Modelling Softwood Timber Flow From Forests To Sawmills Across The Road Network Using Hydrological Gis-Tools

Roundwood for the timber industry is usually delivered from the place of origin in the forest to the consumer by truck. The costs of timber transportation make up a relatively large proportion of the raw material costs for the timber industry. By modeling the softwood timber flows, we wanted to understand where and how much timber volume from the forest reaches the roads and along which routes it ultimately reaches the sawmills. The motivation for this was making provisions for disasters. In the event of calamities, such as windthrows or bark beetle outbreaks, the volume of timber often exceeds the processing capacity of the industry, and the timber should then be stored temporarily. If possible, additional log storage yards should be set up outside the sawmills' immediate catchment areas. Hydrological GIS tools are used to assign the timber removals to the forest roads and to model the transportation of the timber via the roads along a cost gradient to the sawmills. Apart from the delineation of the catchment areas, the modeling also provides the technically available timber potential in the catchment area. In addition to the search for storage locations, the method also offers potential for the search for additional sawmill locations. The amount of wood transported can be tapped at any point on the road network. Therefore, the method can also support traffic and route planning.