Posted By Lee Mac Hi All Within the Creosote Directive is the term "frequent skin contact". How can this be confirmed/foreseen if railway sleepers are in a public park. I appreciate that the sleepers are not meant as a seating arrangement in a park that I live close to, however they are present, therefore IMHO the risk of "frequent skin contact" is present when you consider young children playing in the area may be there on a daily basis (although in this weather it can be debatable!!) I would appreciate if anyone can shed some light on this for me. Thanks Lee

Posted By Lee Mac Thanks Ron I had a gander at that site previously, it like a lot of other info on this topic leaves it open to the individual interpretation. It may be one for the CDM-Cs out there- would you permit these on a nature walk, they are being used as a feature and as a method of diverting a little surface rainwater run-off into a nearby stream. Your thoughts please. Lee

Posted By Steve M Granger I have used sleepers in my garden and am quite happy that I will be killed by something else, such as killer bee's. However you do mention water course and I would not want any run off from sleepers to get into a small standing pond as even a little will slick and suffocate the aquatic life. I was very concious of keeping run off from new sleepers (often imported) away from the pond when building with them - didn't prevent a near hernia though!! Equally don't put them near a fire - smoke nearly killed my wife and I when we lit the fire in a holiday gite an unknowinly used some sawn old timber. Still, it got rid of the mozzies for the rest of the holiday! 'Nearly Safe' Steve ;)

Posted By Ron Hunter It becomes a question of balance then, doesn't it? Assuming the "frequent contact" guidance from the BERR pages is complied with, (i.e. the health issues are satisfied) there arises an environmental quandry. I personally would side with the reduce, re-use and recycle argument. All these redundant sleepers aren't going to disappear, neither are they considered so damaging that they cannot be used again. Balance this with the costs (in terms of energy, resources and potential sustainability issues) in specifying another natural or maybe a concrete type product - I go with the sleepers.

Posted By A Campbell Would frequent contact be aimed at visitors that may spend a couple of hours.... or with regards to 8 hour TWA 7 days a week? It may well be a minimal risk..if any? Alternative is to coat the sleeper with a gloss type sealant ..may even help protect the wood more from the elements?