Three Gilbert S Series Planers installed at the Katerra CLT Facility
In September 2019, Katerra opened a 270,000 sq. ft. facility in Spokane Valley, Washington dedicated to the production of CLT structural systems with the possibility to make additional mass timber products in the future.
Katerra purchased three Gilbert S-Series Planer: “The wood goes through the first set of planers and gets to near-net-size there,” says Jason Herman, Plant General Manager. “Then, on planers two and three, it gets to net-size. Once it travels through the finger jointer, the product makes a continuous ribbon of lumber up to 60 feet, so we can do our layups in our press.”
The $150 million factory has an annual manufacturing capacity of 185,000 cubic meters producing up to 140 boards per minute. Founded in 2015, Katerra is a building components manufacturer well known for its mass timber products such as glued laminated timber (glulam) and cross-laminated timber (CLT). The company describes the mass timber as the future of high performance building technology with safe, efficient, economical and environmentally friendly products.
