Road systems in Forestry.

Abstract

The high costs of forest road construction, maintenance, and timber transportation warrant extensive planning of forest road network layout. Two factors have to be considered during this planning process: road density, which influences off-road transportation distances, and road class, which relates to trucking and road maintenance costs. In order to establish well planned forest roads, it is essential that the planning process involves the total Qetwork, not individual roads or road segments. Current research, including computerised road location procedures, the use of geotextiles in road construction, and the development of a central tyre inflation concept, will have an important impact on the control of future harvest transportation costs.