. Van Der Lugt, A.A.J.F. van den Dobbelsteen, J.J.A. Janssen, An environmental, economic and practical
assessment of bamboo as a building material for supporting structures, Construction and Building Materials, 2005.

[6] Ministry of Lands and Forestry, Forest Investment for Rwanda. Rwanda Water and Forestry Authority,
Rwanda, 2017.

[7] David W. Green, Jerrold E. Winandy, David E. Kretschmann, Wood Handbook--Chapter 4--Mechanical
Properties of Wood, 2003.

[8] Ahamada Zziwa, Yasin Naku Ziraba, Jackson A. Mwakali, Strength Characterization of Timbers for Building
Construction in Uganda, Second International Conference on Advances in Engineering and Technology, 2010.

[9] Annette Harte, Introduction to timber as an engineering material, ICE Manual of Construction Materials,
Institution of Civil Engineers, 2009.

[10] C.P. Singh, V.S. Kishan Kumar, Sachin Gupta, Maximum Tensile Stress of Eucalyptus Sections Finger
Jointed with PVA Adhesive, Research Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences, Vol. 4(8), 10-13, 2016.

[11] Dan Ridley-Ellis, Peter Stapel Vanesa Baño, Strength grading of sawn timber in Europe: an explanation for
engineers and researchers, European Journal of Wood and Wood Products, Volume 74 (3), pp 291–306, 2016.

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