When the rainy season quietly falls, dense water vapor permeates the air, and the soil brews miracles of life. Mushrooms, like mysterious elves, emerge from every corner of the earth. On the grass, in the forest, and even in the cracks of the bricks, white, brown, and orange mushrooms compete for beauty. I just don't know if there will also be various fungi growing freely on the sleepers in rows on the railway?
The high humidity environment during the rainy season provides an ideal breeding ground for various fungi. Mushrooms, as a member of fungi, rely on moist environments and the decomposition of organic matter, making it easy for them to rapidly reproduce when conditions are ripe. However, surprisingly, although railway sleepers also have organic properties in their materials, they do not provide a habitat for mushrooms. This phenomenon is closely related to the production process of railway anti-corrosion sleepers.
Railway sleepers are usually made of natural wood, which provides support and fixation for railway tracks due to its toughness and elasticity. However, pure wood is highly susceptible to corrosion and fungal invasion in the natural environment. In order to solve this problem, people have put in a lot of effort in the selection and treatment of wood. Firstly, choose wood species with strong corrosion resistance, such as pine, fir, etc. More importantly, sleepers must undergo a series of strict anti-corrosion treatments.
The so-called anti-corrosion sleepers refer to wood that has been chemically treated to resist corrosion, insect infestation, and fungal invasion. During the production process, these woods will be immersed in anti-corrosion oil, ensuring that the anti-corrosion oil can fully penetrate into the interior of the wood in a high-temperature and high-pressure environment.
When anti-corrosion oil penetrates into the interior of the wood, it forms a protective layer with anti-corrosion and waterproof properties. Even in high humidity environments, this protective layer can still ensure the internal protection of the wood, making it difficult for sleepers to breed various microorganisms. On this basis, major railway operating agencies around the world have improved the anti-corrosion treatment process of wood according to specific situations, effectively extending the service life of sleepers. Some wood can even remain non rotting for decades, which is one of the reasons why anti-corrosion sleepers are widely used.
At this point, we can actually conclude that mushrooms are difficult to grow freely on railway anti-corrosion sleepers.
In addition, daily maintenance after the installation of sleepers is also an indispensable part. Railway workers regularly inspect and replace aged and damaged sleepers to ensure that they can maintain good physical and chemical properties for a long time. This long-term and meticulous maintenance is undoubtedly an effective measure to prevent mushrooms and other fungi from growing on sleepers.
Even in the humid rainy season, railway sleepers can quickly recover to a dry state when refined into specific environments. One of the reasons is the certain slope and drainage system design of the railway itself, which makes it difficult for water to stay on the surface of the sleepers. At the same time, railway tracks are affected by a large number of vehicle vibrations and wind, further accelerating the evaporation of moisture on the surface of sleepers.
In summary, it is through the joint efforts of material selection, anti-corrosion treatment, and daily maintenance that railway anti-corrosion sleepers have successfully built a strong anti-corrosion barrier, thereby preventing the growth of fungi such as mushrooms. Although the rainy season brings countless vibrant mushrooms to the earth, mushrooms are undoubtedly hard to find on the anti-corrosion sleepers that protect railway safety.
