Improved preservative penetration of spruce after pre-treatment with selected fungi. II. Creosote treatment, analysis and strength testing

IRG/WP 98-40106

E J Tucker, A Bruce, H J Staines, B Rosner, K Messner

This paper describes the creosote treatment and analysis of logs pre-treated with selected fungal agents as a method of increasing the porosity of the wood prior to preservative treatment. The paper also reports the subsequent strength testing of the timber to evaluate the effects of the fungal pre-treatment on the structural integrity of the wood. European spruce logs were pre-treated with either Phanaerochete chrysosporium, Dichomitus squalens, Trichoderma viride and Trichoderma aureoviride for incubation periods of between 1-4 weeks (see Rosner et al. part I) prior to pressure treatment with creosote in a commercial treatment plant. Results indicated that penetration of preservative was increased from between 4-10 mm in controls to 17-32 mm in biologically pre-treated material. Mean creosote loadings in the bio-treated logs were all greater than 125 kg/m3 . These improvements in preservative treatment were achieved with no measurable loss of strength by the two Trichoderma strains while each of the basidiomycetes caused only a 10% decrease in strength. The implications of the work for the improved preservation of Spruce is discussed.


Keywords: BIOLOGICAL PRE-TREATMENT; PERMEABILITY ENHANCEMENT; CREOSOTE; TRICHODERMA SPP.; PHANAEROCHETE CHRYSOSPORIUM; DICHOMITUS SQUALENS; STRENGTH TESTING

Conference: 98-06-14/19 Maastricht, The Low Countries


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