Building a privacy/protection barrier from rr ties?

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 05:20 PM

Since our main barrier tree fell on our garage a couple weeks back I've been thinking of reviving an old idea I had. For info, we live on a very beautiful curve but it's dangerous. We've had three vehicles hit the now fallen tree and another spinning on it's roof in our driveway

Make a 4-6' tall barrier from sunken vertical I-beams with rr ties dropped in. If I decide the creosote look is nasty I could always sandblast the exterior I figure. You can't beat the price on the ties and I get steel at very low prices.

The wall would be three sections ("U" shaped drive off the road) one in the middle of the drives and one on each end. Each would be maybe 24' long or three beam sections long. I figure this equals 72 ties @ $10 or so each.

Any thoughts?

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

Pix of what you are thinking about using??

allaircooled · allaircooled's Garage

From what my stepdad told me (use to work on the rail road) those ties are very toxic and can kill you.

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 05:36 PM

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 05:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allaircooled

From what my stepdad told me (use to work on the rail road) those ties are very toxic and can kill you.

Now you're just tyring to temp me

Racerbvd · Racerbvd's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by lendaddy

The area you want to place them. RRTs can be built into a nice piece of landscape.

trekkor · 07-07-2008, 05:45 PM

The next goofball that hits it will probaly sue, "because it damaged my car".

KT

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racerbvd

The area you want to place them. RRTs can be built into a nice piece of landscape.

Too dark for pics tonight but I'll see if I can sketch something.

allaircooled · allaircooled's Garage

Would probably be a good material to make a some sort of privacy fence with while you're at it.

VincentVega · 07-07-2008, 05:52 PM

Are you going to use them as fence posts, or just have a row of vertical posts? Not sure about the aesthetics of just the posts. Maybe bury them into a berm?

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 05:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trekkor

The next goofball that hits it will probaly sue, "because it damaged my car".

KT

I checked with the county and a civil engineering firm and they both said OK.

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris Martin

Are you going to use them as fence posts, or just have a row of vertical posts? Not sure about the aesthetics of just the posts. Maybe bury them into a berm?

No, the I-beams would be vertical and the posts would be horizontal.

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 06:15 PM

Over here it's 33' from the center of the road.

VaSteve · 07-07-2008, 06:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by allaircooled

From what my stepdad told me (use to work on the rail road) those ties are very toxic and can kill you.

I read about a guy chain sawing some of these and the sawdust go on his legs and left a nasty burn/irritation. I wouldn't mess around with sandblasting them. Besides that stuff is soaked in.

lendaddy · 07-07-2008, 06:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by VaSteve

I read about a guy chain sawing some of these and the sawdust go on his legs and left a nasty burn/irritation. I wouldn't mess around with sandblasting them. Besides that stuff is soaked in.

Good point. Natural will look fine and I'll probably plant some beach grass in front anyway.

porsche4life · porsche4life's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by trekkor

The next goofball that hits it will probaly sue, "because it damaged my car".

KT

Sue him because he damaged your fence. That will teach 'em.

Tidybuoy · 07-07-2008, 08:33 PM

I did railroad tie planter box borders at my parents house many years ago. Here's my advice:

Buy several extra chains for your chain saw if you plan on sawing.

To anchor the railroad ties to the ground....drill a couple of holes and drive a piece of re-bar thru it into the ground. This keeps the tie from moving. Also, if you are stacking the ties, you can do the same to the next tie...pound a piece of re-bar thru the top tie and into the one below it. I learned this trick from a contractor friend of mine and his retaining wall did not budge.

Don't worry about the creasote cause you'll never get rid of it. However, after a year or so, the outside of the ties will start to look like natural wood again.

When you buy your ties, go to the yard and select them yourself. There are many grades and the better ones cost more. But, I think you will find that if your are building a retaining wall that is 4-6 feet, you will want the better ones...they'll stack better.

For a more rustic look, why not use nice ties for the verticle posts vs. steel. You can also get large thru bolts to hold thing together. It may be easier to drill holes thru a tie rather than a steel beam.

Just my $.02 worth......Vern

Pazuzu · 07-07-2008, 08:38 PM

**if** a car hits them, and **if** the gas tanks ignites...you will have a BIG UGLY NASTY fire on your hands...railroad ties burn like a MoFo.

Other than that, if it's rural, go to town.

rammstein · 07-07-2008, 08:52 PM

Perhaps a tirewall?

Gogar · 09:16 PM

My gut reaction is that 6' seems quite tall. It might seem like the wall of a big old-timey fort, but not in the good way.

Maybe grab a yardstick and take it out there and get away from it and look back to see how tall 3' is. When you think about it, even guard rails aren't even 3' tall, and they almost always work.

My other thought is that it might look best if you ramp up the height a little, to make it kind of trapezoidal, instead of a big square or rectangular behemoth.

Of course, that might give those cars an unwanted DUKES OF HAZZARD opportunity if they hit your barrier just right!