Hazardous Substance Treated Lumber [HSTL] Alternatives – A Partnership between AMIPP and EPA

The practice of impregnating wood beams with hazardous chemicals, such as copper, chrome and arsenic, to preserve the wood against rot and insect damage is currently being phased out by architects and the construction community in order to comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s edict issued in 2002.

Recycled plastic composites, such as those developed by researchers at the AMIPP Advanced Polymer Center at Rutgers University, are highly, resistant to water, salt, sun, insects, and other environmental effects and are a leading material used in the design and construction of exterior structures, particularly those in substantial contact with water. Marine pilings, vehicular bridge I-beams and decking, and boardwalk planks are among the many shapes currently manufactured and installed from these polymer composites.

Under EPA sponsorship, a plastic composite demonstration construction project was undertaken in southern New Jersey in 2002. In this project, a vehicular bridge was built entirely of polymer composite materials and the design and construction process was open to the public with a particular focus on technology transfer of these methods to contractors, architects, and public agencies. To supplement and continue the technical outreach generated by this project, a two-day educational seminar on alternatives to HSTL was presented October 2003. A group of leading engineers, architects and municipal employees attended this meeting and 13 presentations were made by AMIPP researchers and other invited speakers that detailed the properties and applications of a range of HSTL alternative materials. Near the end of the first day seminar attendees participated in a hands-on demonstration of construction techniques, including cutting and fastening, that was presented outdoors on the Rutgers Busch Campus by a registered contractor. On the second day, attendees boarded a bus and travel to the New Jersey shore to view boardwalk installations using HSTL alternatives and then to Shamong, NJ to inspect the all-plastic vehicular bridge spanning the Mulica River.

Following the seminar, numerous follow-up visits were made to state agencies and municipalities to further the understanding of the great potential, and value proposition, that awaits the rebuilding of marine, coastal, and highway infrastructures using recycled plastic composites and other HSTL alternatives.