The versatility of railway sleepers

It’s the time of year when people start to think about protecting their land and gardens against the ravages of the winter weather, and here at t.ward shipping we have just the thing to help; second hand railway sleepers.

Railway sleepers make a really good and highly economical building material with the benefit of being environmentally friendly too. Some farmers use them to make tracks across fields in the winter, as they can be really useful for preventing hoof damage to stone farm tracks as the herds are moved.

Other uses for sleepers include event entrance areas in grassy fields, retaining walls, flooring in barns, or to build foot bridges over ditches.

How to build a retaining wall from upright railway sleepers.

If you want to make use of our railway sleepers in your own garden, one very popular way of making the most of them is to build a retaining wall. You can use them horizontally or vertically but the advantage of using them vertically is that you can be more creative; you can make the wall taller in some places and you can create a curved wall rather than being restricted to straight lines.

All you need to do is dig your trench and then lower the sleepers in side by side. The depth of the trench depends on the height of the wall, and the pressure of the earth or material inside. As a ballpark, aim for a third in the ground, and two thirds out, so for example if the wall was a metre high, the railway sleepers should be in about 0.3m.

Once they are all in place you can backfill with a dry concrete mix around the railway sleepers until the wall is rigid.

Using a dry cement mix gives you the opportunity to remove and re-position the railway sleepers without getting sloppy wet concrete everywhere, and especially in winter when the ground’s wet, the concrete will set without having to add water.

For a classy look you can lengths of wood, metal strips or wire to the back of the wall, which also strengthens the sleeper wall.

If you’re planning some winter garden work, and would like to find out more about our selection of railway sleepers, contact one of our helpful team for advice. We have just taken delivery of 350 sleepers so we can help with large or small projects alike.