Two Structural Composite Lumber Bridges in Northwestern Ontario, Canada

Northwestern Ontario is a relatively sparsely populated area of the province. It contains over 500 highway structures, about 45% of which are deteriorated and in need of full or partial replacement. In recent years renewed interest has been generated in the use of timber as a primary load-carrying component for bridge construction. Since high-quality, large-dimension solid lumber is becoming increasingly scarce, interest was directed towards the use of structural composite lumber (SCL). SCL is a structural reconstituted lumber-type product of uniform cross section comprised of parallel-to-the-grain strands, strips or sheets predominantly bonded together parallel to each other using exterior-grade adhesive.