Description

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

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.

• Good dampening property: absorbs vibrations
• Lower producing cost
• Easy to handle (Moderate weight and not easily susceptible to damage)
• Gauge adjustment is easier
• Good track circuiting (electric insulation) quality

• Short lifespan (12-15years)
• Difficult to maintain gauge (hole widening problem)
• High maintenance cost (Fire hazard and pest attack)
• Higher probability of theft due to high opportunity cost
• Negligible scrap value
• Light weight makes it unsuitable for fast track