Summer 2007 - SCANA Corporation

It starts
with a
tree...
Major steps in creating oriented
strand board include:
1
The process starts with a log,
which is debarked and then
shaved into six-inch strands using
high-speed blades.
2
The strands are sent to a
high-temperature dryer
to remove moisture. (Trees are 55
percent water. The goal is to get the
strands to 4-5 percent water.)
3
In the blending process, the
strands are mixed with glue
and wax (resin), then transported
to a forming line where a process
begins that is much like making a
six-layer cake.
4
Strands are cut into a mat
size of 12 feet by 26 feet
and loaded into an oven on shelves.
They go into a press where heat
and pressure cure the resin and
wax and condense each mat from
eight inches thick to one-half inch
thickness.
5
The mats move down the saw lines, where they
are cut into boards that are four by eight feet,
nine feet or 10 feet.
A BOON FOR THE ENTIRE REGION
Grant Allendale is a boon for local mom-and-pop
businesses, and new companies are springing up to
provide such services as saw blade sharpening, machine
work and trucking, Alliance Director Black said.
Most of the plant’s employees live within the fourcounty
area around the facility. “My wife and I enjoy the
area,” said Chatraw, who moved from Kentucky. “The
people are friendly and the community really opened
up to the Grant people who moved here.” The plant
currently employs 130 people.
12 INSIGHTS • SUMMER 2007