SmartLam making big investements in Alabama

SmartLam North America, one of the first and largest manufacturers in North America of cross-laminated timber (CLT) announced it will build a $50 million glulam manufacturing facility in Dothan, Ala.

The new SmartLam facility will manufacture annually 84,000,000 board feet of large glulam beams and columns that are required to properly serve the mass timber market. 

SmartLam said it has chosen to partner with Ledinek to build a turnkey, state-of-the-art glulam facility. The new glulam facility will be 100% operational in October of 2024. 

“We are pleased to announce the new state-of-the-art custom glulam manufacturing plant which will be the largest custom glulam plant in North America,” said SmartLam North America CEO Derek Ratchford.

Dothan is strategically located in Alabama to serve the Southeast, the fastest-growing mass timber market in the United States, according to SmartLam.

The manufacturer noted that it has 1.5 billion board feet of available southern pine lumber annually between its four southern sawmill shareholders. 

SmartLam North America will also spend an additional $24 million to fully automate the existing Dothan, Ala. and Columbia Falls, Mont. CLT facilities. 

This additional investment will allow each facility to produce 2,000,000 cubic feet annually, SmartLam said.

“Most mass timber glulam beams and columns are manually produced,” Ratchford said. “The new glulam plant will be automated allowing SmartLam to significantly increase production and simultaneously deliver multiple mass timber projects. We are currently the largest CLT manufacturer in North America and with the CLT automation upgrades and the new glulam addition, SmartLam will become the largest mass timber producer in North America.”