1.4 HISTORY, VOLUMES AND RAW MATERIALS OF LVL 1.4.1 History of the globally used engineered wood product LVL Parallel oriented plywood products have been used in the furniture industry since the beginning of the 20th century. The history of LVL in its present form dates back to 1970s North America and the research and development of veneer-based wooden beams by Peter Koch and the USDA Forest Products Laboratory. The first commercial solution for manufacturing LVL was created by Al Troutner of the company Trus-Joist (Weyerhaeuser). In 1975, Finnish company Metsäliiton Teollisuus Oy (Metsä Wood) developed the first commercial LVL 1. LVL AS A CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL production line in Europe. Metsäliitto went on to develop its own manufacturing concept, which was further developed by another Finnish company, Raute Oyj, which is today the leading LVL machinery supplier worldwide. LVL production has since grown continuously and today LVL is manufactured in ten countries on four continents with a total production capacity of around 4 million cubic metres per year across 30 locations. In addition, a number of small plants produce LVL that does not meet the requirements of structural LVL 4. Figure 1.13. LVL-P beam and LVL-C panels. 18 LVL Handbook Europe
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MjU0MzgwNw==