Profile Bending of Used Railroad Rail: Can It Help Save the Environment?


Structural steel is the most recycled material on earth. A full 95% of structural steel is made from recycled product. It is even the case that structural steel can be reused without further processing. These factors are appreciated especially by individuals valuing environmental sustainability. A leading proponent of sustainability in construction is the USGBC (The U.S. Green Building Council) with its LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification system.

In this context, an interesting question arises concerning profile bending of used crane rail and used railroad rail.

We know of a company that specializes in supplying used structural members for construction including steel, wood and plastic. Among the steel profiles it supplies are used crane rail and used railroad rail.

Steel rail is produced in many different sizes and weights. The smallest rail is 2″ high and weighs 12 lbs. per yard. The largest rail is 6″ tall and weighs 175 lbs. per yard.

The larger the rail, the higher the specified minimum Brinell hardness. There is no maximum hardness specified for carbon steel tee rail above 80 lbs. per yard. Rail also becomes harder after years of trains running on it.

We recently received a call from a competitor who, like us, specializes in providing curved steel, asking our advice on why some 5″ x 90 lbs. rail was dangerously cracking in the steel bending process. We explained to them that it was not a good idea to buy used rail to be curved either to save money or to receive LEED points.

Actually, using used rail for steel section bending actually works against sustainability because a lot of energy can be wasted trying to do the profile bending. Furthermore, additional costs and energy will be required to purchase, transport and curve new rail. Finally, the used rail that was curved was now scrap. If it had not been bent, it could have been used as straight rail again.

Have you had similar experiences either with rolling used rail or with LEED guidelines actually working against saving the environment?

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