Abstract

Wood is one of the natural materials with which man first began to build. From the Neolithic Age (4500-2000 BC) to the Late Iron Age (around 1000 BC), man built individual houses and entire settlements of wood, over water (soynice). Access bridges, pylons for the foundation of objects in water bodies (rivers, lakes, seas) and the entire structure were built of wood. In some historical periods (the colonization of North America, for example) wood was the key building material for fast and relatively cheap construction, from individual buildings, family estates (ranches), bridges to entire cities. By designing laminated wood, wood becomes a 'modern' material with completely new properties (especially high structural properties) that can be compared to the properties of reinforced concrete and steel. In addition, wood remains a 'natural material' that never ends up as waste that would burden the natural environment.