SALVAGING UNDERWATER TIMBER IN THE PANAMA

SALVAGING UNDERWATER TIMBER

IN THE PANAMA CANAL

Timber isn’t the first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of the “Panama Canal”, but Beck Group staff learned there is a direct connection. BECK has been involved with Ardan International Group (AG), a Panamanian company that has been extracting and processing hardwood timber submerged nearly one hundred years ago during the construction of the Panama Canal.

As part of the construction of the Panama Canal, a dam was built on the Chagres River to create a new lake that would serve as a portion of the shipping channel. In order to create the lake, vast areas of tropical forest were flooded during the early 1900s. Outside of the main channel, the hardwood timber in the forests was not cut before being flooded. As a result, most of Lake Gatun still contains thousands of hectares of standing, submerged, old growth tropical timber, most of it not visible.

While the canal was under U.S. control, the trees were left standing because they were viewed as a natural navigational defense mechanism for the canal. Since control over the canal was transferred to Panama in 1999, the government has become very interested in taking advantage of the submerged timber resource for economic

development. The Panama government maintains that timber removal will decrease the lake’s navigation hazards and increase potential real estate development on the vast shoreline.

AG acquired the timber concessions to most of the lake, and in 2007, completed a pilot study that helped to determine the volume, species composition, cutting process, transporting methods, milling and quality of timber in the lake. The method for cutting the timber is to use a commercial diver and a hydraulic power chainsaw. The hydraulic fluid used for the chainsaw is essentially vegetable oil, a precaution so as not to harm the lake or fish. A pontoon boat is used to aid the divers as they cut the trees.

The Beck Group performed due diligence on the conclusions of the pilot study. One of their main concerns going into the project was the quality of lumber that could be sawn from timber submerged for over 100 years. Based on their inspection and feedback from customers during the year long pilot study, AG has demonstrated that hardwood lumber produced from the submerged timber is of exceptional quality.

AG’s parent company, Gunderboom of Anchorage, Alaska, has been involved with underwater salvage operations for years and helped establish safe procedures for harvesting submerged logs. Divers descend to the lake bottom, locate a tree, and attach an air bag to the stem so that after it is severed, it floats to the surface. The floating logs are then towed to the shore where they are skidded from the lake for bucking and milling. Over 30 different wood species have been extracted, processed and sold worldwide, including a number of high value species such as cocobolo, ipe, mahogany and teak. In addition, a significant volume of softer, lower value hardwoods (espave) have been processed and sold locally.

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