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Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec. Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

The document discusses advantages and disadvantages of concrete railway sleepers compared to other types of sleepers such as wood and steel. Some key advantages are that concrete sleepers are very durable with a lifespan of 50-60 years, provide stability to the track, allow for modern maintenance methods, and can be mass produced using local resources. However, concrete sleepers are also difficult to handle due to their large weight and provide no scrap value. The document also covers the functions of ballast, types of ballast, subgrade, formation, and geometric design parameters of railway tracks including gradients and curvature.

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68 views3 pages

Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec. Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

The document discusses advantages and disadvantages of concrete railway sleepers compared to other types of sleepers such as wood and steel. Some key advantages are that concrete sleepers are very durable with a lifespan of 50-60 years, provide stability to the track, allow for modern maintenance methods, and can be mass produced using local resources. However, concrete sleepers are also difficult to handle due to their large weight and provide no scrap value. The document also covers the functions of ballast, types of ballast, subgrade, formation, and geometric design parameters of railway tracks including gradients and curvature.

Uploaded by

nouri
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec.

Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

Advantages

(a) Concrete sleepers, being heavy, lend more strength and stability to the track and are especially
suited to LWR due to their great resistance to buckling of the track.

(b) Concrete sleepers with elastic fastenings allow a track to maintain better gauge, cross level, and
alignment. They also retain packing very well.

(c) Concrete sleepers, because of their flat bottom, are best suited for modern methods of track
maintenance such as MSP and mechanical maintenance, which have their own advantages.

(d) Concrete sleepers can be used in track-circuited areas, as they are poor conductors of electricity.

(e) Concrete sleepers are neither inflammable nor subjected to damage by pests or corrosion under
normal circumstances.

(f) Concrete sleepers have a very long lifespan, probably 40 50 years. As such rail and sleeper renewals
can be matched, this is a major economic advantage.

(g) Concrete sleepers can generally be mass produced using local resources.

Disadvantages

(a) Handling and laying concrete sleepers is difficult due to their large weights. Mechanical methods,
which involve considerable initial expenditure, have to be adopted for handling them.

(b) Concrete sleepers are heavily damaged at the time of derailment.

(c) Concrete sleepers have no scrap value.

(d) Concrete sleepers are not suitable for beater packing.

Tampers.

Comparison of different types of sleepers

Characteristics Wooden Steel CI Concrete


Service life
12 15 40 50 40 50 50 60
(years)
Type of
Manual or Manual or Manual Mechanized only
maintenance
mechanized mechanized
Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec. Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

Cost of High Medium Medium Low


maintenance
Gauge Difficult Easy Easy No gauge
adjustment adjustment possible

Ballast
The ballast is a layer of broken stones, gravel or any other granular material placed and packed
below and around sleepers.

Functions of Ballast

1- Provides a level and hard bed for the sleepers to rest on.

2- Holds the sleepers in position during the passage of trains.

3- Transfers and distributes load from the sleepers to a large area of the formation.

4- Provides elasticity and resilience to the track for proper riding comfort.

5- Provides the necessary resistance to the track for longitudinal and lateral stability.
6- Provides effective drainage to the track.

7- Provides an effective means of maintaining the level and alignment of the track.

Types of Ballast

1- Sand ballast
2- Coal ash or cinder
3- Broken stone ballast
4- Other types.

Minimum Depth of Ballast

For the even distribution of load on the formation, the depth of the ballast is determined by the
following formula:

Sleeper spacing = width of the sleeper + 2 × depth of ballast


Lec. - Railway Engineering Assist. Lec. Zaid Abdul Zahra Mahdi

Subgrade and Formation


Subgrade is the naturally occurring soil which is prepared to receive the ballast.

Formation is the prepared flat surface, which is ready to receive the ballast, sleepers, and rails.

The Formation functions:


(a) To provide a smooth and uniform bed for laying the track.
(b) To bear the load transmitted to it from the moving load through the ballast.
(c) To facilitate drainage and (d) to provide stability to the track.

Geometric Design of Track

The parameters of geometric design:

1. Gradients in the track, including grade compensation, rising gradient, and falling gradient.

2. Curvature of the track, including horizontal and ver cal curves, transi on curves, sharpness of
the curve in terms of radius or degree of the curve, cant or super elevation on curves, etc.

3. Alignment of the track, including straight as well as curved alignment.

1- Gradients

A gradient is normally represented by the distance travelled for a rise or fall of one unit. Sometimes
the gradient is indicated as percent rise or fall. For example, if there is a rise of 1 m in 400 m, the
gradient is 1 in 400 or 0.25%.

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