On Thursday, teachers loaded the bus to spend the morning exploring Westvaco s industrial plantations, the sawmill at Summerville, and the pulp, papermill and chemical divisions on the Cooper river. Westvaco employees did an excellent job of explaining their ecosystem management techniques, and demonstrating the variety of products that can be made from the paper industry. But most impressive was the technology demonstrated at the sawmill. After the bark is removed, logs move into the mill for measuring and cutting into lumber. All done with high tech computers and automation.
Some jobs still have to be done by hand.
Here lumber is graded as it moves through the line. I was highly impressed by the sawmill and jobs offered there. Actually seeing the tree coming in on trucks and the complete process to make lumber was fascinating. The finished product. Bar codes on the ends of each board contain information detailing everything from where the trees came from to the day they were processed.