Azobé
Lophira alata · Ekki · Bongossi · Red Ironwood
One of the heaviest and hardest commercial hardwoods in the world, widely used for marine and heavy civil structures.
General characteristics
Azobé is a very dense, extremely hard West and Central African hardwood. It is valued where supreme mechanical strength, wear resistance, and long service life in severely exposed marine and hydraulic conditions are the priority, rather than appearance or ease of machining.
Density & Weight Planning
Air-dry density is commonly cited at roughly 1,000–1,100 kg/m³ (green density reaches 1,200–1,300 kg/m³), which means Azobé sinks in water. Expect heavy loads per cubic metre; container weight limits (typically 21–25 tonnes) are usually reached before container volume.
Typical applications
Harbour lock gates, marine jetties, fender piles, sheet piling, heavy railway sleepers, coastal bridge trusses, heavy industrial flooring, crane outrigger mats, and other demanding civil engineering works.
Log supply considerations
Logs can be very large and heavy (60cm to 120cm+ diameter). Buyers should agree diameter classes, length specifications (4.0m to 11.5m), and confirm port loading methods because highway axle-load and container weight limits are reached before cubic capacity.
Appearance & Grain
Heartwood is dark red-brown to deep chocolate violet-brown, often speckled with conspicuous white or light yellow mineral deposits in the pores. Clearly distinct from the paler, narrow sapwood. The grain is heavily interlocked and the texture is coarse and fibrous.
Durability & Resistance
Generally classed as Natural Durability Class 1 (Very Durable), with extraordinary natural resistance to fungal decay and marine borers (teredo) in exposed coastal waters. Outstanding performance depends on proper application and strictly excluding sapwood.
Sawn timber considerations
Its extreme density makes sawing slow and blunts tools rapidly; stellite-tipped saws and reduced feed rates are essential. Drying is slow and must be carefully controlled under covered shade to limit checking, end splits, and distortion. Heavy beam sections are a standard sawn specification.
Buyer considerations
State the end use, required section sizes, and dimensional tolerances (typically ±2mm on heavy sections). For marine and civil structural work, confirm any grading criteria (e.g. D70 strength class EN 338) or phytosanitary requirements in your destination market before ordering.
