Thread: Railway Sleeprs
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Old 05-08-2005, 06:58 AM
David Sim
 
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Not serious freezing - central southern England - minus 2 - 3 degrees

"PlainBill" wrote in message
news
Just to throw some numbers on this discussion, using the 8" x 8" x 8'
dimensions for a sleeeper, at the 20" depth there will be 3/4 psi of
STATIC pressure on the side of the sleeper. The AVERAGE pressure on
the bottom sleeper will be 5/8 psi, I'm going to round off to .6 psi.
The TOTAL pressure on the side of the sleeper will be .6 x 8" x 96" or
460 lbs!!! This is NOT a trivial pressure as others have claimed.
Use good, sturdy brackets, and some buttressing wouldn't hurt.

I see two potential problems: There is going to be a lot of water
around, and moisture will collect between the sleepers. Yes, they are
treated, but if any organisms grow in that water you COULD have
problems. In a few years you might have something which closely
resembles two greased pigs stacked upon one another.

The other is more mundane, and may not apply. Are you in an area
where freezing occurs?

PlainBill

On Wed, 3 Aug 2005 21:26:42 +0100, "David Sim"
wrote:

Thanks for all the advice chaps - It looks like although opinions are
divided it's worth a go, so..... I'll build the pond & let you know the
results...... I hadn't taken into account Glacial movement or earth
friction - I was more worried about the (hopefully) large Mirrors &
Leathers
being strong enough to nudge the sides !!!!

Thanks again

David

"David Sim" wrote in message
...
Morning all

I'm building a part raised pond - 9' x 6' - hole is dug to 4' & I'm
planning on raising the dges by another 20" or so using railway
sleepers.
I think new ones will be better, cleaner & easier to use, but does
anyone
have any thoughts on securing them to the ground.

Will a frame of sleepers secured with heavy duty brackets be strong
enough
to hold the additional 20" of water?

Cheers