Oregon State University says a new lab will help develop safer and more economically viable wood products.
The A.A. “Red” Emmerson Advanced Wood Products Lab opened Thursday, and it's huge. So big, you can build a three-story building inside of it. That’s something that will happen over and over again at the towering facility on OSU’s Corvallis campus.
It’s a way for students and industry experts alike to test new ways of using wood as a construction material. Iain MacDonald is director of the Tallwoods Design Institute, which is based at the OSU College of Forestry. "This will really increase our capabilities," he said. "We’ve had some structural testing capabilities on campus, but this is a much larger scale than what we have.”
The new lab is one part of a massive overhaul of the College of Forestry. The rest is set to open next spring.
U.S. Sen. Jeff Merkley praised the facility during a grand opening ceremony. "This is the culmination of a lot of work but a foundation for an extraordinary future," he said. "Hopefully we can take a lot of Oregon's trees and ship these engineered products all around the world."