REVIEW TIMBER-FLOATING OPERATIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600360957-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 22, 2011
• Sequence Number: 957
• Publication Date: December 27, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

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CLASSIFICATION SECRh'P ~ '~1E~61~~ ?~
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD N0,
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Economic - Timber industry, floating
HOW
PUBLISHED Monthly_pei~indicaE; daily newspaper
WHERE
PUBLISHED' Mcscow
DATE
PUBLISHED Mar, 14 Jul 1950
LANGUAGE Russian
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REVIE41 TIl+IDER-FLOATING OPERATIONS
URGES E7(PANSION OF FLOATING OPERATIONS IN 1950 -- Lesnaya Promyshlennoat', No 3,
Mar 50 .' ,
In March 195 the Soviet state took over supervision of timber-floating opera-
tions in the USSR. Seventeen floating regions were formed and floating offices and
centers were established on the large rivers in each region. The floating organi-
zations accepted the timber which had been hauled to the banks of the rivers by the
logging organizations and floated it to its final destination:
Later, special timber-floating trusts were created within the framework of
the People?a Commissariat of Timber Industry USSR. These trusts are still in exist-
ence at present.
Mechanization of timber-floating operations has progressed eteadi],y through
the years of the Five-year plans. The level of mechanized timber raft construc-
tion reached 42 percent in 1940, increased to 65 percent in 1944, and rose to 71
percent in 1949, In the Severnaya (Northern) Dvina and Kama basins, all rafts are
constructed by mechanical means.
..Kerchevskiy, Yur?yevetskiy, Makaakovskiy, and Bobrovskiy roadsteads are typieu~
cal of the large raft construction roadsteads which have been created along the
waterways of the country. These roadsteads, stretching out 5 to 6 and more kilo-
meters along the streams, are outfitted with large numbers of raft-building and
timber-handling machines, and have large repair and machine shdpe and special coves
for wintering boats and mechanisms; they are electrified, and have radio and tele-
pklone communications and we]1-built workers? settlements with schools, clubs, and
hospitals< Permanent personnel live in well-constructed houses.
The creation of a permanent staff of workers at the timber floating enterprises
not only makes fulfillment of navigation plane easier but permits carrying out 50
percent of all floating work during the wintertime, Construction work, winter raft
construction, repair of buildings, boats and equipment, and preparatory work for
the early spring full eater period are examgles of work performed by permanent per-
sonnel during .the wittter. Continuous methods of operation are being introduced ,
widely in floating operations.
. ?rne"r
DATE OF
INFORMATION 1950
DATE DIST. ~~ Dec 1950
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
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CLASSIFICATION SECRET
NSRB
Fal
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In some basins, 1949 timber-floating operations were unsatisfactory. Float-
age workers in Vologda Oblast and in the Ob'-Irtysh and Amur basins were guilty
of serious deficiencies. Two trusts of Glavzapeibles (Main Administration fcr
West Siberian Timber), Tyumenles (Tyumen Timber) and Towles (Tomsk Timber) trusts,
failed to deliver all their timber to the rivers because the supervisors of these
organizatioae did not pay enough attention to mechanized loading and unloading
operations. Much of the timber produced by Khabarovskles (Khabarovsk Timber) and
Vologdabumles (Yologda Paper and Timber) trusts was not floated because of unor-
ganized floating operations.
Ail these deficiencies must be corrected in 1950, because 27 percent more
timber must be floated in 1950 than in 1949. The volume of timber to be floated
in 1950 will considerably exceed that of the prewar level.
'LAATpDE IIdSTTl'UTE DEVELOPS NEW RAFT __ Lesnaya Pra~yshlennost?, No 3 Mar 50
During the course of the Five-Year Plans, the size of timber rafts has stead-
ily increased. During the Second Five-Year Plan, the length of rafts was increased
from 450 to 725 meters and the width from 28 to 50 meters; the volume reached
25,000 cubic meters. These rafts were still self-floating, moving downstream with
the current.
After 1936, self-floating rafts were generally replaced by rafts drawn by
steam tugs> While this practice speeded delivery to the consumer, the quantity
delivered was still small.
