Improvements of monitoring the effects of soil organisms on wood in ground contact

Abstract

Wood preservatives that are suitable for wood in ground contact are expected to prevent wood decay for 30 to 50 years. Therefore, when a new preservative has been developed, a test is needed that gives an indication about the performance of the product in service over several decades. Obviously, the test to be performed has to be an accelerated test. Accelerated testing of the durability of preservative treated timber in a so called fungal cellar or soil-bed to evaluate its performance in ground contact is a widespread practice. This publication covers the collection of data from fungus cellar testing. Studies at the BAM revealed that a modification of the method of measuring the Modulus of Elasticity (MOE) i.e. by restricting the applied load to the non-destructive interval for each individual test specimen, will provide a means to monitor changes in strength properties caused by biological deterioration and will allow predictions of the service life of treated timber in soil contact within a relatively short time.