IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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Your search resulted in 33 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.


Durability and Wood Protection for Historic Covered Bridges in the United States
2014 - IRG/WP 14-10829
A majority of the covered wooden bridges in United States were built in the mid -1800’s. These structures represent a unique cultural and technological heritage from that era. Over time, these bridges have been deteriorated by microorganisms and insects or damaged by acts of vandalism and arson. The National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation (NHCBP) Program sponsored by the Federal Highway Ad...
V W Yang, C A Clausen


Examining environmental conditions and the biodeterioration of historic waterlogged wood: the Kolding Cog
2002 - IRG/WP 02-10441
Survival of waterlogged wood from thousands and in rare cases millions of years presents scientists with a unique opportunity to examine wood specimens which, due to select properties of the wood itself and/or the depositional environment, have not been completely degraded. This paper discusses the biodeterioration of a submerged shipwreck buried in Kolding Fjord, Denmark for the past 1000 years....
B A Jordan, D J Gregory, E L Schmidt


Some experiences with attack of microorganisms on wooden constructions supporting foundations of houses and bridges
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10232
Reconstructions of bridges and public buildings or damage of houses during the construction of subway lines in Berlin have led to a number of inspections of wooden foundations, mostly pine or spruce piles, representing service lives of between ca. 70 and 140 years. In all cases bacterial attack was found both in wood submerged in ground water and in surface water. The extent of deterioration diffe...
M Grinda


An Historical Roof Timber System in the Old Town of Berlin-Spandau
2019 - IRG/WP 19-10949
In Europe the “Charter of Venice” was enacted on the 31st of May 1964. It is the international directive for the preservation of historic buildings and monuments. All countries in Europe now involve professional wood scientists and engineers in maintaining and preserving historical buildings. Here we discuss a restoration project involving 17th century roof timbering. This project may be used ...
M Luke, W Unger, D Nellessen


Severe decay damages of bridges made of ekki (Lophira alata) wood known as a durable species
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10383
Bridges made of ekki (azobe, bongossi, Lophira alata Banks et Gaertn.) timbers were severely decayed only 10 years after the construction possibly caused from no maintenance for the periods. The reason of no maintenance is due to the misunderstandings on wood durability against wood-decaying fungi. Some civil-engineers and architectures understand "durable species" means "absolutely decay-durable ...
S Doi, T Sasaki, Y Iijima


Recent development in North American industrial wood preservation plants
1988 - IRG/WP 3467
After remaining static for many years there have been a number of changes in plant design and treating cycles in recent years. This has been particularly true in the USA where few restrictions are placed on plant treating cycles by specifications; since only results type specifications are used. It is also important to realize that the AWPA Specifications for Southern Yellow Pine only call for tre...
J F Bridges


Site characteristics impacting historic waterlogged wood: A review
2000 - IRG/WP 00-10344
Survival of waterlogged wood from hundreds and in rare cases millions of years presents scientists with a unique opportunity to examine wood specimens which, due to select properties of the wood itself and/or the depostional environment, have not been completely degraded. Although degradation patterns of various types of microbial wood decay have been studied in detail, the site parameters of the ...
B A Jordan, E L Schmidt


Monitoring a Timber Bridge in Norway
2004 - IRG/WP 04-40282
We have instrumented three different timber bridges in Norway for the Norwegian Public Roads Administration. The goal was to learn more about the properties of timber bridges. We have instrumented Evenstad Bridge, Daleråsen Bridge and the last year Flisa Bridge. All bridges are have creosoted glulam trusses and creosoted stress laminated deck. Evenstad and Flisa have an asphalt deck on top, while...
F G Evans


PCP in aquatic environments arising from historic contamination at wood processing and preservation sites
1995 - IRG/WP 95-50040-14
Three different studies are reported that assess the impacts of Pentachlorophenol (PCP) in aquatic environments arising from its historic use at sawmilling and wood preservation sites. These studies involved New Zealand wood processing facilities, and collectively they aimed to measure the transport of PCP from sawmill sites into the aquatic environment, determine the background environmental conc...
J S Gifford, P N McFarlane, M C Judd, S M Anderson


