A questionnaire survey to establish the perceptions of UK specifiers concerning the key material attributes of timber for USE in marine and fresh water engineering

Engineers have a key role in making informed decisions on the type of materials to be used in the schemes they design and construct. Currently, in England and Wales, it is believed that some 500m per year is invested in flood and coastal defence engineering. There is a lack of centralised data in the UK holding information on timber for usage in fluvial and, particularly coastal engineering. A questionnaire survey of engineers was carried out. The survey identified the key material properties of timber required by engineers for different end uses. In addition, the survey identified that there was a lack of reliable technical information to support the use of lesser known hardwood species that did not have an established track record of use in marine and fluvial engineering in the UK.