Petrochemicals

Petrochemicals | Environmental Hazards | Wood Railroad Ties

With many different industrial applications, railroad ties face a variety of factors that can quickly deteriorate a wood railroad tie. Some of these are naturally occurring environmental hazards, such as water damage or termite damage, while others come from the specific purpose of a particular rail line.

Many wood railroad ties used in industrial railways can quickly deteriorate due to the chemicals used in manufacturing or processing or that are hauled on the rail lines. These chemicals include petrochemicals, fly ash, sodium carbonate (soda ash), sodium percarbonate, hydrogen peroxide, sodium hydroxide, caustic soda, and sodium sulfate.

Due to the high costs of maintaining industrial railways, many companies are beginning to replace their old wood railroad ties with more modern composite rail ties.

Composite rail ties, such as those manufactured by IntegriCo Composites, offer improved performance while being less susceptible to the environmental, petrochemical and other caustic hazards that can severely damage and shorten the life of wood railroad ties.

Factors in Railroad Tie Deterioration
Environmental