Underwater Logging is the practice of logging trees from underwater forests flooded by the construction of hydroelectric dams or by natural causes. While the trees die when submerged, the wood is usually well preserved and can be reclaimed for multiple uses.
Hollund Industrial Marine partnered with North Cal Wood Products to expand the underwater logging market. Hollund's Tiger-Lynk underwater tree harvester system is unique in that it both fells the trees and brings them to the surface, ready for transport.
Together, the two companies plan to market Hollund's Tiger-Lynk technology globally to governments, utilities and communities with reservoirs to tap into an estimated $50 billion in undeveloped underwater logging.
Underwater logging is real, and it’s pretty awesome as well. The wood found in these underwater graveyards typically grew before the discovery of the New World. And, what you can’t get from conventional logging today is the high quality of wood. Many tree species found in underwater forests no longer exist in conventional forests, and include both rare and exotic species. This wood is highly prized by craftsmen the world over for furniture, musical instruments, decorative trim, and art work.
Most every product that can be made from virgin wood can also be made from wood recovered from lakes, rivers, and reservoirs. Underwater woods provide environmentally conscientious consumers with the benefit of products that generate an even smaller environmental footprint than items made from virgin wood. For Green minded designers, architects and developers, products produced from recovered wood provide an opportunity to secure a range of LEED and other Green credits.
Compared to other competitive building and manufacturing raw materials like concrete, plastic, steel, aluminum and so on, wood requires far less energy and resources to harvest and convert into thousands of different products. It is easier and cleaner to process and generates significantly less pollution in these processes. Wood is 100% useable with no waste generated for disposal and burying in landfills. It is naturally warm, comforting and offers a vastly smaller environmental footprint that other materials.
