Construction is underway on a project using a new building material called cross-laminated timber. Albina Yard is a new office building going up in northeast Portland.
The four-story, 16,000-square foot building has a glue-laminated wood frame instead of traditional metal framing. Wood for the structure was milled at D.R. Johnson lumber in the Douglas County town of Riddle.
Speaking on the job site Wednesday, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, said the structure reminded him of his father’s career as a millwright in Riddle after World War II.
“That area down there is the heart of Douglas Fir timber country,” Merkley said. “We know that if this strategy spreads, we’re going to make terrific buildings and build a terrific new timber economy to add to the one we already have.”
Merkley and Sen. Ron Wyden worked to secure a $120,000 economic development grant to explore whether cross-laminated timber might be a way to revive rural Oregon’s timber industry. The Portland project is on schedule for completion this summer.
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