Your search resulted in 27 documents. Displaying 25 entries per page.
The performance of glue laminated railway ties after 40 years of service in the main line track
1989 - IRG/WP 2325
Two series of horizontally glue laminated ties made of a softwood body and topped with a hardwood lamination were creosoted and installed in 1947 in a tangent and a curved main line track. The tests are now 40 years old and the excellent condition of the ties of these two series suggest that a service life of 50-60 years can be expected....
J P Hösli, E E Doyle, C P Bird, T Lee
Pre-treatment decay and strength loss of railroad ties, and their prevention
2013 - IRG/WP 13-30610
Evidence of fungal decay in air-drying, untreated railway crossties is referred to as ‘stack burn’ in the industry. The deleterious consequences of stack burn on tie mechanical properties was confirmed by evaluating the impact bending toughness of wood samples taken from untreated tie stock air dried in the southern United States. These results suggest that careful consideration should be give...
A M Taylor, B Jordan, J D Lloyd
Borate treatment of green ties: An initial report on the effects on mechanical properties
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40686
Borates are increasingly used as components of wood preservative systems for railway cross ties (“sleepers”) in the USA. A variety of methods exist for incorporating the borate component; however, the so-called ‘two-step’ treatment, which involves treating the green tie in borate, followed by a pressure treatment with creosote or copper naphthenate after drying (‘seasoning’), offers th...
A M Taylor, J D Lloyd
Impregnation of railway sleepers - Investigation of a system-sleeper as an alternative for creosote treated sleepers
2020 - IRG/WP 20-40896
For nearly 200 years wooden railway sleepers are impregnated with creosote. After initially using vacuum pressure processes for impregnation, empty-cell processes have been developed quickly and are used until today. Because of political developments, creosote will probably be banned on the European market in the near future. The Fürstenberg-System-Sleeper, which combines for Europe innovative as...
M Starck, A Heidel, C Brischke, H Militz
Wood preservation and the environment: A Canadian perspective
1990 - IRG/WP 3577
The non-pressure (surface) and pressure treatment of wood impacts on the environment in four ways. These are: through the production of treated wood at sawmills and pressure treating facilities; during the storage of treated wood prior to use; when the pressure treated wood is placed in service; and finally, when the treated product reaches the end of its useful life and must be disposed. By refer...
J N R Ruddick
A new approach to the maintenance of wooden railway sleepers. (Second report)
1988 - IRG/WP 3492
The microenvironment and micro-ecology of wooden railway sleepers was investigated to assess their condition to determine the necessary treatment, repair and replacement criteria. In this report the efficacy of the secondary preservative treatment with solid boron rods is discussed and the development of an in-situ, nondestructive test method based on the creation and assessment of structural dyna...
W Beauford, P I Morris, A M Brown, D J Dickinson
A new approach to the maintenance problems of wooden railway sleepers
1986 - IRG/WP 3392
The microenvironment of wooden railway sleepers is being investigated to assess their condition to determine the necessary treatment, repair and replacement criteria. The research work involves the development of an integrity tester to determine the condition of sleepers, a remedial treatment of sleepers by selective application of boric acid and a synthetic repair system....
W Beauford, P I Morris.
Performance of CCA treated Eucalyptus round ties
1985 - IRG/WP 3342
After 5.5 years of field exposure in the south of Brazil round Eucalyptus ties treated with CCA type A Oxide (OSMOSE K-33-A) preservative with retentions from 12 to 14 kg/m³ (0.75 to 0.873 PCF) (active ingredient basis) are performing very well. No decay or insect attack was observed in the 100 ties in test in real conditions of use; 10% of ties show incipient checking (what is a natural trend of...
V J Carlos, F R Niederauer, J P P Wehr
A new approach to the maintenance of wooden railway sleepers. (Final Report)
1992 - IRG/WP 92-3724
The micro-environment of wooden railway sleepers was investigated to assess their condition, to determine the necessary treatment, repair and replacement criteria. In the final report the secondary preservative treatment of wooden sleepers with solid boron rods is discussed; the complete development of an in-situ, non-destructive test method based on structural dynamics analysis is described. The ...
W Beauford, A M Brown, D J Dickinson
Remedial treatment of creosoted railway sleepers of redwood by selective application of boric acid
1980 - IRG/WP 3134
An ideal preservative for remedial treatment must primarily be characterized by two requirements. First, it must have an ability to diffuse and distribut evenly into the wood and secondly, it must be fixed properly so that it does not leach out too fast. However, these two characteristics conflict with each other, and the choice of preservative must of necessity be a compromise. Wood preservatives...
C Bechgaard, L Borup, B Henningsson, J Jermer
Northern oak wood and its damages in Iran
1988 - IRG/WP 1377
The Northern oak species of Iran designated Quercus castaneaefolia C.A.M. is distributed widely in caspian littoral. In natural conditions (healthy) has favourable quality and it is used mostly in rural construtions, sleepers, parquets, cross arms for electric and communication poles, it is used also indoor and window construction, benches and finally veneer. This wood in the case of sleepers and ...
D Parsapajouh, P Niloufari
Impregnación de durmientes de quebracho blanco (Aspidosperma quebracho blanco) con preservadores cromocuproarsenicales (CCA)
2008 - IRG/WP 08-40428
CCA impregnation of railroad ties is a recent process in Argentina which has not been optimized in a commercial scale. This study analyzed the influence of treatment pressure on final retentions to optimize the impregnation process. Results showed that a 3.2% m/v solution resulted in 10.8 kg/m3 CCA retention. At 1187 kPa (12 kgf/cm2) quebracho blanco wood had an average absorption of 338 l/m3. Als...
