76 | Company continues to innovate Prolam’s glue-laminated (glulam) timber products are renowned for their quality and practicality in numerous building applications MANUFACTURING Prolam T T Russell Fredric The winning combination of strength, beauty and sustainability in the built environment is a natural outcome for products manufactured by Prolam. Prolam’s glue-laminated (glulam) timber products are renowned nationwide for their quality and practicality in numerous building applications, from large structural lintels to simple veranda posts. A significant employer in Motueka with 100 staff, Prolam has continually sought to innovate its products and services, including making a considerable investment in its factory, which processes around 12,000 cubic metres of timber annually. The New Zealand-grown Radiata pine used for laminating is carefully selected and graded according to strict internal specifications. All timber stock is kiln dried to approximately 13% average moisture content to ensure efficient bonding in the lamination process. Graded timber stock is separated and finger-jointed together into uniform lengths, which are then laminated together in the final products. Marketing manager Burkley Woodman says Prolam continually seeks to innovate its product range and processes, with a team involved in research and development, and the company’s own, on-site testing facility, ProLab, opening in November 2024. This focus on innovation extends to the Prolam Specifier, the company’s free online specification program used by more than 6000 architects, structural engineers, builders and pre-nailers nationwide. Covering a wide range of the most common structural applications, Prolam Specifier enables users to design structural timber elements with certainty, ease and compliance. It is also used to fine-tune design parameters to determine the right solution for a project, simplifying building code compliance by outputting a signed producer statement. “We get a lot of positive feedback on the program. We’ve kept on developing it and are developing it more than ever at the moment. It’s really cool to see how that’s helping specifiers specify structural members faster, easier and in a more compliant manner,” Burkely says. Prolam posts and beams are manufactured in a wide range of sizes and lengths. CodeMark Certified posts are available in structural grades PL8 and PL12, and in visual grade with H5 treatment, while beams are available in structural grades PL8, PL12 and the innovative PLX20. Introduced in 2021, the Prolam PLX20 high-performance glulam lintel uses structural-grade timber and two steel bars laminated into the top and the bottom of the beam, multiplying its strength and capacity for high-demand applications, such as garage door beams. “In 2023, we released the PLX Portal, a market-first timber and steel hybrid bracing system that incorporates the PLX20 Beam. “ The PLX Portal can be used for common building applications, including garage door portals, where there’s narrow space to the edge of the wall and you need a strong portal to carry the load and provide the bracing for wind and earthquakes.” Following further product development and extensive testing, Prolam has launched the next generation of its innovative PLX Portal, featuring a new foot plate that increases its bracing capacity and provides a fixing solution for insulated foundations. “We use an innovative fixing design to lock the PLX Portal’s columns into the foundation so that it holds nice and secure, and still gives it enough ductility and movement to be able to withstand earthquakes and other stresses,” Burkely explains. “The PLX Portal has been well received by the market, and has now been specified over 200 times across New Zealand. It is a more sustainable solution than steel bracing portals, and many architects are really excited by that. “We also get lots of constructive feedback from engineers, and that helps us continue to develop the product, making it a more versatile solution for a wider range of applications.” The PLX Portal is also suitable for window portals and large internal openings, and is backed by an Environmental Product Declaration for Green Star and Homestar projects. 03 544 0650 Nelson operations@austintransport.co.nz NEW ZEALAND WIDE FREIGHT FORESTRY MADE SIMPLE. Whatever aspect of forestry or forestland management advice you need, we can make the process easier and more profitable for you. HARVEST MANAGEMENT | FOREST MANAGEMENT | FORESTRY CONSULTING mrforestland.co.nz
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