This study documented and analyzed the activities that occurred during
the water storage and plywood processing of Hurricane Hugo salvage lo
gs at the Georgia-Pacific Corporation's plywood plant in Russellville,
S.C. It was observed that in log decks where adequate water was prope
rly applied, the log storage program was effective in preserving sound
logs and in minimizing further damage from insects and fungi in logs
that were already infested when placed in storage. No major problems w
ere encountered in processing the sound logs that had been properly sp
rinkled: however, severe production problems were experienced in proce
ssing logs that were not properly sprinkled or were heavily infested w
ith fungi and insects prior to water storage. Additionally, the incomi
ng logs to the plywood plant were made up of a varying mixture of cull
(severely infested) and sound logs. The extreme variation in log qual
ity and moisture content created processing problems from the water va
ts to the hot press. Process and adhesive adjustments were made on a c
ontinuous basis in order to stay within process control limits. Regard
less of the processing problems, the salvage logs consistently yielded
plywood that met industry panel glueline and strength specifications.