For reference there is a (low height but very long) wood trestle near me similar in design to this that goes for probably a mile over a swamp and it runs modern trains just fine.
They did some upgrades a while back but they were to the few metal parts over the road. The wood parts are still good enough to hold up modern trains.
I assume they had some idea of how much weight the wood could hold up. Also keep in mind those older trees were much stronger than modern lumber since it was old growth.
Nobody is producing lumber planning for several hundred years into the future. And that’s what I’m talking about.
For modern lumber trees are grown for 20-40 years depending on location and type of tree. Whereas early on you’re talking tons of trees that were hundreds of years old.
If you look at an old 2x4 vs a new one you can see the difference. The old one will have a much tighter growth rings than the new one. This is from it frowing slowly over many years.
But now they just want as much lumber as fast as possible.
For reference there is a (low height but very long) wood trestle near me similar in design to this that goes for probably a mile over a swamp and it runs modern trains just fine.
They did some upgrades a while back but they were to the few metal parts over the road. The wood parts are still good enough to hold up modern trains.
I assume they had some idea of how much weight the wood could hold up. Also keep in mind those older trees were much stronger than modern lumber since it was old growth.
How does this work? I’ve never heard of this. If it was significantly stronger wouldn’t they still produce it today, for specific uses?
Any old growth left is likely protected.
Nobody is producing lumber planning for several hundred years into the future. And that’s what I’m talking about.
For modern lumber trees are grown for 20-40 years depending on location and type of tree. Whereas early on you’re talking tons of trees that were hundreds of years old.
If you look at an old 2x4 vs a new one you can see the difference. The old one will have a much tighter growth rings than the new one. This is from it frowing slowly over many years.
But now they just want as much lumber as fast as possible.