During the course of the postwar Five-Year Plan, construction of a sectional
timber raft was developed by the Central Scientific Research Institute for Timber
Floating. This type of raft is successfully being introduced on the Kama and
Volga rivers. It can be moved 20-25 percent faster than existing types of rafts
Because it is more maneuverable and more stable, it has been possible for steam
tugs to move a larger volume of timber per installed horse-power. For example,
in June 1949 when ordinary rafts were 56 meters wide and contained 14,000-16,000
cubic meters bf timber, txo rafts of the new type, 63 meters wide and containing
20,225 and 22,013 cubic meters of timber were dispatched from Obvinskiy Roadstead
of Kamlesosplav (Kama Timber Floating) Trust. These greater volumes made for
loads of 73 and 80 cubic meters per installed horsepower. -- A. A. Gonik, Central
Scientific Research Institute For Timber Floating
STAKHANOVITE CAPTAINS FLOAT HUGE TIMBER RAFTS __ Lesnaya PronlYshlennoat' No 3,
Mar 50
Ordinarily, it takes one month to float timber rafts from Novo-I1'inak oa the
Kama to Stalingrad, a distance of 2,000 kilometers, but rafts drawn by the steam
tugs Krasnoye Sormovo, PYatiletka, General Vatutin, KamGES, Serp, and others reached
Stalingrad after 12=15 days when the trip was made without stops.
Tugs engaged in Stakhanovite efforts not infrequently haul rafts with a cubic
content twice as great as usual. Three fourths of all rafts floated on the Yeni-
sey during the past navigation season were super-rafts containing 50,000-60,000
cubic meters of timber; they were hauled by the steam tugs Pobeda, Bagration, Gru-
ziya, Tel?man, and others.
In 1948,_the steam tug S. Kirov, under the command of Oaptain Grigor-yev,
hauled the first super-raft, containing 44,Q00 cubic meters of timber, on the Volga.
Now, super-rafts are a common sight on the Volga.
The steam tugs Izhorets-24, Pavlin Vinogradov, and others hauled super-rafts
on th~= Severnaya (Northern) Dvina River.
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These giant rafts are hauled by steam tugs with 400-500 installed horsepower.
An exception is the Ruslan (Bukayev, captain) with 280 horsepower which normally
hauls 16,OJ0 cubic meter rafts, but in stakhanovite efforts, hauled rafts contain-~
ing 25,000-28,000 cubic meters without loss of speed. The Ruslan was the first
timber-floating tug to fulfill the Five-Year Plan, accomplishing the task in 3.5
years. -- P. A. Selivanov
KAMA RIVER TIbIDER FLOATING EXPANDS -- Lesnaya Pramyshlennoat', No 3, Mar 50
Timber cutting in the upper reaches of the Kama River basin began during the
years of the First Five-Year Plan. Since 1946, a large number of new narrow-gauge
railroad lines and truck and tractor roads have been constructed in the Kama basin
The volume of felling and floating is steadily increasing.
In 19489 the amount of timber floated on the Kama exceeded the prewar level.
In 19499 the volume of timber floated was 130 percent of the 1940 volume and in
195o a further increase is planned.
In 1948 and 1949, more than 40 million rubles were spent for such capital
construction pro,jecta as housing, industrial construction, water-way improvement,
and mechanization in KamlesosFlav Trust. -- I. K. Chebotarev, chief, Kamleaosplav
(Kama Timber Floating) Trust.
OBVINSKIY ROADSTEAD FLOATING OPERATIONS ADVANCE -- Lesnaya Pronp.shlennost', No 3
Mar 50
Until 1947, Obvinskiy Timber Floating Roadstead of Kamlesosplav Tn.:st, loca-
ted on the Kama at the mouth of the Obva River, handled not more than 100,000
cubic meters oR timber per navigation season. Operations usually dragged along
until the end of summer.
In ?19479 the roadstead Paced the task of expanding ite operations 1.5 times
and of completing all raft construction work by 15 August. By working out a new
technological procedure, the roadstead fulfilled its plan and completed its float-
ing work by 15 August. ?
In 1948,~the roadstead floated an even greater volume of timber. In 1950,
all readstead operations are to be.full.y mechanized and all rafts will be construc-
ted according to the Central Scientific Research Institute for Timber Floating
sectional raft construction method. -- N. A. Labutin, chief engineer, Obvinskiy
Model-Experimental Roadstead
FLQAT TINIDER IN BAYKAI, REGION __ Pravda, No 195, 14 Jul 50
Timber floating on the rivers of eastern Siberia is proceeding more success-
fully this year than it did last year. Hot weather and rain in the upper reaches
of the Sa~an'Aiver caused snow to melt quickly last spring and the river to: rise.
By taking advantage of the floods,. hundreds of brigades have completed their free
timber floating. Both the quarter and June plans were considerably exceeded.
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