Analysis of the boron content of preservative treated oak and pitch pine heartwood before and after leaching
1992 - IRG/WP 92-3697
Studies to determine the effects, if any, of a variety of boron formulations on heartwood of English oak and American Pitch pine have been previously reported (King et al (1991)). Small wood blocks were treated, at 10°C or 45°C, with borax, polybor or Boracol 20 for periods of 1 month or 4 months then analysed or continuously leached with tap water for a period of 1 month. Reported results showe...
S McCutcheon, G M Smith, J W Palfreyman, B King


Effects of boron formulation on specific timber types used in ships of historical importance
1991 - IRG/WP 3676
This paper reports results of preservative treatment and leaching experiments, using borax, polybor and boracol 20, on small wood blocks of English oak and American pitch pine heartwood. Earlier experiments on the performance of various biocides as possible additives to bilgewater to prevent fungal decay of shipping timbers had suggested that some formulations of boron might be associated with phy...
B King, G M Smith, J W Palfreyman, S McCutcheon


An Important Wood Destroying Beetle: Anobium punctatum (De Geer) (Coleoptera: Anobiidae) and Distribution of Western Black Sea region
2008 - IRG/WP 08-10666
Anobium punctatum (De Geer) is an economically important insect species regarding damage to wooden structures. The damage mostly occurs in historic wooden buildings, wooden chairs, tables and seats. It has been determined in the Istanbul, Ankara, Ayancik, Bartin, Rize, Trabzon, Gumushane and Gole regions of Turkey. There is no detailed study in terms of the distribution of this insect and the d...
A Toper Kaygin, Y Yildiz, Ü C Yildiz, S Yildiz, S M Onat, N K Özkazanç, B Kaygin, S Çelíkyay


Penetration Depth of Borates in Historic Wooden Structures in Virginia City Montana
2008 - IRG/WP 08-30475
Virginia City, Montana contains some of the best preserved examples of gold boom construction in the United States. Unfortunately, even the dry climate and fortuitous lack of fire have not prevented decay from claiming parts of the historic fabric. This project aims to determine if borates should be integrated into the preservation plan of the Montana Heritage Commission. Solutions of disodium ...
A A Turner


The amazing wooden churches from Northern Romania - learning from the past, restoring for the future, preserving the present valuable heritage of forgotten wood building tradition
2009 - IRG/WP 09-10683
The beauty and the uniqueness of the north-western region of Romania called “Maramureş” are well known in Europe. Surrounded by mountains, the region remained to some extend isolated from modern influences, preserving the local village architecture and craftsman traditions learnt and passed on from generation to generation. Local folklore and past heritage sets you back centuries ago when...
R Craciun, R Möller


Detection and Assessment Healthy Situation of Poulus Euphratica Oliv. with Stress Wave
2009 - IRG/WP 09-20415
The defects of tree trunk of Poulus euphratica Oliv were inspected by stress wave method and diagnosed with transmission time and velocity. The reference values of transmission time of unit length and velocity from stress wave were used to assess the healthy situation of tree trunk. The goal is provide fast inspecting technology and assessment method for the historic trees in China. The results sh...
Shanqing Liang, Nana Hu, Lanying Lin, Feng Fu


Use of Internal Remedial Treatment to Extend Wood Life at the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site
2010 - IRG/WP 10-30525
The condition of wood in a reconstructed fur trading fort was assessed over a 30 year period. Poor initial treatment had resulted in the development of extensive early decay. While supplemental treatment with chloropicrin and methylisothiocyanate had arrested the attack, the results suggested that remedial treatments were unable to completely overcome the initial problems associated with treatmen...
C S Love, C Freitag, J J Morrell


Chemical protection of historic timber structures: Results and future needs
2010 - IRG/WP 10-40487
The paper concentrates on the analysis of the effectiveness of chemical protection for timber structures in the Russian State Museums “Kizhi” (Karelia) and “Vitoslavlitsy” (Novgorod). The condition of historic timber was tested at the monuments treated with PCP, borax, potassium carbonate, boric acid, Pinotex chemicals in the 1970-80. Long-term analysis revealed that in many cases the...
M Kisternaya, V Kozlov


