IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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HCB - a new preservative combination for wood pole maintenance
1996 - IRG/WP 96-30122
New combination of heavy creosoted boron (HCB) applied on hardwood and softwood logs at different moisture content revealed successful diffusion of boron in all sapwoods within 7 days and in all sapwoods plus hardwoods within 15 days. The new cost effective paste sterilizes wood through diffusion and suitable for pole maintenance at groundline and above groundline e.g. cut ends, drilled holes, woo...
A K Lahiry


End grain sealants for wood preservation studies
1985 - IRG/WP 3341
The results of tests with possible end grain sealants for wood preservation studies are reported. The epoxy resins used gave satisfactory performance on wet or dry Sitka spruce and have been used with success for diffusion treatment studies....
R J Murphy, N A Summers


The influence of formulation on the behaviour of LOSP's during industrial impregnation of spruce
1986 - IRG/WP 3387
Evidence is presented that the comparative behaviour of two LOSP formulations during impregnation treatment of spruce cannot be predicted purely on the basis of their physical characteristics (viscosity, surface tension and contact angle) nor on the extent of their 'passive' penetration into pine sapwood....
L D A Saunders, D M Zuvencko


Life cycle analysis: Assessing environmental impact
1994 - IRG/WP 94-50034
Environmental impact assesment is a major issue that faces every nation today. However, consistently and objectively measuring the environmental impact is difficult. During the past two decades, a process called life cycle analysis was developed that tried to make consistent and objective environmental assessments. The Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry broadened the concept to not ...
S L LeVan


Investigations on the life cycle and nutrition of Criocephalus rusticus L
1974 - IRG/WP 127
The longhorn beetle Criocephalus rusticus L or Arhopalus rusticus (L) is widely distributed in Europe and Asia. It attacks softwoods. The primary host trees are pines, ie freshly felled, unbarked logs, dying standing trees and stumps. After feeding under the bark the larvae enter the sapwood and also the heartwood. Timber to be used for building purposes may be rendered useless by their tunnelling...
H Kühne


Life cycle analysis of utility poles. A Swiss case study
1995 - IRG/WP 95-50040-05
Use of preservative-treated wood products faces increasing public and political pressure because of environmental concerns regarding the chemicals used to protect the wood. However, critics usually focus only on one single aspect of the whole life cycle of treated wood products, disregarding other environmental effects of timber utilization. To evaluate the ecological consequences of wooden utilit...
T Künniger, K Richter


Test Methods – Performance Based Requirements
2004 - IRG/WP 04-20297
In this paper is briefly described the present approach to service life prediction as an essential part of the architectural engineering process. The system of testing the durability of wood is described more in detail including laboratory tests as well as field trials. It is concluded that the system has a lot of weaknesses which makes it less well suited for practical building applications. A le...
M-L Edlund, F Englund, J Jermer, T Nilsson, M Westin, K Ödeen


Preservative performance of copper naphthenate (SANPRESER-OGR) in brush treatment of timber
1991 - IRG/WP 3663
Preservative efficacy of copper naphthenate (SANPRESER-OGR) was evaluated in the laboartory and field trials when timber was treated by brushing. Results of field trial indicated that service life of the brush-treated timber could be approximately 10 years or longer under ground contact conditions, although life span was slightly varied with timber species and test sites. After four years&apos...
Y Sugai, K Hamada, M Kitada, K Tomoi


Waste management of wood products in life cycle assessment
2000 - IRG/WP 00-50154
Within the framework of the European project LIFE SYS WOOD (contractnr. FAIR CT95-7026) TNO has performed a study on the waste management of wood demolition waste for inclusion in Life Cycle Assessment. In LIFE SYS WOOD one of the main aims was to develop a consistent LCA methodology for wood products. LCA case studies have been performed by partners on wood as raw material, glulam contructions, O...
P Esser, P Eggels, A Voss


An engineering model for the decay of timber in ground contact
2003 - IRG/WP 03-20260
To predict the residual strength of an engineered structure, it is first necessary to predict the effect of decay. A model was developed in which the effective area of structural decay in large section timbers was defined as that area that could be picked out with a pen-knife. Some limited studies indicated that for practical purposes the remaining wood could be assumed to have its full residual s...
R H Leicester, C-H Wang, M N Nguyen, J D Thornton, G Johnson, D Gardner, G C Foliente, C MacKenzie


Serviceability modeling-Predicting and extending the useful service life of FRT-plywood roof sheathing
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20210
One of the most, if not the most, efficient methods of extending our existing forest resource is to prolong the service life of wood currently in-service by using those existing structures to meet our future needs (Hamilton and Winandy 1998). It is currently estimated that over 7 x 109 m3 (3 trillion bd. ft) of wood is currently in service within the United States of America (PATH 1999). Research ...
J E Winandy


Fungus cellar testing as an evaluation method for performance of treated timber in ground contact
2001 - IRG/WP 01-20227
A fungus cellar method for the accelerated evaluation of performance of treated wood in ground contact is described. The test soil comprised of sandy loam, vermiculite and Japanese horticulture soil "Kanumatsuchi" in a ratio of 6:2:2 by volume. The soil was inoculated with the dominant test fungus isolated with selective medium from decayed wood samples. Pairs of treated and untreated wood specime...
Y Nagano


Life-cycle assessement of treated wood: A view from the roa
1996 - IRG/WP 96-50078
Life Cycle Assessement (LCA) is being used increasingly as a tool to structure information on the environmental characteristics of material and processes. This paper is based on the experience gained from our LCA studies on treated wood products over the last 4 years. The comprehensive and logical examination af the information available on treated timber provided by LCA has allowed identification...
W Hillier, R J Murphy, D J Dickinson, J N B Bell


