New design values submitted for Southern pine

The Southern Pine Inspection Bureau resubmitted proposed design values for all grades and sizes of visually graded Southern Pine dimension lumber to the American Lumber Standard Committee.

The bureau and the U.S. Forest Products Laboratory worked cooperatively to finalize the analysis of the latest test data, comprised of more than 300,000 data points. This is the largest submission of data since the original in-grade testing program in 1991, according to the Southern Forest Products Association.

"[The bureau] made a number of revisions to the proposed design values as compared to their September 2012 submittal, but almost all are minor and within one rounding rule," trade group spokeswoman Cathy Kaake says.

The latest proposed design values from the bureau are now available on www.southernpine.com. The committee’s review board will meet on Jan. 30 to hear testimony from interested parties and will consider all input before making a final decision.