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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


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


Termiticidal Effect of Bitumen and Creosote oil Treatments on Selected Nigerian Wood Species
2016 - IRG/WP 16-30689
Termites attack has been a major threat to wood materials in construction. The study investigated the termiticidal effect of bitumen and creosote oil mixture on the resistance of some commonly used indigenous wood species namely: Celtis zenkeri, Terminalia ivorensis, Albizia lebbeck, Cola gigantea and Terminalia superba to termites in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria. The wood species were obtained from...
Termiticidal Effect of Bitumen and Creosote oil Treatments on Selected Nigerian Wood Species


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


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


Life cycle assessment of creosote treated wood and tall oil treated wood with focus on end-of-life
2016 - IRG/WP 16-50320
The use of creosote for protecting wood products in heavy-duty application outdoors has been common for many years, but stricter regulations have limited creosote’s use. Life cycle assessments (LCA) have shown that in some applications alternatives to creosote treated products do not have less environmental impacts. Searching for alternatives to creosote, tall-oil-based preservatives have been ...
L G F Tellnes, U Hundhausen


Development of Wood Modification – High melting point wax and hot oil treatments
2016 - IRG/WP 16-40768
This study covers an introduction to the projects where new facilities were created for developing wood modification. In this new research environment it is possible to treat wood with versatile equipment. First modifications with this equipment are going to be done in high temperature and pressure using high melting point waxes and hot oils. Earlier studies, tests and commercial products show...
H Turunen, L Linkosalmi, J Peura, O Paajanen


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


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


Review on protection of timber bridges in Norway and other countries
2017 - IRG/WP 17-40809
Wood plays a major role in design and construction of modern bridges in Norway. Typical elements of those bridges are double impregnated glued laminated members, stress laminated timber decks, slotted-in steel plates, metal cladding of the surfaces of loadbearing members, and cross girders made of steel. Selected examples of timber bridges in Norway are presented. This review paper gives an overvi...
K-C Mahnert, U Hundhausen


Biodegradation of creosote by white rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium and a strains of Pseudomonas
2017 - IRG/WP 17-50329
The aim of this study was to determine degradation effectiveness of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) contained in creosote by white rot fungus and bacteria. The following two species of bacteria Pseudomonas putida and Pseudomonas sp. as well as Phanerochaete chrysosporium fungus characterised by the ability to decompose aromatic compounds were selected for experiments. Bacterial strains were...
J Zabielska-Matejuk, A Stangierska, A Kropacz, E Kaczorek


Degradation of Eucalyptus transmission poles varies across regions in Zambia
2018 - IRG/WP 18-30727
Evidence from literature shows that Eucalyptus poles treated with creosote last over 30 years before replacement. However, in Zambia, the life span of such poles has reduced to 5-10 years. The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with degradation of treated Eucalyptus poles and how these varied across regions in the country. A total of 1200 poles were assessed in three differen...
P Ng’andwe, D Chungu, E Ncube


The biodegradation of creosote oil by various species of white rot fungi and bacteria isolated from the contaminated soil
2018 - IRG/WP 18-50334
The aim of the study was to determine biodegradation effectiveness of the selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) contained in creosote oil, by two white rot fungal species (Bjerkandera adusta and Irpex lacteus) and three bacterial species (Pseudomonas putida, Pseudomonas sp. OS4 and Rahnella aquatilis). Bacteria were isolated from the soil contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons from th...
M Sydow, J Zabielska-Matejuk, E Kaczorek, AStangierska, A Kropacz


COPPER NAPHTHENATE: A Product for All Seasons: Protecting the Americas’ Infrastructure for Over 100 Years and Potential for Expanded Usage in Europe
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30738
This paper is a brief review of the history and use of the wood preservative Copper Naphthenate, with a focus on use patterns within the USA and opportunities for expansion in Europe and Canada. This paper reviews how copper naphthenate has performed to preserve and protect cellulosic and wooden items essential to critical infrastructure, and why it is the ideal choice for use in the replacement o...
M H Freeman, J A Brient, M Manning


Economic and Alternative Preservative Research with an Overview of its Impact on the Dynamics of Wood Tie Markets and Railroads
2019 - IRG/WP 19-30751
This presentation will discuss the Railway Tie Association’s (RTA) efforts in economic research for the North American wood tie industry, along with decades-long research into improving wood preservation processes and its resulting economic impact for railroads. Ongoing research is continuing to expand the knowledge-base by comparing existing standard creosote (C) and borate-creosote (B-C) dual...
J C Gauntt


2018 Railway Tie Survey and the Non-Hazardous Secondary Materials Rulemaking Activities
2019 - IRG/WP 19-50352
This presentation will discuss a survey AAR recently completed on the management of used crossties in the North American rail industry. Approximately 23 million new wood ties are purchased and installed in the North American rail network every year. The presentation will show the number and percentage of ties which are managed by reused in track, reuse in commercial, agricultural or residential la...
R Fronczak, S Smith


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


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


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


Evaluation of the effectiveness of soaking of high-temperature plywood in low-temperature oil-based wood
2023 - IRG/WP 23-40991
We conducted a preliminary investigation to determine if soaking high-temperature plywood in a low-temperature preservative solution could achieve deeper penetration of the preservative, even in plywood made with refractory wood species such as Japanese larch. Specimens cut from commercial plywood (Japanese larch) were stored at various temperatures before being soaked in the preservative solution...
T Miyauchi, S Isaji, H Shibui, N Furuta, J Miyazaki, H Matusnaga


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


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