Comparative life cycle assessment of Swiss railroad sleepers
1998 - IRG/WP 98-50117
The results of an environmental LCA carried out on railway sleepers made of prestressed concrete, sectional steel and creosote impregnated beech as used on main lines of Switzerland's railways are presented. All extractions from and insertions into the environment which were connected with the manufacture, use and disposal of the different types of sleeper were inventoried and assessed, i...
T Künniger, K Richter


Service life of pressure treated deckings of spruce in direct contact with the ground
1988 - IRG/WP 3463
For decking outdoors in Sweden, pressure treated Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) is used, on account of its treatability. The feasibility of using instead the refractory Norway spruce (Picea abies Karst.) is tested in a field trial. The spruce decks were treated together with pine decks with an ordinary Bethell process. As yet, after more than four years of exposure, neither in the battens nor in...
J B Boutelje, T Sebring


A serial exposure technique for estimating probable service life of treated timber
1978 - IRG/WP 2111
This paper briefly describes part of our preliminary work aimed at developing a test procedure that culd be adopted as a standard method. A detailed version of the work has been submitted for formal publication. In both papers, the aim is to promote interest in extended laboratory testing of wood preservatives. It is believed that this work may provide the basis of a laboratory test procedure from...
J A Butcher


Alternatives to CCA for ground contact protection of timber: a perspective from UK on performance and service life expectations
2002 - IRG/WP 02-30289
The proposed amendment to the European Union's Marketing and Use Directive (1976/769/EEC) in respect of arsenic in CCA wood preservatives seeks to restrict the use of CCA across the European Union. CCA is an extremely important wood preservative in the UK from the manufacturing of the product to the extent of use of CCA-treated timber. Based on our experience and judgement on the use of ...
E D Suttie, A F Bravery, T B Dearling


Natural durability, density and extractive contents of 42 wood species of Bangladesh.
2003 - IRG/WP 03-10490
Natural durability, density and major extractive contents of 42 lesser used or unused wood species of Bangladesh have been studied. Correlation analysis between these properties has been performed. It has been shown that natural durability of these species neither explained by water soluble nor by alcohol benzene extractive contents. Density has a weak but significant positive correlation with dur...
S Akhter, K Akhter, S C Das


Field test design for service life prediction of wooden components
2005 - IRG/WP 05-20308
Wood is predominantly degraded by organisms. Thus, compared to other building materials, service life of wooden material is influenced by many more factors, which are divided into direct and indirect factors. Climate, geographical position, and construction criteria count to the indirect decay factors. Besides material inherent properties (natural durability, wood preservatives), wood temperature...
A O Rapp, C Brischke


Effect of kerfing on performance of Douglas-fir utility poles in the Pacific Northwest
1990 - IRG/WP 3604
Preservative treatment produces an external layer of protection in Douglas-fir poles, but the development of deep checks as the wood dries after treatment can permit entry by fungi and insects. A variety of remedial treatments can arrest this decay; however, it is far more efficient to prevent checking. Kerfing represents one potential method for limiting the development of deep checks. In previou...
J J Morrell


Wharf-borer a threat to stored archaeological timbers
1992 - IRG/WP 92-1560
Increased interest in marine archaeology has occured in recent years. Stored waterlogged archaeological timbers have been shown to be degraded by physical and microbial agents. In recent years a new threat has been highlighted, namely the wharf-borer Nacerdes melanura (L.). The objective of this paper is to outline studies of the morphology, biology, life-history and carbohydrate digestion by this...
A J Pitman, E B G Jones, A M Jones, M Rule


A methodology for the life-cycle assessment of treated timber products
1993 - IRG/WP 93-50001-01
Using case studies of CCA-treated motorway fenceposts and creosote-treated electricity transmission poles, the paper suggests an approach to evaluation of the overall environmental impact of treated timber products, utilising the emerging systems analysis method of life-cycle assessment (LCA). The development and application of LCA methodologies to date is reviewed and the key features identified....
S R Smith, R J Murphy, D J Dickinson


Alternative timbers to Iroko (Milicia excelsa) for various end-uses: Ghana’s offer
2004 - IRG/WP 04-10518
There are hundreds of timber species indigenous to Ghana and several exotic species have been extensively planted. The timber industry in Ghana is very important to the country’s economy. Despite its small size relative to the world trade in timber products, it has the potential to be a driving force in the development of the Ghanaian economy. The industry is currently going through a period...
S A Amartey, Zeen Huang, A Attah


Service life of outdoor wooden constructions. Expectations of private house owners in Sweden
2001 - IRG/WP 01-10401
Wood is traditionally used in indoor as well as outdoor applications. However, if not kept dry, wood is easily attacked by wood degrading micro-organisms. Thus the service life is heavily affected by construction design, choice of wood and wood treatment. For most constructions there is an expected service life. The expectations concerning wooden constructions and what kind of wood is chosen to fu...
M-L Edlund, J Jermer


Quality assured wooden sidings - Criteria, performance evaluations and current status
2000 - IRG/WP 00-20216
Quality assured wooden sidings were brought to the Swedish market in 1998. The system was worked out during a six year period in a close cooperation between the sawmill industry and several research institutes. Centuries of use have given a wealth of experience of spruce boards as a siding material, showing that it works well in most cases but also that its longevity is highly variable, depending ...
F Englund, I Johansson, J Ekstedt, R Nussbaum


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