Timber use practices in Uganda's building construction industry: Current situation and future prospects

Abstract

The timber utilisation practices in the Ugandan construction industry were examined to identify research and development prospects. The research was focused on the main issues of engineering concerns regarding timber utilisation as a building material. Information was obtained by reviewing literature, interviewing traders and observing timber yards and construction sites. The study showed that there are many gaps between wood utilisation and research. It was observed that there are over 45 timber species on the market without quality control measures; timber classification and timber grading are mainly visual and subjective due to lack of strength data. Whereas research focus in advanced countries has been on use of non-destructive strength evaluation approaches to enhance timber utilisation for consumer satisfaction; the limited timber research in Uganda based on destructive techniques has been for comparison of species. Therefore, there is need to investigate strength properties of timbers as a first attempt to developing local timber standards. There is a need to explore modeling and non destructive evaluation techniques as a means of ascertaining predictable structural strength sizes in Uganda.

Keywords

TIMBER WOOD CONSTRUCTION STRENGTH PROPERTIES STANDARDS

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