Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - IV. Forestry - 2. Forest Industries. By E. Arosenius - Floating. By Th. Örtenblad
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208
iv. forestry.
Other constructions also occur in the floating-ways, such as fascine-coffers,
canals dug in the ground, etc. The most important means for clearing or
regulating the floating-ways is, however, by the blasting of rocks, and their
subsequent removal from the bed.
The work of floating commences simultaneously with the breaking
up of the ice in spring. On the smaller floating-ways, especially, it
is important to make good use of time; in certain cases, one clay’s
delay may be the cause of part of the logs remaining unfloated till the
next year. The same result may ensue if the number of workmen (or
drivers) is insufficient. The timber may be floated separately or united
in rafts; the latter method of floating being especially used when the
stream is not very rapid. If the timber is laid up on the ice in some
lake or marsh, it is enclosed by booms of heavy logs, chained together,
so as to form a ring-boom or "halter", frequently enclosing several
thousand logs. This ring-boom is either towed by a steam-tug or else
warped along by means of a capstan placed on a raft especially built
for the purpose.
When the timber has entered the floating-way, it is necessary to keep it
clear of the land by means of boat-hooks (driving poles), to increase its speed
in certain cases, and to prevent, as much as possible, the forming of "jambs",
or blocking. Wherever such jambing occurs, the logs must be loosened, which
may be not. only a difficult task, but a dangerous one, too. If it is possible
to find the log which has caused the jamb, it is sufficient to chop it off, after
which the heaped timber comes adrift again of itself and disperses; otherwise
the logs have to be hauled out of the jamb one by one. However, it is now
rare that fatal accidents occur at this work. — On all floating-ways a large
number of hands are stationed at the upper part of the way to break loose the
logs which, in floating, have got lodged or fastened along the bank
(bank-jambs). When this work has been carried down as far as to the
sorting-booms, the general floating is finished for the year. In most water-courses
there is now time for the logs to reach the saw-mills during the course of
the first summer after they are felled, while, formerly, before the
floating-ways were regulated, it was usual for the logs to be two or even three
summers on their way through the water-courses. The loss of timber in floating
does not even amount to one per cent, in some Norrland rivers.
Usually the floating-way is divided into sections, and the cost is calculated
separately for each section. The floating in the upper sections is relatively more
expensive than in the lower ones.
A fairly good idea can be gained of the importance of the timber
floating-network of Sweden, when we learn that the total length of these
floating-ways is estimated at about 29 000 kilometers. Some 23 000 kilometers
of this belong to the general floating-ways, and about 6 000 kilometers
to the private ones. The floating-ways are of greatest importance in
Northern Sweden, where, in Norrland alone, they amount to more than
23 000 kilometers, while in Dalarne they come to about 3 000 kilometers.
The expense of establishing these floating-ways can be estimated as
having been about 60 million kronor. This sum does not include working-
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