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Construction of Railway tracks

Railway or Permanent-way is the combination of rails,
sleepers, fittings, ballast etc. The railway track is a dynamic system of interacting components
that distributes the loads and provide a smooth, stable running surface for rail vehicles. This
system must provide vertical,lateral and longitudinal stability.
Track Design and construction:
1) Its desirable attributes are,
Balance Stiffness and Resiliency
Resistance to permanent deformation
Stability
Adjustability
2) It has apparently a simple structure, has changed little.
3) Loading must be reduced through the rail, ties, ballast and sub-ballast to within the
bearing capacity of the underlying subgrade.

Track Function:
1) Guide Vehicles
2) Provide a high vehicle ride quality
3) Withstand and distribute loading i.e,
Static (36 tons/axle) or (36000 lbs/wheel)
Plus dyanamic

Different methods used to design track and Cross-section:
1) Trial and Error
2) Emperical (based on trial and error)
3) Emperical/Rational (by measuring loading and material properties)
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4) Rational (Stress/Strain Analysis and measurments..
The Trackbed is subjected to a variety of loads and stresses:
Dead Loads
Live Loads
Dynamic Loads
Centrifugal Loads
Lateral Loads (hunting and
noising of wheels)
Thermal Loads (Continuosuly
welded rail)
Longitudinal Loads (wave action)


Elements of Railway Tracks:
A railway track is a combination
of:
1. Formation
2. Ballast
3. Sleepers
4. Rails
5. Fastenings
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Ballast is a layer of broken stone, gravel, or any other suitable material placed under and
around the sleepers for distributing the load from the sleepers to the formation.
The Ballast should be designed and installed having thickness ranges from (8 inch to 12 inch)
and should be sufficient to support the track loads and at minimum should match the section of
the adjacent track.
Track Sub-structure design
Here we will discuss the track sub-structure components i.e, the Ballest and Sub-ballast
sections. Single and multiple track construction will be addressed, as will track with super-
elevation. The following figures are shown:

1) Typical section Track Sub-structure

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2) Single Track Super-elevated
3) Multiple Track, Tangent
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4) Multiple Track, Super-elevated
Track Superstructure:

1) The Track Gage (TRG) shall be 56.50 inches (Standerd Gage) .
2) The cross-tie thickness (TTH) , length (TLE) , width (TWD) and the spacing (TSP) shall be
proportional in accordance with the relationship the followd in the track.

Track Substructure:
Total depth of section(BDD+SBD)
The total depth of the track substructure will be determined in accordance with the
relationship used in the track. The sum of Ballast Section Depth (BDD) and Sub-ballast depth
(SBD) shall equal the calculated total depth of track substructure section.

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Ballast Section

Ballast Section Depth (BDD)

a) The ballast section is the upper portion of the track substructure section and is
constructed of the material discussed below.
b) For a single track construction, the measurement BDD is made under the line rail in the
tangent track or under inside rail in curved track and is made with respect to the top of
the sub-ballast at the centre line of the track. On tangent multiple track construction,
the measurement is made under the rail which is towards the crown of the sub-ballast
section. On curved multiple track construction, the measurement is made under the rail
to the inside of the curve.
c) A value for BDDof a minimum of 12 inches is recommended for Standerd Gage
construction in main track service or as defined by the individual railway company
standerds.

Ballast Section Shoulder Width (BSW)

a) The Ballast section shoulder width should be proportional to the track relationship
used and should provide additional lateral strength to thr track.
b) The measurement is made from the end of the cross-tie to the point of beginning of
the ballast Side Slope (BSS) and is made in the plane of the top of cross-tie.
c) A value for BSW of not less than 12 inches is reccommended for the Standerd Gage
construction of continuous welded rail in main track service or as may be designed
by the individual company standerds.

Side Slopes (BSS)

a) The side slope run component of the ballast section is proportioned to provide confining
pressure to that part of the Ballast section expected to transmit the vertical load from
the bottom of the cross-tie to the top of the sub-ballast.
b) The BSS run component is measured in the plane of the top of the cross-tie, and the rise
component is measured perpendicular o the run component.
c) A BSS value of 2:1 is commonly used.

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Types of Material used as Ballast:
A variety of materials may be processed into railroad ballast. The following general
classification and accompanying definitions list the most common materials. Detial examination
of individual materials should be made to determine the specific mineralogical composition.
a) Granite is a plutonic rock having an even texture and consisting chiefly of feldspar and
quartz.
Definition: A plutonic rock is a rock formed at considerable depth by chemical alteration. It
is characteristically medium to coarse grained, or granitoid texture.
b) Traprock is any dark-colored fine grained non-granitic hypabyssal or extrusive rock.
Definition: Hypabyssal-Pertaining to igneous intrusion or to the rock of that intrusion whose
depth is intermediate between that of plutonic and the surface.
c) Carbonate rocks are sedimentary rocks consisting primarily of carbonate materials such
as Limestones and Dolomite.

d) Quartzite is a granoblastic metamorphic rock consisting mainly of quartz and formed by
the recrystallization of sandstone by either regional or thermal metamorphism.
Quartzite may also be very hard but un-metamorphosed sandstone consisting chiefly of
quartz grains with secondary silica that the rocks break across or through the grains
rather than around them.

