IRG Documents Database and Compendium


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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


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


A new ground-contact wide-spectrum organic wood preservative: DNBP
1986 - IRG/WP 3358
A new organic wood preservative, which 25 years field tests have proved to be of efficiency and effectiveness comparable to CCA wood preservatives for ground-contact applications, is presented. Physical and chemical tests, supporting the long term field test results as well as indicating the characteristics of this preservative, are also presented....
W E Conradie, A Pizzi


The effect of stack height on the performance of preservatives used for the prevention of sapstain on seasoning wood
1997 - IRG/WP 97-10192
The performance of three anti-sapstain preservatives was investigated under field conditions in south east England. The preservatives under test were: copper-8-quinolinolate (Mitrol PQ8) trimethylalkylammoniumchloride and sodium hexanoate (Sinesto B) and chlorothalonil (Tuff Brite). The preservatives were tested on Corsican Pine grown in south east England. The field trial was set up to investigat...
J R Williams, D J Dickinson, J F Webber


Mold Control for Treated Lumber in Block-Stack Storage Conditions
2012 - IRG/WP 12-30588
The mold development and control for freshly treated and block-stacked wood have been evaluated using a green house mold testing method. The results for the mold resistance of several commonly used water boron preservative treatment systems, such as ACQ, Copper Azole, and borates with and without inclusion of mold inhibitors are presented. The data suggest that the different preservative treatme...
L Jin, P Walcheski, A Preston