Cobblestone Church in Gross Gievietz: Historic Wooden Construction and Potential for Conservation and Use
2011 - IRG/WP 11-10760
A majority of cobblestone churches situated in the German Federal State Mecklenburg-Vorpommern demonstrates immense construction deficiencies and are threatened by decay. The historic cobblestone church located in Groß Gievitz, built in the 13th century, is one such church in which the roof beam constructions have degraded considerably due to deficiencies in reconstruction measures. This paper d...
A Schulze, W Unger


Effectiveness of Water Based Bentonite-Borate Slurry for In-situ Remedial Protection of Historic Wooden Piles: The Eurobor Protocol, Part 2
2011 - IRG/WP 11-30574
The study of the biocide product Eurobor®, water mixture of boric acid, borax and sodium bentonite, aimed to verify previous findings regarding borates penetration from a clay-water mixture of foundation timber. The product was applied on samples from 100 year old timber foundation from the city of Göteborg. Although in ground for this long the timber was in acceptable god condition due to groun...
M. Theorin, K. Fimmerstad, K-M. Bandh


Quasi-in-situ durability tests on oak timber bridges
2013 - IRG/WP 13-20510
This study aims on developing a method for determination of wood durability on samples taken from real structures in service. Therefore quasi-in-situ durability tests have been conducted exemplarily on timber bridges made from English oak (Quercus robur L.). Drilling cores were found to be a feasible alternative to standard specimens for laboratory durability tests against pure cultures of Basidio...
C Brischke, C J Behnen, M-T Lenz, K Brandt, E Melcher


Laboratory investigation of fire protection coatings for creosote-treated timber railroad bridges
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30639
As the incidence of timber railroad bridge fires increases, so has the need to develop protective measures to reduce the risk from accidental ignitions primarily caused by hot metal objects. Of the six barrier treatments evaluated in the laboratory for their ability to protect timbers from fires sourced with ignition from hot metal objects only one intumescent coating provided adequate fire prote...
C A Clausen, R H White, J P Wacker, S T Lebow, M A Dietenberger, S L Zelinka, N M Stark


CreoSub – New protection technology to substitute creosote in railway sleepers, timber bridges, and utility poles
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30644
Creosote oil is one of the oldest industrially used wood preservatives. Due to its toxic profile, the European Commission has restricted the use of creosote specific applications, but it is highly controversial within the European Commission. Its approval for use after 2018 is very questionable and may depend on derived research results until then, i.e., the viability of alternatives developed to ...
U Hundhausen, K-C Mahnert, A Gellerich, H Militz


Cultural heritage – research into innovative solutions and methods for historic wood conservation
2016 - IRG/WP 16-10874
Nowadays, interdisciplinary knowledge, tools and techniques are increasingly used to protect and conserve monuments representing our cultural heritage. This is of great importance especially in case of conservation and restoration of wooden historic artefacts which, as a result of physical, chemical and biological corrosion, have lost their technical, aesthetic and decorative properties. If those ...
M Broda, B Mazela


Creosote leaching from timber bridges in Norway – a practical classification approach
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40744
Creosote is widely used as a wood preservative for highway timber bridges in Norway. However, excessive creosote leaching at various highway timber bridge sites leads to a bad reputation for the use of creosote treated timber constructions and the use of wood in general. Macro- and micro anatomical factors such as amount of heartwood, annual ring width, annual ring orientation, ray- height and com...
A Treu, K Zimmer


Comparative Durability of Timber Bridges in the USA
2017 - IRG/WP 17-20615
As engineers begin to utilize life-cycle-cost design approaches for timber bridges, there is a necessity for more reliable data about their durability and expected service life. This paper summarizes a comprehensive effort to assess the current condition of more than one hundred timber highway bridge superstructures throughout the United States. This national study was jointly administered by the ...
J P Wacker, B K Brashaw


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