Matthew J Konkler

Oregon State University | OSU · Department of Wood Science and Engineering

Incising is required in the American Wood Protection Association (AWPA) Standards for the treatment of many timber species, especially those from the western United States. Incising increases the amount of end-grain exposed to fluid flow, but it also has the potential to affect flexural properties. Models have been developed to predict the effects...

Copper-based wood preservatives provide effective protection against decay fungi but carry the risk of leaching copper into sensitive aquatic environments. Copper leaching can be mitigated by using post-treatment Best Management Practices (BMPs) that reduce the initial discharge of copper from treated wood but there are few data validating their ef...

While creosote components have very low water solubility, concerns have been raised about potential environmental effects and stimulated research to minimize migration. Best management practices have been developed but there are few data quantifying their effects. The effects of post-treatment steaming on migration of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbo...

Individual and batch analyses were examined for creosote-treated Pinus sylvestris poles. Retentions were slightly higher in combined analyses, but within natural population variations. Batch analysis provided a good guide to retention, but no data on within-batch variability.

Crossarms are heavy timbers used to support electrical lines on utility poles. The requirements for crossarm material are fairly strict especially with respect to limitations on the presence of knots, which represent a gap or hole in the timber and also result in grain deviations that can affect properties. The strict grading rules can sometimes re...

Copper remains one of the key biocides for protecting timber in soil contact. Historically, copper-based preservatives relied on solubilized copper. Over the past decade, micronized copper systems have largely replaced soluble copper systems in this application. While micronized copper chemistries have been shown to perform well over time with redu...

Mass timber represents a range of composite materials, including glued- or nail-laminated timber, cross-laminated timber, laminated veneer lumber, and mass plywood panels that are increasingly used to construct multi-story structures. The potential of these wood materials has energized the architectural and engineering communities as they seek less...

Wooden crossarms play a major role in supporting electric distribution lines in North America, but relatively few data exist on their condition as they age. The residual capacity of Douglas-fir crossarms in service in western Oregon for 45 to 60 years was investigated. Arms were sampled for residual preservative retention, the presence of visible d...

The performance of several wood surface treatments as well as a silica treatment claiming to provide protection against fungal decay and termite attack in aboveground applications were examined in termite, ground proximity, and sandwich tests at a subtropical site near Hilo, Hawaii. In general, the surface treatments performed similarly to untreate...

Internal decay is a common problem in poles or timbers of thin sapwood species. Several internal treatments have been developed to arrest this attack and these systems are widely used in North America. While these treatments have been evaluated in numerous independent field trials, there is no single test of all treatments. The objective of this st...

The ability of standard soils to capture heavy metals or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from ammoniacal copper zinc arsenate (ACZA)– or creosote-treated wood, respectively, was assessed using pressure-treated posts immersed in a freshwater pond. The soil, in heat-sealed, permeable plastic mesh sachets, was able to intercept copper, zinc, a...

Pentachlorophenol (PCP) remains important in North America for protecting industrial products from deterioration. One negative of PCP use is that some chemical is solubilized when wood is wetted, raising concerns about non-target organism risks. Best Management Practices (BMPs) were developed to reduce PCP migration and are increasingly used, but t...

The ability to accurately predict wood decay risks under varying environmental conditions has long been of interest to timber users. Accurate predictions are difficult owing to the myriad of variables associated with the decay process including wood species, wood inhabiting organisms, timber building element design and environmental conditions. Des...

The American Wood Protection Association Standards require that any cuts or holes drilled into treated wood be supplementally treated with a preservative and that timbers or poles receive a water-shedding cap. However, these recommendations are routinely ignored, resulting in early decay and failure. The effects of supplemental treatments and cappi...

Mass timber consists of a range of composite materials that are increasingly used to construct multi-story structures. These materials have energized the architecture and engineering communities about the potential for using wood. However, optimizing the performance of mass timber buildings will require careful consideration of the potential effect...

The effect of biodiesel on the performance of pentachlorophenol and copper naphthenate was investigated in Douglas-fir sapwood stakes at two sites. Decay developed more quickly at the forest site, reflecting more suitable moisture conditions. Although the test is still in the early stages, the addition of biodiesel to copper naphthenate was detrime...

The relationship between extractives content and resistance to fungal attack was examined in heartwood samples of western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) collected from across the growing range. Mass losses of juniper samples exposed to Trametes versicolor in laboratory decay tests were generally low and indicated that this species would be classi...

Pigments from wood-decay fungi (specifically spalting fungi) have a long history of use in wood art, and have become relevant in modern science due to their longevity and colorfastness. They are presently under investigation as colorants for wood, bamboo, oils, paints and textiles. Major hurdles to their commercialization have been color repeatabil...

The potential for reducing metal migration using Best Management Practices (BMPs) was investigated on alkaline copper quaternary-and alkaline copper azole-treated southern pine and spruce-pine-fir lumber. All of the processes that involved heating were associated with lower metal migration than the non-BMP processed controls except for a one-hour s...

The potential for migration of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and copper naphthenate (CuNaph) from Douglas-fir was assessed in a bridge over a stream located in Western Oregon in the United States. All rainfall runoff was collected from a portion of the bridge on 15 occasions over a 27 month period and analyzed for pentachlorophenol or copper. PCP and cop...

Emissions from coal-fired power plants are the major anthropogenic source of mercury (Hg) in the environment. Because emitted Hg can be deposited near the source, concerns arise about the effects of coal-burning facilities on levels of toxic methylmercury (MeHg) in biota near such sources. We investigated the potential impact of a large Hg-emitting...