Abstract
The use of wood for road construction in biologically valuable areas seems to be a good alternative to solutions based on less ecologically-friendly materials. The key issue is the durability of the wood in specific conditions of use, i.e., in the substrate of the actual road. Among other issues, this study analyzes the existing road surfaces constructed on timber log foundations and the selected properties of the wood taken from designated road sections—to measure the properties of durability, such as density, modulus of elasticity and compression strength parallel to the grain. Based on the analysis of the aforementioned properties, we confirmed the highest durability for oak heartwood as the most predisposed in building forest road substrates. Next in order were the resinous conifers of pine and spruce, and the least durable was alder. Maintaining the wood in a good condition is mainly influenced by the conditions of its use. Using wooden substrates for forest roads is best suited in marshy areas.
Highlights
Road subgrades with poor-bearing soils are most frequently found in marshy forest areas with organic soils and in areas with mineral soils having impermeable layers in the subgrade profile [1].The total area of coniferous and deciduous forest habitats on wet and marshy soils and alder forests in the State Forests National Forest Holding in Poland amounts to 1,478,000 ha, which constitutes 16% of the total forest area
On the basis of the obtained results, we found that the material taken from the elements of the forest roads showed a high variability of properties
It is necessary to carefully visualize and measure the samples of the elements when they are taken so that they are representative of the forest road and allow the reference wood to be precisely selected
Summary
The total area of coniferous and deciduous forest habitats on wet and marshy soils and alder forests in the State Forests National Forest Holding in Poland amounts to 1,478,000 ha, which constitutes 16% of the total forest area. The construction and use of roads should be conducted, on the one hand, in compliance with the protection of the forest environment and, on the other hand, in accordance with the rational needs of logistics, the principles of traffic safety and road construction [3] Forest roads, despite their poor soil substrates, must be prepared for the heavy loads of wood transport [6,7,8]
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