June 30, 2008

Canadian wood industry ready to prove to China that wood construction works

Governments plan to build 300 temporary shelters in first phase of relief project

British Columbia and the federal government have teamed up through a construction initiative to help China’s earthquake victims and Canada’s suffering lumber industry.

An $8 million project will immediately provide about 300 temporary shelters in the region where an earthquake last month left five million people homeless.

A second phase starting next year will see the construction of a village of about 1,000 wood-frame homes, a school, and other support buildings in Sichuan province.

The Canadian lumber industry has been trying to convince the Chinese to build with more wood. A number of cement buildings, including schools, crumbled in the quake leaving a death toll of about 70,000.

The group has been working on codes and building standards for wood construction in China for about four years.

Print | Email | Comment