Bending stiffness and strength of 300 year old salt(NaCl)-exposed wood from Bryggen in

Bergen, Norway

Bernt-Håvard ØYEN 1, Hans NYEGGEN 1 and Per Otto FLÆTE 1

1
Norwegian Forest and Landscape Institute
P.O.Box 115, NO-1431 Ås
Norway

Abstract
This paper reports the results from a study of modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) of 42
small clear specimens prepared from 300 year old roundwood floor girders containing high levels of NaCl at
Bryggen in Bergen, Norway. NaCl concentration was 6.5 % of the dry matter of the wood. MOE and MOR were
25 % lower than the values obtained from a reference material with equivalent annual ring width and density.
The considerable reduction of MOE and MOR should be taken into consideration in conservation of load-
bearing wooden structures that have been exposed to NaCl.
1. INTRODUCTION
Bryggen, the old wharf of Bergen, is a reminder of the town’s importance as part of the Hanseatic
League’s trading empire from the 14th to the mid-16th century. Bryggen has since 1979 been on the
UNESCO list for World Cultural Heritage sites, and comprises a series of Hanseatic commercial
wooden buildings lining the eastern side of the fjord of Bergen.

Throughout history, Bryggen has experienced many fires, and after a fire in 1702 a large part had to
be rebuilt. Recent restoration surveys of these more than 300 year old wooden buildings have revealed
that some of the roundwood floor girders and underlying foundations appear still to be in good
conditions. This was quite surprising because the structures consist of Scots pine roundwood.
According to EN 350-2 [1] Scots pine heartwood is moderately to slightly durable against wood
decaying fungi while the sapwood is non-durable. As the floor girders have been partly in contact with
soil with high humidity on would expect severe decay of the wood after few years. However, there has
been sign of salt crystals on the surface of the wood, and recent studies [4] have shown high
concentrations of sodium chloride (NaCl) in the wood. The high concentrations of NaCl in different
timber structures in the buildings indicate that the historic storage of salt, repeated washing by use of
salt water and/or spills of brine from the various fish products at Bryggen are the probable sources [3].
NaCl is known to protect wood from fungal deterioration but it can also reduce the mechanical
properties of the wood [2].

The objective of this investigation was to study bending stiffness and strength of NaCl exposed
wooden floor girders from Bryggen in Bergen, Norway. Bending stiffness and bending strength are
wood properties that strongly affect the performance of load-bearing structures. A load-bearing
structure should have sufficient strength to guarantee the desired level of structural safety and
sufficient stiffness to meet the stability requirements. Bending stiffness is measured as the modulus of
elasticity (MOE), or the beam’s resistance to bending. Bending strength is measured destructively as
the modulus of rupture (MOR), which measures the maximum load a beam will carry before it
ruptures.
2. MATERIAL AND METHODS
For practical reasons it was not possible to measure MOE and MOR on full-scale floor girders
dimensions. Small clear wood specimens (20 mm tang × 20 mm rad and 340 mm long) were prepared
from air-dried wood samples collected from eight roundwood floor girders originating from the
rebuilding after the fire in 1702. Only specimens with no sign of fungal decay were accepted, giving
totally 42 specimens for the study. As a reference material 10 small clear wood specimens were
prepared from freshly harvested Scots pine with similar annual ring width and wood density.

The specimens were conditioned in standard environment (20 ºC and 65 % relative humidity).
Wood density was measured according to ISO 3131. MOE and MOR were calculated from data
obtained by static bending in a universal test rig (Instron) according to ISO 3349 and ISO 3133. Figure
1 illustrates a fractured wood specimen after MOR testing.

Figure 1 - Wood specimen after MOR testing.

3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
Chemical analyses of wood discs from the floor girders showed that the wood contained high levels
of NaCl, about 6.5 % of the dry matter of the outer parts of the roundwood girders, and about 5 % of
the heartwood. This was far higher than the reference material from freshly harvested pinewood,
which had a salt concentration of 0.1 %.

The results from the mechanical tests are summarised in Table 1 along with data for annual ring
width and wood density. All data were corrected to 12 % wood moisture content.

Table 1: Basic statistics for wood properties of 42 small clear specimens from Bryggen and 10 reference
specimens from freshly harvested wood. Mean values and standard deviations. Confidence intervals in brackets.
Material MOE MOR Annual ring width Density
(GPa) (MPa) (mm) (kg/m3)
Bryggen 9,8 ± 2,5 74,1 ± 11,1 1,2 ± 0,5 547 ± 7
(n = 42) [9,0-10,6] [70,7-77,5] [1,0-1,4] [524-570]
Reference 13,1 ± 0,7 95,7 ± 3,9 1,1 ± 0,2 521 ± 2
(n = 10) [12,6-13,7] [92,9-98,5] [1,0-1,2] [508-534]

The results showed that mean MOE and MOR were approximately 25 % lower in the material from
Bryggen compared with the reference material (Table 1). It is known that MOE and MOR are
positively correlated with wood density. Therefore the reference material was collected to fit the
density of the NaCl exposed material from Bryggen. Linear regressions between wood density and
MOE or MOR of the Bryggen specimens also showed a normal pattern with positive correlation
between these properties. This supports that the results from the mechanical tests reflect the effects of
salt exposure and aging of the wood. Figure 2 displays the data for MOR and density. It can be seen
that the reference material yields a higher MOR/density ratio than the material from Bryggen.

110.00

100.00

90.00
MOR (MPa)

Reference
80.00
Bryggen
70.00
Lineær (Bryggen)
60.00 y = 0.0797x + 30.392
50.00 R2 = 0.285

40.00
400.00 500.00 600.00 700.00 800.00
Density (kg/m3)

Figure 2 - The relationship between MOR and density for Bryggen specimens (n = 42) and reference specimens
(n = 10).
 It is not possible from the present study to give exact figures for the MOE and MOR loss of the
roundwood floor girders because it was only possible to extract small specimens from these. However,
the considerable reduction of MOE and MOR found in this study should be taken into consideration in
conservation of load-bearing wooden structures that have been exposed to NaCl. It should also be
emphasized that using relationships between annual ring width/density and MOE/MOR based on data
for fresh wood should be avoided because this will overestimate MOE and MOR.

4. REFERENCES
1. CEN 1994. Durability of wood and wood-based products. Natural durability of solid wood.
Part 2: Guide to natural durability and treatability of selected wood species of importance in
Europe. EN 350-2. European Committee for Standardization. Brussels, Belgium.
2. Schneider, P.F., Freitag, C.M., & Morell, J.J. 1997. Decay resistance of saltwater exposed
Douglas Fir piles. Wood and Fibre Science 29: 370-374.
3. Øyen, B.-H., Flæte, P.O, Eikenes, M., Alfredsen, G. & Storaunet, K.O. 2004. Decay
resistance of salt exposed timber at Bryggen in Bergen. Safeguarding historic waterfront sites
– Bryggen in Bergen as a case, p. 74-87. CULTURE 2000 [ISBN 83-918558-1-3].
4. Øyen, B.-H., Kucera, B., Storaunet, K.O., Flæte, P.O. and Eikenes, M. 2001. Wooden
structures at Bryggen in Bergen – Effects of salt (NaCl) in wood protection. Norsk institutt for
skogforskning. Oppdragsrapport 10/01: 34 pp. (In Norwegian)