Do railway ties float?

[CanadianInIowa]

Hi all, time for my next summer project.

Looking at using used railway ties for retaining wall along waters edge. It would be easyer to dump the ties up river ( 1000 ft away) and float them down to the location, instead of trying to man handle them down the embankment.

I'd hate to have all these ties dumped at the river's edge, only to find that they wont float!

Any suggestions?

Thanks

Chris

[mdtaylor]

Let's see. Breaking down the individual elements...

Wood. Normally floats until water logged..
Pertroleum products. Will always float..


I think I would risk one just to see... be curious if anyone else has actually tried this and knows first hand.

[BuiLDPro68]

Humm I'm really not sure. I am thinking if they do at all probably not very well since they are so damn heavy. Never come up before.

[RYANINMICHIGAN]

People down river might be a little Poed about you dumping arsanic and other chemicals in the ties down river for them to swim in..........

[Wayne Mitchell]

Old rail ties were usually preserved with coal tar creosote. I don't think there is any arsenic involved, but creosote in quantity is nasty stuff. If it were me, I would do two things. First, I would saw off a good size piece and throw it in a bucket of water to see if it floats. Secondly, I would check with local environmental officials to see if there is any environmental consequence.

[BuiLDPro68]

People down river might be a little Poed about you dumping arsanic and other chemicals in the ties down river for them to swim in..........
They use the exact same material for piers, pilings, jettys, etc. So if it is a chemical hazard it is an accepted one. Still don't know if the damn things will float or not though. I have $5 against. Any takers? lol

[Concretemasonry]

You hear stories of people bringing up old (100 - 200 years) timbers that were sunk and then resawing for new use.

I have seen very old walnut (yes, walnut) RR ties that were treated and were so heavy you would not expect them to float.

I vote against having all of them float well enough.

How about floating them on a raft? I have seen concrete retaining wall block floated on a raft for waterside applications.

Dick

[chandler]

I installed an electric fence system once that used some sort of New Zealand hardwood. The posts were 2x2, would not float and would not conduct 8500 volts of electricity. Amazing stuff.

[RYANINMICHIGAN]

Figure out how much one weighs and how many cubic feet it is. Then see how much the same cubic feet of water weighs. If is displaces more weight in water then it weighs then it will float.

[CanadianInIowa]

Thanks all.

I had cut off pieces before and they did float (Away!). So, now I have to figure out if this is the best ( and cheapest ) way to make a sea (River?) wall to stop the bank for eroding ( looking at 120 feet of shore line. ( Other people had big rocks dumped at the rivers edge, but I'm sure they dont float! and cant get a D.truck to the top of the embankment. (Could wait till winter and find a fool to drive a truck over the ice!)

Still have to drop a full size tie in the river to see how well it does.

This appears to be the method I will use to get material down to the rivers edge.

Chris