Summer in the small Rhineland town of Eschweiler can be truly romantic: A gurgling river flows through the heart of the town, with numerous trees along the banks inviting visitors to linger. Directly above, pedestrian balconies float for passersby. With their maritime wooden planks, it's actually a magical idea for experiencing the river up close. Unfortunately, the proximity to the water made the wood a permanent construction site. That's all over now – thanks to the robust and weather-resistant Strong planks from NaturinForm.

The city planners had come up with something very special for the riverside side of the street: a cantilevered platform with a railing was installed there, making it possible to stroll directly above the rushing riverbank or to enjoy a relaxing coffee as a guest of the adjacent cafés. The honey-colored oak wood gave the area a particularly inviting atmosphere. In summer, children loved to play here barefoot.

Shimmering wood and sparkling water are a dream combination. But unfortunately, wood, a natural building material, isn't a joy precisely where it looks its best. Near a body of water, the air is constantly humid from splashing water and water vapor, making standard decking a problem. Like the wooden planks that invite passersby to gaze out at the water on the riverside road in Eschweiler.

The five-centimeter-thick oak planks quickly developed green growth and began to crack. Rain and humidity were able to penetrate. The surface became dangerously slippery, began to splinter, and even became rotten due to fungal infestation. After less than ten years, the first beams had to be removed. "Several meters of wooden planks had to be replaced because they posed a danger to pedestrians and playing children," says Walter Goy from the Eschweiler City Civil Engineering Department. This cost a lot of time and money – and the patchwork of old and new beams simply no longer looked attractive.

Plank innovation for problem locations

The solution for the exasperated city administration came from Franconia: There, in Redwitz, the company NaturinForm produces an unusually weather-resistant form of wood composite floorboards. Natural wood fibers are combined with a thermoplastic polymer. In a precisely calibrated process, this component wraps itself around each individual fiber like a microscopically fine cement. Because the polymer itself is completely water-repellent, no water can penetrate the finished floorboard.

Locations near water are so problematic for wooden surfaces because weathering is primarily a result of penetrating moisture. The wood absorbs water in the rain and then releases it again, causing it to move—and crack. Even more water can penetrate. As long as the surface remains moist, lichens and mosses find a place to establish a colony. In doing so, they digest the wood's surface and create additional areas for water to attack.

Safety for public roads

Thanks to its water-repellent properties, NaturinForm's wood composite is not only particularly suitable for damp, problematic locations, it's also easy to clean. Simply spraying the planks with water is sufficient. The material won't splinter even after years of use. And it offers particularly high slip resistance, an important safety aspect for projects in public spaces.

As a public sidewalk, the structure must also withstand greater mechanical stress, such as mopeds and bicycles. For this purpose, NaturinForm offers Strong, a product with exceptionally high load-bearing capacity thanks to its solid plank thickness of 38 millimeters. It also offers another key advantage during installation: it eliminates the need for a load-bearing substructure. In this case, the planks were simply screwed to the existing structure of load-bearing oak beams using spacers and stainless steel screws.

Unmistakably wood

The surface of the Strong boards has a natural and elegant appearance thanks to the applied wood grain. Alternatively, the finely grooved underside can be installed upwards as a visual accent. Whether grained, grooved, with block stripes, or corrugated: NaturinForm products are generally almost indistinguishable from conventional wood. The wood content is very high at 70 percent, making wood the visually and sensorially dominant component. Therefore, the color of the boards changes with the influence of light, air, sun, and moisture. A natural patina formation of the wood fibers allows the boards to mature moderately in color. The colors do not fade.

Environmentally friendly through and through

NaturinForm produces its floorboards in a strictly ecological manner. No trees are felled for their production, and no tropical wood is imported. Only wood flour from sawmills committed to processing only PEFC-certified wood from ecologically managed forests is used. The organic component of the composite material is environmentally friendly polyethylene. Unlike conventional wood, NaturinForm floorboards do not require the use of environmentally harmful chemicals for maintenance, and fungicides and pesticides are avoided during production.