20
THE DAVEY BULLETIN
|
November/December 2020
In early August, three arborists from Davey's Nanaimo and
Victoria Residential/Commercial services offices spent three
days completing a level 2 arborist training session at Bowen
Park in Nanaimo, British Columbia. Led by Walter McLean,
regional safety specialist, The Davey Tree Expert Co. of
Canada, Limited, the training is designed to improve
arborists' skillsets in three ways: felling, rigging and climbing
techniques. Additionally, the group learned strategies to train
their coworkers in the field once they return to their office.
Far left: Chris Bentham,
climber, Victoria office, after
completing a face out cut.
Daniel Kannimae, climber, and
Bradyn Villebrun, groundman,
from the Victoria office also
completed the training.
Right: Daniel Kannimae and
Chris Bentham limb walking
using the single rope technique.
EXPERTISE
TRAINING UP A NOTCH
IN CANADA
A live oak tree from Johns Island,
South Carolina, traveled roughly
200 miles to its new home at the
Ally Charlotte Center in Charlotte,
North Carolina.
It took three years of planning before
this tree could plant its roots at the
corner of Tryon and Stonewall streets.
The client contacted Environmental
Design, Inc. (EDI), a Davey affiliate,
for this 26-story office tower project
to incorporate a signature tree in the
exterior design of the building.
"They ended up selecting two live
oaks," said Paul Cox, vice president,
Eastern Division, EDI. "One to be
their signature tree and the other
as a backup in the event something
happened with their first choice."
In 2019, both trees were root pruned
to see which tree would respond the
best. Sure enough, the client's first
choice live oak thrived. An important
The site conditions where the tree was
growing proved to be a challenge with the
loading process, because the tree was in an
off-road area. A giant steel plate had to be
inserted beneath the tree to aid in pulling it
several hundred feet to an area where the
tree could be loaded for transport.
LIVE OAK PLANTS NEW ROOTS IN CHARLOTTE
aspect to the success of this tree's
transplant was the soil composition.
The tree was grown in sandy soil.
"We had a custom blend of soil made
by a local soil company that matched
the original conditions," Cox said.
"We wanted to make sure the roots
would easily grow and not be hindered
in heavy clay soils."
In October, the 45-foot-tall and
45,000-pound live oak made its journey
to Charlotte. The tree traveled on a
specialized trailer that tilted the tree
horizontally for transportation. Upon
arrival, it was met by a 400-ton crane
and placed in a large planter.
"The challenge was that we really
couldn't get any equipment into
the area where we planted the tree
because of the finished conditions,"
Cox said. "We had to do a lot of
innovative thinking about how we
would backfill 120 yards of soil."
