On the railroad construction, wood rail sleeper, steel rail sleeper and concrete rail sleeper are the three most common rail sleepers. Tracing the source, rail sleeper originates from wooden sleeper. In the past 100 years, wood rail sleepers are the most widely rail sleepers in railroad, especially in heavy rail and bridge rail. With the development and technical requirements of railroad construction, rail sleepers are now made of varieties materials, such as steel, concrete and rubber.
Wood sleeper is the most widely used rail sleeper for now. In general, wood with high tenacity and good elasticity is the best material chosen to produce wood sleepers. Using wood as the material, rail sleeper has many features like excellent insulating property, good flexibility, light weight, simple processing, easy replacement and little temperature influence. Especially the treated railway sleeper, its lifespan can prolong to 15 years. For this reason, wood sleepers are widely used throughout the world.
