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The day will come when man will have to fight noise as inexorably as cholera and the plague.
FFU® synthetic wood
Railway sleeper Since 1980 over 2,300,000 synthetic wood sleepers fitted sustainably on 1,400 kilometres of railway track. Main areas of use are the highly stressed track sections such as switches and bridges.
FFU® synthetic wood railway sleepers
Continuous glass fibres and polyurethane are combined to a high quality and long lasting material.
FFU has the life expectancy of high quality plastic and the weight of natural wood and can be worked like natural wood.
Fiber Reinforced Foamed Urethane = FFU
In 2008 and 2013 Munich Technical University conducted examinations of the material properties of FFU synthetic wood. The FFU synthetic wood sleepers tested had to partly meet the requirements imposed on concrete sleepers.
The FFU synthetic wood sleepers met all the set requirements.
The reports by Munich Technical University turned out extremely positive for FFU in all areas.
Based on these favourable results, the German Federal Railway Authority granted Approvals in 2009 and 2013 to operational trials for the safe use of railway sleepers of FFU synthetic wood on Germany's railway infrastructure.
FFU synthetic wood has all the machining benefits of natural wood.
FFU synthetic wood can be used on railway bridges technically and commercially just the same as conventional natural wood.
Installing FFU sleepers on railway bridges brings significant additional engineering design benefits in bridge construction and for the environment.
Operators, and their accountants, who are regularly faced with high costs and maintenance requirements for individual switches, appreciate the many benefits of FFU synthetic wood.
On top of this, FFU synthetic wood is dimensionally stable when manufactured in any length and thus offers many benefits when used in switches.
The German Federal Railway Authority (EBA) and the Swiss Federal Transportation Office granted approval in 2014 for the use of flat sleepers with a height of 12 cm on the respective railway networks.
Sleepers with a height of only 10 cm are favoured for use on urban infrastructure with low axle loads.
Special projects | Special profiles
At its initial trial back in 1980, bi-block sleepers of FFU synthetic wood were installed on a ballastless track segment in a tunnel.
Other applications include level crossings and long bridge sleepers.
FFU synthetic wood has been installed on more than 1,400 km of track worldwide since 1980 (as of 2015).
Its forecast service life of 50 years is getting ever closer to being confirmed in practice.
FFU synthetic wood has been in use on many European railways since 2004.
Click on the link to find out more about approvals for individual countries.
Calmmoon Rail
Rail web noise shielding Noise reducing installations on over 80 km of German railway track since 2010. According to DB AG, maximum noise reduction also at high track decay rates.
Rail web noise shielding - wraps the rails with Calmmoon technology for the reduction of airborne noise energy and of vibration energy. Two clip fastenings secure the shielding on the rail permanently.
Since 2009 Calmmoon's effectiveness has been measured in field trials in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium.
Click on the link to see results and details.
4 kg per linear metre of rail are quickly distributed by hand and installed safely. Track maintenance tasks such as ballast tamping and ballast sweeping on track systems that have been fitted with Calmmoon Rail can be carried out as usual without any restrictions.
Calmmoon Rail has been installed in Europe since 2009.
Deutsche Bahn AG has been fitting Calmmoon Rail on its tracks since 2010 and by the end of 2014 had shielded over 80 km of track.
Calmmoon Rail web shielding has been used on some European railways since 2009.
Click on the link to find out more about approvals for individual countries.
Downloads
Select your download file for more in-depth information on FFU synthetic wood sleepers and Calmmoon Rail web noise shielding.
FFU® synthetic wood
Brochure, Work instructions,
Project brochures
Calmmoon Rail
Brochure, work instructions
Publications
on FFU synthetic wood and
Calmmoon Rail technology since 2008
FFU® technical examinations
of Munich Technical University and DEKRA in the Netherlands
Technical examinations on Calmmoon Rail
Test reports from Austria, Germany and Switzerland