Strategic Timber Transport Fund - First awards, May 06

1. Programme Manager/Facilitator for Stirling and Tayside area

Summary of project:

To analyse current timber transport issues, including core data on timber transport, on behalf of the key stakeholders in the Group and to identify strategic priorities;
To identify any particular problems and/or opportunities in the area and prepare an action plan for addressing these;
To review, and if necessary revise, the Agreed Routes maps for the Groups area utilising, if appropriate, the current revision approach adopted in Grampian;
To liaise with all stakeholders including local communities to promote opportunities offered by the STTF;
To act as a key point of contact on timber transport issues on behalf of the Group; and
Organise around 2-3 meetings/year of the STTTG and provide the secretariat and support to the local RTTG members.

Award: Ł25,000

Co-finance: The three relevant local authorities and in-kind support by partners.

2. SKOTKA: South of Scotland timber logistics programme

Summary of project:

To design, build and evaluate (over a two year period) a timber haulage route scheduling and optimisation programme, incorporating digital data capture of supply and demand as well as web-based reporting.

The pilot will involve pan-industry collaboration to maximise optimisation of the timber haulage resource. The net output will be measurable improvements in efficiency which will provide essential support to SME’s working in the forest industry with environment and social gains through sensitive use of routes, reductions in traffic congestion and emission per unit of timber hauled, as well as improved tonne mile efficiency.

Award: Ł68,000

Co-finance: European Regional Development Fund, the Scottish Forest Industries Cluster, partner companies (cash and in kind).

3. Programme Manager/Co-ordinator for Argyll

Summary of project:

To sustain a higher level of management by the Regional Project Officer to facilitate further development of the strategic haul route network;
Work will be carried out on forestry and public roads and/or piers or railhead infrastructure, through a focus on gathering relevant information and the implementation of appropriate solutions;
The support may include specific additional consultancy assistance and/or technical advice with the approval of the Argyll Timber Transport Group; and
This project builds on and takes forward considerable work carried out to date to review and prioritise the timber transport issues affecting the area.

Award: Ł94,000

Co-finance: Argyll and Bute Council and in kind support provided by partners.

4. Study into the performance of forest and public roads under timber transport traffic

Summary of project:

To measure and evaluate the large differences in forest road damage according to season and find climatic versus usage relationships;
To establish the safe capacity of weak public roads in terms of the safe numbers and frequency of loads that may pass;
To investigate how forest roads collapse with traffic volumes around 50 loaded trucks per day using the Ringour Risk Test Facility and investigation of actual cases; and
To assemble more accurate transport and road maintenance costs and then investigate how the combined costs might be evaluated.

Based in Dumfries and Galloway, liaising with ROADEX project in the Highlands.

Award: Ł232,000

Co-finance: Nottingham Centre for Pavement Engineering, Forest Enterprise and Forest Civil Engineering.

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