This site is about a “green” engineering construction technology that would transform the small forest trees (thinnings) from forest fire fuel into a valuable structural  component for earthquake-resisting buildings and bridges.

 

Constituting 90% of all timber in nature, small diameter timber (SDT) can become the basis of a profitable, sustainable forest-based economy.  It continues to be a serious forest fire hazard because it is too expensive to remove as it has no marketable value.

The LPSA (light prestressed segmented arch) spans the intellectual gap between pre-computer (strength-of-materials) linear theory and modern advances in non-linear continuum and computational mechanics.

 

The engineering science analysis is based on a Stanford University PhD engineering dissertation. We are a US–registered non-profit “sustainable science” Charity interested in working with Governments, NGOs, communities and industries interested in reversing Climate Change while advancing socio-economic development / infrastructure building  and conservation.

A simple slide-fit jointing mechanism replaces current carpentry-based jointing procedures.  Result is low-cost, low-tech mass utilization of SDT as a superior alternative to commercial mature timber. Humanity may then stop destroying the forests and their irreplaceable ecosystems—profitably. End products are bridge and building structures inherently resistant to the actions of earthquakes, hurricanes and flooding.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pictures, above,left and center, depict the engineering solution of the SDT jointing and analysis problems  through a combination of elementary physics and advanced  continuum and computational mechanics.  A 3-year old volunteer and his sisters (above, left and center) slide-fit a SDT post into a prototype bridge connector socket.  Above right, is a 20m LPSA bridge assembled by school children in Iowa, USA.  In both cases, a tensioning system converts the bridge assembly into a very durable load-bearing structure that is amenable to advanced analysis and performance prediction.  SDT ends are not damaged by slicing or bolting as in primitive embedding methods of SDT.

This site has been

online since: Jan 22, 1997

Last update: Mar 07, 2023

Some LPSA Awards

 

www.sustainablescience.org/TechBriefs-2010.pdf

SustainableScience.org Inc. wins the Sustainable Technology Category Award in the Global “Create the Future Design Contest” (52 countries) for: Sustainable, Durable Bridges of the Future for outstanding design & engineering innovation.

www.sustainablescience.org/Toshiba-90.pdf

The LPSA project wins First Invention Prize in the UK for a small business in the National Toshiba/Design Council Invention Competition.