GeoGrid Definition:

A geogrig is defined as a geosynthetic formed by a regular network of tensile elements
with apertures of sufficient size to allow strike-through of surrounding soil, rock or other
geotechnical materials. Geogrids are principally used for reinforcement purpose, but
under some circumstances. They can also provide effective separation between two soil
and granular fill layers.
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Significance and Use:
Some of the benifits of GeoGrid Reinforcement within the Roadbed section include the
following:
1) Increase Ballast life (life cycle cost saving).
2) Reduced Roadbed Thickness (Initial cost saving).
3) Reduced track deflection resulting in less wear and tear of the mechanical components
of the rail track.
4) Maintenance of good drainage within the roadbed section.
5) Smoother transitions between areas with different subgrade strengths
Application Locations of GeoGrids:
GeoGrids is tends to be used in one or both of the two (2) main locations within the roadbed
sections i.e,
1) At the bottom of, or within the ballast.
This provides direct ballast reinforcement
and thereby reduces the rate of track settlement, it therefore increases the length of
maintenance cycle . This approach is generally favored when the roadbed is founded on
a relatively firm subgrade.










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2) At the bottom of the sub-ballast, directly on theexisting or prepared
subgrade
This is done in order to increase the bearing capacity of the track foundation.
This approach is generally favored when the roadbed is founded on a relatively soft
subgrade.
Sleepers:
Sleeper is transverse support for a railway to give stiffness to it.
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Diffrerent types of sleepers are used in railway tracks:
1) Concrete Sleepers:
Concrete ties are rapidly gaining acceptance for heavy
haul mainline use They are made of pre-stressed concretecontaining reinforcement
steel wires. The concrete cross-tie wieghs about 600 lbs vs 200 lbs timber track tie.The
concrete ties utilizes a specialized pad between the base of the rail and plate to cushion
and absorb the load as well as to better fasten the rail to the tie.

2) Steel Sleepers:
Steel Sleepers are often relegated to specialized plant locations or areas not favorable
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to the use of either Timber or Concrete such as tunnels with limited headway clearance. They
have also been utilized in heavy curvature prone to gage widening. However they have not
gained wide acceptance due to problem associated with shunting of signal current flow to
ground. Some lighter models have also experienced problem with fatigue cracking.
3) Wood Sleepers:
Softwood timber is not more resistant than hardwood, but does not offer a
reisitant of a hardwood tie to tie plate cutting, gauge spreading, and spike hole enlagement.
Softwood ties are also not as effective in transmitting the loads to the ballast section as the
hardwood tie. These are mostly used in open deck bridges.

Rails J oints:
There are three (3) basic types of joints used in railway Track:
1) Standerd
Standerd joint bars connect
two rails of the same weight and section. They
are typically 24 in length with 4-bolt holes for
the smaller rail sections or 36 in length with
6-bolt holes for the larger section. Alternate
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holes are elliptical in punching to accommodate the oval necked track bolt.
2) Compromise
It connects two rails of
different weight or sections together. They
are constructed such that the bars align the
running surface and gage sides of different
rails sections.




3) Insulated
These are used in tracks having
track circuits. They prevent the Electrical
current from flowing between the ends of
two adjacent rails, thereby creating a track
circuit section. Insulated joints use an
insulating end post between rail ends to
prevent the rail from shorting out. These
are of 3 types:
1) Continuous
2) Non-continuous
3) Bonded


Fastening:
A rail fastening system is a means of fixing rails to railroad ties or sleepers. The terms rail
anchors, tie plates, chairs and track fasteners are used to refer to parts or all of a rail fastening
system. Various types of fastening have been used over the years.
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1) Rail Spikes:
A rail spike (also known as a cut
spike or crampon) is a large nail with an
offset head that is used to secure rails and
base plates to railroad ties in the track.


2) Skrew Spikes:
A screw spike, rail screw (or lag
bolt) is a large (about 6" length, slightly under 1"
diameter) metal screw used to fix a tie plate or
fasten rail. Screw spikes are fixed into a hole
bored in the sleeper. The screw spike has a
higher cost to manufacture than the rail spike
but has the advantage of greater fixing power,
approximately twice that of a rail spike, and can
be used in combination with spring washers.
3) Spring Spikes :
Spring spikes, (or elastic rail
spikes) are used with flat-bottomed rail,
baseplates and wooden sleepers; the
spring spike holds the rail down and
prevents tipping, and also secures the
baseplate to the sleeper.
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4) Chairs:
The railway chairs, made of cast iron, used to fix and support cast-iron rails at the ends. They
were also used to join the adjacent rails.
Maintenance and Renewal Process Of Railway Station:
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Reference Sites:
1) www.arema.org
(American Railway Engineering and Maintanence of way Association)
2) FRA

(Federal Railroad Association)