Crossties: Color Them Green
This article describes the different materials used to make railroad crossties and explains how these crossties benefit the environment, regardless of their composition. Materials outlined include wood, concrete, plastic composite, and steel. The author focuses on rail as an efficient freight transportation modality. The wood used in crossties is grown using an alternative energy source (solar power), sustainably renewable with modern forest management and harvesting practice, and lasts more than 30 years under difficult conditions. Creosote is depicted as a naturally biodegradable wood preservative that is a useful byproduct, rather than a waste product, of the coal coking process. Used wooden ties can be burned in EPA-approved facilities to generate electricity. Concrete ties are cost-effective and offer some energy and environmental benefits over other types of ties in their production, assembly, and use. The stiffness of concrete ties helps create a higher track modulus, which results in reduced rolling resistance, which in turn reduces fuel consumption. Concrete ties are also not treated with any chemicals that have the possibility of leaching out into the ground water. Plastic composite crossties are made from recycled thermoplastic, which is recovered from post-consumer or post-industrial waste from products like bottles, bags, automobile parts, toys, and packaging. The steel tie, which is itself recyclable, lowers overall life-cycle costs and is creosote-free, thus more environmentally friendly.