D Gherscovic, Z Cataldi, J M Languasco
Ammoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate Preservative Treated Wood Ties Their Performance in Testing and Track
2014 - IRG/WP 14-30636
While not a new preservative system, Ammoniacal Copper Zinc Arsenate (ACZA), had not previously been used to protect crossties. Its performance in treating difficult or refractory species of wood has been documented through its wide range of uses approved in AWPA. The establishment of appropriate testing for railroad material use was put in place and includes laboratory, field as well as commercia...
T Carey
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
Encapsulation Systems Combined with DOT Borate Treatments – The Future of Treated Crossties
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40670
Borates have been utilized in wood protection systems for many decades but only recently have been used in North America to treat crossties. This colorless, ordorless and very effective wood protection chemical has the ability to arrest and prevent the colonization of wood by both basidiomycete decay fungi and insects such as beetles and termites while ties are air seasoning or in service. Since ...
S C Kitchens, T L Amburgey
New Method for Pretreatment of Railroad Crossties
2014 - IRG/WP 14-40675
Creosote has been successfully utilized for nearly 150 years for the protection of railroad crossties (sleepers) in the USA and remains today as the most widely used wood preservative for this application. One of the few shortcomings of creosote as a preservative is its inability to penetrate many of the refractory hardwood species which make up the majority of crossties in the USA. Lack of full...
A S Ross, R W Clawson Jr
Best handling practices for wood crossties (sleepers)
2015 - IRG/WP 15-40714
Wooden crossties (sleepers) dominate the rail industry in the USA. Most ties are hardwood treated with oil-borne preservatives using pressure treatment. Incipient decay (called ‘stack burn’) commonly develops during the pre-treatment drying process and reduces tie performance and longevity. Practices to minimize stack burn and enhance wooden tie performance are discussed as an aid to non-wood ...
N Irby, J Lloyd, A Taylor, J Watt
Recycling of used railroad ties via two-staged pyrolysis for fractionation of wood preservatives and bio-oil: pyrolytic characterization by TGA and Py-GC/MS
2015 - IRG/WP 15-50311
Creosote and copper naphthenate (CuNap) (in an oil carrier) treated railroad tie materials (crossties or sleepers) were initially heat-treated at 200 – 300 oC and subsequently pyrolyzed via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) to recover wood preservatives and produce a higher quality bio-oil. Preservative-desorptive temperatures at 200 a...
Pyoungchung Kim, J Lloyd, Jae-Woo Kim, N Labbe
Impregnation of railway sleepers - Pressure gradient and transversal penetration
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40731
Based on the possible ban of creosote in the future, the need for oil based alternative products has gained in importance. Due to possible differences in impregnation properties compared to creosote the need for re-implementing former technology is given, to determine if momentarily used impregnation processes have to be modified. The here reported tests measure the pressure gradient during the im...
M Starck, A Gellerich, H Militz
Treatability of beechwood railway sleepers with potential creosote substitutes
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40790
Maintenance of an efficient railway infrastructure still requires the use of wooden railway sleepers, particularly because wooden sleepers have more favourable properties for intensified vibrations than concrete or steel sleepers. Creosote, used for decades for the impregnation of railway sleepers, will possibly no longer be available for this application due to European legislation. This reveals ...
N Pfabigan, E Habla, R Gründlinger
Borate and Copper Naphthenate Dual Treatment of Bridge Timbers-Borate movement over time
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40795
Preservative treated wooden bridge ties in the South Eastern USA have a service life of about 15 to 20 years, which falls well below the average service life of 40 years of railroad cross ties (sleepers). It has been shown that cross tie life is significantly extended using borate dual treatment and this is now commercialized in bridge timbers using borate inserts. In previous research, it was dem...
J-W Kim, J D Lloyd
Dual Borate and Copper Naphthenate Treatment of Bridge Timbers:- Potential Performance Enhancements and Cost Savings
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40797
Dual treatment technology combining diffusible preservatives with oil borne preservatives, widely used for crossties in the USA, has now also been commercialized with bridge ties/timbers. In order to understand the implications of these changes, the historic service life of creosote treated bridge timbers in northern and southeastern USA were considered as well as field test data for both creosote...
J Lloyd, C Brischke, R Bennett, A Taylor
Penetration behaviour of different hydrophobic carrier substances for oily wood preservatives in Beech and Scots pine sapwood
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40804
The use of creosote as a wood preservative has a long history. Current areas of application are railway sleepers, transmission poles, timber bridges and marine applications. If the approval for creosote will not be prolonged, alternative wood preservatives will be needed. As the penetration behaviour after pressure impregnation of different alternative oily products in this fields of application i...
M Starck, A Gellerich, H Militz
Visual assessment of longitudinal wheel timbers and assessing the feasibility of extending wheel timber service life in the UK railway network
2019 - IRG/WP 19-20651
Timber has been a versatile building material for centuries and during the start of the Railway Age in the nineteenth century it was in considerable demand for use in the railway network, particularly bridge building. Timber is still in service and widely used throughout the UK railway network. The resilience and favourable strength to weight ratio and its relative ease of fabrication make it an...
J R Williams
Protecting Sustainable Wood Infrastructure ̶ Improving the Performance of Poles, Piles, Ties & Timbers with Dual Treatments
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30735
Wood is by far the best structural material in terms of environmental impact, as shown by a number of LCA studies. This environmental impact superiority can be improved if the longevity of the commodity is extended. The main durability concern in large cross-section treated materials is the susceptibility of the heartwood to decay, as it is not typically treatable using traditional methods. This ...
J Lloyd, A Taylor, C Brischke, N Irby, M Manning