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Moisture and temperature conditions in an old, highly moisture-loaded timber building in the Røros municipality, Norway
2020 - IRG/WP 20-10966
A 150 years old log building near Røros, Norway, has been in active use as a cowshed since its erection. The animals are kept inside the cowshed all winter and this causes a situation of a high moisture load on the wooden floor, wooden walls and ceiling. Logging of temperature and humidity over one year shows that there are favourable levels of moisture in the wood and air for development of moul...
M Sand Austigard, J Mattsson


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


Bioremediation technology for cleaning-up of the soil contaminated with creosote oil – the overall concept of BIOREM project
2020 - IRG/WP 20-50363
The aim of the communication paper is to present the conceptual framework of the BIOREM project, which started in May 2019. The final result of the entire project will be an innovative bioremediation technology that can be used in areas contaminated with creosote oil – a commonly used wood preservative being a complex mixture of various compounds such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). ...
M Sydow, J Zabielska-Matejuk, A Stangierska


Development of Wooden Fireproof Structures for Mid- and High-rise Buildings in Japan
2021 - IRG/WP 21-30757
When constructing a mid-to-high-rise building more than 4 stories in general in Japan, it is necessary to have a fireproof structure stipulated by the Building Standard Law. The performance required as a fireproof structure in Japan is generally stricter than in other countries, and it is required to be structurally sound after a fire even without fire extinguishing activities. In order to satisfy...
D Kamikawa, M Harada, H Matsunaga, R Takase, N Hattori, Keisuke Ando, M Miyabayashi


An Update on the Status of Industrial Heavy-Duty Preservatives in Europe
2022 - IRG/WP 22-30762
Creosote has been used for over 150 years for preservation of heavy duty industrial timbers such as railway sleepers, utility poles, and agricultural posts. The regulatory regimes in place today across Europe (eg EU & GB Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR)) require a detailed assessment of the environmental and human health properties of wood preservatives at both the active substance and product l...
S Uphill, H Griffiths, M Giannuzzi, A Hughes


Premature adhesion failure of exterior wood coatings – The influence of substrate temperature at coating application and moisture accumulation during storage
2022 - IRG/WP 22-40937
The present study aimed at extending the knowledge about premature coating failures of industrially finished wood cladding. Two potential factors were studied: the influence of substrate temperature at coating application and moisture accumulation during storage on the adhesion of waterborne coating systems. In the first experiment, 4 batches of wood specimens were submitted to 4 different tempera...
U Hundhausen


Joints design considerations in indoor high humidity conditions
2022 - IRG/WP 22-40950
In recent years, a number of cases of degradation by wood destroying fungi have been detected in covered timber structures such as pools, wineries, bathrooms, etc. – in fact, any building where indoor air may reach high humidity values during certain periods of time. The origin of this kind of decay was not related to water leaks, but to the condensation of the water vapor over the steel connec...
A Lozano, D Lorenzo, M Alonso, F Álvarez, J E Martínez


Glued laminated poles - Progress report after 43 years of testing
2023 - IRG/WP 23-20692
In 1979, a number of glued laminated poles treated with CCA and creosote were placed in a greenhouse in Uppsala, in the Simlångsdalen test field in south-western Sweden and in a power lane in Vuollerim in northern Sweden, in order to study their resistance against biological degradation. The test poles were treated in a two-step process. All laminations of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) were first...
J Jermer, M Westin, N Terziev


Challenges in managing very long-term field tests
2023 - IRG/WP 23-30779
Field testing of wood preservatives has been on-going in Petawawa, Ontario, Canada since at least 1937. Many of the treated roundwood posts from these early experiments are still in test, and include preservatives still used today, including creosote, copper naphthenate, pentachlorophenol and CCA. Performance data from selected experiments more than 50 years old are reported and we discuss some of...
R Stirling, D Wong


Starch modified with silanes – high hydrophobic surface treatment for wood protection
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40981
The great potential of silanes for starch modification and their utility as surface wood protection is still not sufficiently assessed. The work aimed to analyze the crosslinking process's effect on starch modification with silane and tested the hydrophobic properties of surface-treated wood. The starch treatment was modified with methyltrimethoxysilane or N-octyltriethoxysilane. SEM-EDX with a cr...
W Perdoch, M Bajstok, B Mazela, I Siemińska, B Peplińska


Benefits of borate dual treatment
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20710
Treatment of railroad ties with borate followed by over-treatment with creosote or copper naphthenate, called dual treatment, has become standard practice for ties being installed in higher decay hazard areas of the U.S. This paper provides an overview of why that has happened. Borate preservative presents very low human health and environmental risk. It diffuses through even hard to treat hear...
S T Smith, J D Lloyd, S McKinney


Why preserved wood is used for infrastructure
2024 - IRG/WP 24-20711
This article provides an overview of the reasons why preservative-treated wood, and creosote-treated wood in particular, products have been and continue to be selected for the infrastructure of civilization. Wood is a remarkable and renewable building material, offering high strength, light weight, flexibility, and availability. Preservation by creosote treatment adds great durability to the woo...
S T Smith


Manufacturing of bamboo hybrids with high strength, superior fire retardancy, and dimensional stability
2024 - IRG/WP 24-30808
Bamboo, renowned for its rapid growth, high strength-to-weight ratio, and eco-friendly attributes, has found extensive use in decorative building materials and glue-laminated beams. However, the inherent challenges of dimensional instability and flammability in natural bamboo restrict its broad application. This research introduces a range of environmentally friendly techniques aimed at producing ...
W He, Rui Wang, W Li, G Hu, T Singh, Q Fu


Modelling the service life of wood in ground contact – Verification of remotely sensed soil data from the reanalysis dataset ERA5-Land using in-situ measurements at a test site of utility poles in Eastern Norway
2024 - IRG/WP 24-41003
This study compared soil moisture and temperature estimates from the 5th European reanalysis (ERA5-Land) dataset with in-situ measurements to assess the accuracy and applicability of ERA5-Land data for modelling the service life of wood in ground contact. The ERA5-Land soil temperature estimates showed a moderate correlation with the in-situ temperature measurements (Spearman’s ρ of 0.73) and a...
U Hundhausen, P B van Niekerk, B Marais


Keeping wood greenest: Maximizing the unique benefits of preserved wood through end-of-life planning to realize carbon sequestration and a circular economy
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50387
While competitive fuels and different energy sources are a main driver of current difficulties with using end-of-life wood products for fuel, that is a potentially smaller problem than the rapidly changing carbon footprints of competitive materials, which can potentially be smaller than wood, if the wrong decisions are made at the end of life by users and waste generators. While users have several...
J D Lloyd, B Poe


Exploring the migration of creosote in freshwater environments: A study on treated wood immersion
2024 - IRG/WP 24-50392
Creosote is used as a wood preservative in aquatic environments and contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons as active ingredients. It is critical to quantify the impact of these commodities on the environment to ensure specific uses of these commodities complies with federal and state regulatory standards for water bodies. This study explores Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) migration patte...
I Rashidijouybari, M Konkler, K Quigley, G Presley


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