A review of wood crosstie performance

Studies indicate that wood has been and will continue to be the material of choice for all road crossties in the United States. The primary reasons for using wood crossties are the: 1) availability of timber resources; 2) knowledge track engineers and maintenance crews have with wood ties; and 3) ease of manufacturing and handling. The performance of wood ties has been reasonably acceptable and they are a cost-effective alternative over concrete and steel ties. It is estimated that by the year 2000 about 90 percent of the Class-1 racks in the United States will not meet usage levels that determine when it is cost effective to replace wood ties with concrete or steel ties. Therefore, wood ties will continue to be used in the future. However, approximately 12 million creosote-treated wood ties are replaced annually at a cost of $500 million and the disposal of these ties presents environmental and economic concerns.

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