Railway Track & Structures - October 2007 - (Page 31)

RTS1007 p25-36-Crossties 9/26/07 2:28 PM Page 31 , l l . , , . be the preservative of choice for wood ties in high-stress railroad track applications, we, like others in our business, are always on the lookout for other viable and economical alternatives in order to keep all of our options open,” said Jeff Broadfoot, national accounts sales manager at Thompson. Broadfoot pointed out that most of the railroads are experiencing record growth in both revenue and tonnage hauled. “As a result, they are expanding capacity and replacing older, worn-out ties at near record levels. Thompson Industries is having a very good year and will treat well over one million ties and tie equivalents by the end of this year,” said Broadfoot. “On the supply side, green tie availability varies depending on the region. We’ve had a lot of rain this summer in Texas, southern Arkansas and Louisiana and, as a result, the loggers are having a difficult time accessing enough standing timber to supply the mills with tie logs. Tie supply has been somewhat limited in these areas. However, northern Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee have been very dry and, as a result, tie supply has been excellent in these particular geographic areas. “One area of particular concern is the overall health of the sawmills in general,” Broadfoot said. “We have lost several good mills this past year as a direct result of the housing slump and have other mills that are marginally profitable. The railroads can certainly help themselves by purchasing the ties they need on a more even keel basis rather than by the ups and downs we sometimes see.” Broadfoot continued, “As a pro- fessional forester, I can assure you that current hardwood timber growth in the U.S. exceeds harvest by almost three to one. This means that we are growing nearly three times the volume of timber that we are cutting down. We at Thompson, along with all of the other environmentally-responsible people in our industry, need to keep both the public and politicians informed as to these facts so that the railroads will continue to have access to our nation’s wonderful renewable timber resource.” Concrete Two recent capacity expansions by L.B. Foster Company’s wholly-owned subsidiary, CXT® Inc., now positions the company to expand its product availability for the railroad crosstie industry. Its newest facility is a recently-commissioned, state-of-the-art plant in Tucson, Ariz., that complements new production capacity in Grand Island, Neb., and a previouslyexisting plant in Spokane, Wash. According to the company, these facilities are strategically located to serve not only Union Pacific as part of long-term contracts between the two companies, but also to take advantage of growing markets with other Class 1s, transit lines and for industrial track applications. The plants in Tucson and Grand Island also utilize world-class, long-line technology and were designed for quick capacity expansion as new demand requirements warrant. The company believes that concrete ties possess a number of advantages over alternative materials. According to Mark Hammons, na- tional sales manager, “Concrete ties demonstrate significant life-cycle-cost advantages. This is composed of several factors. Initially, savings come from lower labor requirements during installation, coupled with a reduced usage of ties, as concrete ties can be spaced further apart in track compared to alternative materials. Over the life of the track system, concrete ties provide a better track structure, enhancing rail life and affording better locomotive fuel efficiency due to a smoother ride and less wheel/rail friction. This extends the life of rolling stock and reduces maintenance requirements. Concrete ties are also more resilient, as they have been shown to last up to twice as long as other crosstie materials. In addition, our concrete ties are environmentally friendly. All of these factors point to real competitive advantages for concrete ties.” While the company has not introduced any new crosstie designs over the past year, it continues to investigate new advancements to its existing ties, including improved fastening systems, enhancements to reduce rail seat abrasion and new concepts to reduce the weight of the tie. They are also looking into specialty tie designs. The company continues to find great receptivity to the use of concrete ties in many different applications. Per Hammons, “In addition to the supply position we have with Union Pacific for its ongoing expansions, we have supplied growing requirements for concrete ties in other applications. These include other Class 1 railroads, www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures October 2007 31 http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - October 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Crossties by the Billions Provide Essentials for Full Support Modern Tools Manage Risk M/W Challenges: Better Management of Thermal Forces in CWR TTCI Celebrates 25 Years as Facility, 10 as Part of AAR Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Website Directory Advertisers Index Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - October 2007

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