Dashu solar term, the hottest time of the year. The sun is scorching the earth, the railway tracks are hot to the touch, and the air is scorching hot. Looking at such weather, some people may worry: can those sleepers laid under the railway tracks silently bear the huge weight of the train withstand such high temperature exposure? Will they deform, crack, or even affect railway safety?
This concern is natural, but the answer is reassuring: anti-corrosion sleepers that have undergone formal processing are not afraid of the high temperatures of summer. The key to this lies precisely in the fact that they undergo a much harsher "test" of high temperatures during the production process than the scorching summer heat.
The starting point of sleepers: the advantages of pine wood
The commonly used wood for railway sleepers is pine. Pine grows quickly, with straight trunks and moderate wood strength. It can withstand the enormous pressure of trains and is relatively easy to process. However, pine wood itself has a short lifespan when used directly in outdoor environments that are exposed to sunlight, rain, insects, and bacteria, far from meeting the requirements for decades of safe railway operation. Therefore, special treatment - anti-corrosion treatment - must be carried out on pine wood.
Core guarantee: High temperature and high pressure anti-corrosion process
After the pine wood is cut into standard sleeper shapes, the most crucial step is to undergo deep anti-corrosion treatment. This is not just about brushing a layer of paint. In order to achieve long-lasting anti-corrosion effect deep into the interior of the wood, sleepers need to undergo a process called "pressure infusion".
Understanding the high temperature and high pressure process that sleepers undergo in the factory, one can understand why they are not afraid of the scorching heat:
The process temperature is far beyond the natural high temperature: the core temperature that sleepers undergo during anti-corrosion treatment exceeds 90 degrees Celsius, and it continues to function in a closed high-pressure environment. And in the hot summer, the air temperature that comes into direct contact with the ground sleepers is difficult to sustain and even reach such a high level (usually far below 90 ℃), even at the hottest noon, with direct sunlight. For sleepers, the high temperature in summer can only be considered a mild "warm-up" compared to the high-temperature "baptism" they experienced when they were born.
Deep processing, stable effect: High temperature and high pressure treatment is not only for injecting anti-corrosion oil, but also promotes the anti-corrosion oil to be more firmly "fixed" inside the wood. Anti corrosion oil does not float on the surface, but deeply penetrates into the "bone crevices" of the wood, tightly bonding with the wood fibers. This deep combination makes it difficult for daily fluctuations in environmental temperature (including high temperatures in summer) to shake its anti-corrosion effect.
Conclusion: High temperature is an "old friend" rather than a threat
So, when we see the dark and solid sleepers next to the railway tracks on hot summer days, we don't have to worry about them. The carefully controlled high-temperature and high-pressure "bath" they experienced in the factory has already endowed them with strong resistance to natural environmental erosion (including extreme heat). The high temperature of the Great Heat is just a familiar and fully anticipated environmental factor for these sleepers that have undergone the "test" of over 90 degrees Celsius during their service life.
The sleepers silently lie there, bearing the weight of the train and the changes of the seasons. Their stability and durability are derived from the scientific guarantee of modern wood anti-corrosion technology. Among them, the crucial high-temperature treatment is an important confidence for them to not fear the scorching summer heat.
