Forest Road Operations in the Tropics

This book brings together information on road planning, location, design, construction, and maintenance to support environmentally acceptable operations in tropical forests. It highlights the challenges of road operations in the tropics, includes techniques that have been shown to be successful, and discusses newer technologies. It is intended as a reference book for the forest engineer and others interested in the planning and management of tropical forests. Numerical examples are included to provide clarity for interpreting graphs; procedures, and formulas. The book covers the various facets of road management from design objectives through practices to control environmental impacts.

John Sessions is University Distinguished Professor and Stewart Professor of Forest Engineering at Oregon State University. His forestry career spans five decades, forest operations on five continents, including experience in each of the main tropical forest regions. He was harvesting manager in the Amazon, conducted reduced impact logging evaluations in Malaysia, transportation planning workshops in Africa and forest transportation feasibility studies throughout tropical Latin America from Costa Rica and Colombia to northwest Argentina. His transportation planning software is used world wide. He is joined by coauthors who have a combined experience in more than 60 countries.