Quality Assurance
Our manufacturing plant has been turning out high quality composite products for many years. During that time we’ve perfected our system and products. Our expertise also allows us to innovate high quality composite products for unique customer needs. To ensure our work, we constantly test and analyze our composite products.
Due Care Testing
Our products are made to literally hold up tons of freight. There is a lot riding on our composite railroad ties, so we’ve established a series of due care tests to simulate potential extreme handling and installation conditions, to make sure all of our rails are up to the task.
Tie Drop
To see how we simulate the worst case scenario of a tie being dropped while being unloaded from a gondola car and landing on another tie, see our video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ee1aBrfzbg
You can also see our simulated “Wheel Drop Test” to see how well our ties hold up under extreme impact. We are proud to say that our products have consistently proven their ability to survive derailments and many other varied installation procedures completely intact.
Maintenance Equipment Handling
Sometimes high stresses are developed when a tie is being installed in a maintenance environment, but not with our composite railroad ties. Our ties can handle impact and stress without cracking. We have NEVER had a tie fail on install since we introduced our new formula in 2009. See our video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZYAg4RER8s
Cold Weather Spiking
When tie spiking in 0ºF (-17.7ºC) temperature, with a standard 5/8 cut spike and no pilot hole, can be difficult. Most ties need to be double drilled, wearing out expensive drill bits and taking twice as long. Our composite ties only need to be drilled once, saving time and money.
Third Party Testing
We know how well our composite cross ties hold up to our abuse, but our ties have also been tested and abused by several third party entities. The University of Illinois, for one, conducted gauge measurements on our cross ties under Thermal Cycle Test conditions. TTCI also conducted a test, a Cyclic Load test. All of these tests are available here:
U of I Properties Testing
NTS Thermal Cycle Test
TTCI Cyclic Load Testing
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