ARKHANGELSK, June 9. /TASS/. Experts of the Northern Arctic Federal University in Arkhangelsk developed a technology to transport timber along small rivers by using floating containers, Professor, Doctor of Technical Sciences Sergey Posypanov told TASS.
"A container may be of different designs. To put it simply, it, let's say, is a metal box of about 6.5 by 3.5 meters. The loaded container's draft is something between 0.5 and 1 meter. Containers may be connected to each other, and they will form barge trains of different sizes depending on hydrology conditions of a particular river," the scientist said.
Until 1990, the Arkhangelsk Region's timber producers simply pushed logs into the water, without even tiring them up, during the spring flood, and the current took them to the destination, where they were picked up in the so-called barriers to be tied up in rafts, and then rafts from the caught logs were towed along the Northern Dvina. That was an inexpensive timber transportation option.
The Water Code, adopted in 1995, outlawed that transportation option, saying packaged timber must be transported in rafts or on watercraft. Thus, using small and medium-sized rivers became limited and businesses had to use road and rail transport, which made the product more expensive.
When businesses used small and medium-sized rivers, transportation costs did not exceed 15-20% of the raw material's total price. Without the cheap water transport and due to significant distances to production sites, transportation costs increased dramatically. Thus, some companies prefer to drop less valuable logs in the forest and not to bringing them to wood processing enterprises, that is, forest resources are used irrationally and breaching environmental requirements.
Containers for logs
Floating containers may solve this problem and re-engage small rivers. Their biggest advantage is convenient loading even in places without berths. For loading, businesses may use regular equipment they have: for example, a loader or a forwarder. Unlike with containers, barges require the use of special machinery - floating cranes. "These cranes are too high to be used on small and medium-sized rivers that usually are crossed by low bridges," the scientist explained. "That is why even where river parameters allow for the use of barges, they quite often are not involved. Transporting cranes to loading sites means high costs, and besides, the number of these machines is rather limited."
The cost of transporting one cubic meter of timber per kilometer in the Arkhangelsk Region by road is approximately 5 rubles ($0.06), by rail - 3 rubles ($0.04), and this cost drops to 1 ruble ($0.01) when using rafts or barges. However, this transportation variant has been used on big rivers only, like, for example, in rafting along the Northern Dvina River. Water transport has been used less along its tributaries: the Vychegda, the Vaga, and the Pinega. The main reason is the short high water period in those rivers in May and June.
By using the newly developed technology, businesses will expand the waterways geography and create an extensive transportation system most closely to logging sites. Almost 72,000 rivers run in the Arkhangelsk Region known for a huge territory and a low-density road network. This requires solutions adapted to local conditions. According to the expert, the university is happy to assist businesses in developing technologies and structures suitable for specific regions.
The new container technology may be effective first of all to transport wood with low buoyancy: hardwood and larch - Siberia's predominant breed. It is impractical to raft such timber in the traditional way. By using the container method, businesses will be able to cut and ship this wood both near big rivers and in remote areas.
Technology for Northern Supplies
Similar barge container trains may be used to deliver goods for winter to remote small towns that are located along rivers and do not have permanent roads connecting them with the "mainland". Along the route, in case small volumes are delivered, containers could be dropped in small batches or singly. They may be unloaded without mooring facilities and cranes. On the way back, a tugboat will collect either unloaded containers or containers loaded with return cargo.