FFU Synthetic Wood

 

Timeline of FFU railway sleepers

1978 “Okouchi” prize of the Directorate General of Japan's Research and Development Agency for the development of synthetic wood is awarded to Sekisui.
1979 SEKISUI receives the "Deming Price" for first-class and extensive quality assurance in the company
1980 First field trials with FFU railway sleepers on the bridge over the Miomonte river and in the Kanmon tunnel
1985 First examination of test sleepers by Japan's Railway Technical Research Institute. The test results are outstanding. JNR - Japanese National Railways – adopts FFU synthetic wood as the standard sleeper. 
1991 Further trials of FFU synthetic wood sleepers are carried out on the test tracks. The positive results motivate other Japanese state and private railway companies to use FFU synthetic wood.
1996 15 years after their initial installation the Railway Technical Research Institute carries out further examinations of the sleepers on the test tracks. The sleepers are subjected to a further 100 million load changes.  The product life of FFU synthetic wood sleepers is forecast to be over 50 years.
2004 The first bridge project using FFU synthetic wood is carried out in Europe.
2007 Japanese industry standard JIS E 1203 is published.
2008 FFU synthetic wood sleepers are fitted on a switch system in Germany
Approval of FFU for use in the railway network of Serbia
2009 The German Federal Railway Authority (EBA) grants SEKISUI approval for in-service testing of FFU synthetic wood on Germany's railway infrastructure.
Installation of FFU synthetic wood on the bridge over the river Sava in Belgrade
Installation of level crossings of FFU synthetic wood in Austria
2010 Installation of FFU synthetic wood on a switch system in Hamburg
Installation of FFU synthetic wood on switch systems in Munich