Subflooring panel fails during OSU building project

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) – Oregon State University says a section of subflooring gave way during construction of the new College of Forestry building.

University spokesman Steve Clark tells the Corvallis Gazette-Times that no one was injured during the March 14 mishap that occurred between the building’s second and third stories.

The failure involved a cross-laminated timber panel manufactured by D.R. Johnson Lumber in Riddle.

The building technique involves using solid wood panels to frame a structure’s walls, floors and roof. It has been used for years in Europe, but is just coming into vogue here.

Clark says work has been halted in portions of the project where other cross-laminated timber panels were being installed. It will resume once an independent evaluation has been completed.

He says OSU still has the “utmost confidence” in CLT.

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Information from: Gazette-Times, http://www.gtconnect.com