Georgia-Pacific invests $120M in technology at lumber mill
By Larry Adams
June 23, 2023
A $120 million expansion of the Pineland lumber mill will increase capacity.
Photo By Georgia-Pacific
PINELAND, Texas — Georgia-Pacific recently invested $120 million into Pineland Lumber in Pineland, Texas, making it the largest sawmill in the South. As a result of the improvements and new technology, Pineland Lumber is now positioned as a major competitor in the forest products industry, allowing the facility to better serve Georgia-Pacific’s partners, and launching an exciting new chapter in its long and successful history.
Pineland Lumber is one of 12 sawmills Georgia-Pacific operates in the U.S. For more than a century, this facility in east Texas has produced numerous wood products, as well as contributed to the local economy through jobs and community support as the area’s largest employer with close to 300 employees. The upgrades bring the facility into the 21st century with new technology and tools to increase production and product diversity.
The capital improvement project at Pineland Lumber began last April, and includes a modified log yard, a fully modernized sawmill, a continuous dry kiln, and a high-speed planer. "We built a sawmill within an existing sawmill, which presented a few challenges,” said Ronnie Comeaux, Georgia-Pacific regional lumber manager. "However, we continued to successfully operate at full capacity through the entire construction process, and in the end, we were able to modernize our lumber complex that will sustain operations for years to come.”
Pineland Lumber can now accept more log trucks per day—in less time. The modified log yard and the use of wheel loaders, which can unload a truck in one “bite” as opposed to two, will increase the mill’s truck traffic from approximately 250 to 300 per day. The result? Pineland Lumber will produce 450 million board feet of lumber annually, the same amount of lumber needed to build 30,000 houses.
In addition to increased capacity, Pineland Lumber now has the ability to produce new products. Unique to the facility is the application of cross-laminated timbers (CLT), which are used to construct electrical control rooms and specialty equipment enclosures.
“We chose to install the CLT for a variety of reasons,” said Comeaux. “It is an environmentally friendly option to many traditional building materials, as CLT is a completely sustainable resource. CLT construction is strong, tough, and lightweight due to the arrangement of the individual boards in a panel. The CLT panels also offer inherent properties for fire resistance, noise reduction and thermal performance. Finally, CLT buildings are a great way to support our lumber industry and showcase the natural beauty of wood construction.”
According to Fritz Mason, Georgia-Pacific lumber president, Pineland Lumber was selected for expansion because of the area’s workforce and natural resources. “This mill has a long history in Sabine County, which dates back to 1910,” said Mason. “With the mill favorably located in the middle of the southern pine forest in east Texas, coupled with an experienced workforce that dates back several generations, Pineland Lumber is well positioned to prosper for years to come.”