Permanent Way Institution Inc 29 October 2004 Convention Journal

CONCRETE SLAB TRACK SYSTEMS; WHY, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN AND HOW?

Michael Beale, Principal Consultant (Rail Infrastructure), Halcrow Group

INTRODUCTION

Even though more expensive than traditional ballasted track in terms of initial capital cost, the use of concrete
slab track systems has become widespread in recent years for both new and existing railways, particularly on
rigid formations (tunnels and viaducts). The first general use of specifically designed concrete slab track in
main lines was in Europe and Japan in the mid 1960's. Since then, a myriad of concrete slab track systems
have been developed and installed worldwide to meet a variety of objectives, initially to solve engineering
problems, but more recently to reduce whole life costs or satisfy environmental requirements. These demands
will increase the use of slab track on both new and existing routes, particularly in urban areas, and the ever
more challenging criteria in respect of extent of installation, loading capacity, noise and vibration reduction, low
maintenance and high availability will require the further development of systems which employ innovative cost
effective solutions and advancements in technology.

WHY? - BENEFITS OF SLAB TRACK

Slab track can offer the following benefits over a conventional ballasted track structure.

• The stability of both horizontal and vertical alignment is increased, permitting reduced structure and
equipment clearances, minimising infrastructure failures and giving improved quality of ride and comfort.
• The track structure depth is reduced and the slab can be integrated with the tunnel invert or bridge deck.
In conjunction with lower minimum clearances, this enables the tunnel diameter (and cost) to be reduced
or clearances increased (often to allow electrification of existing tunnels). The weight of the track structure
is also reduced with consequent benefit to bridge and viaduct design.
• The track profile is smoother providing improved drainage characteristics, safe access for maintenance
and emergency train evacuation, eliminating flying ballast particles at high speed, making it easier to clean
and preventing the accumulation of debris to minimise any health and safety risk, maintain rail to ground
electrical insulation and avoid the risk of fire.
• Maintenance requirements are reduced,
3.00 resulting in lower whole life costs, higher
availability and less disruption to train
services. Whole life cost benefits are
2.00 different for each project and
comparisons are difficult, but break even
Total Cost

in 10 to 15 years is normally claimed

1.00 (Figure 1). For tunnels and viaducts the
incremental capital cost is easier to
Ballasted
Slab Track
justify, given that a suitable concrete
0.00 foundation exists, ballast maintenance
0 5 10 12 15 costs are high (up to 60% of total track
Time (Years) maintenance costs) and ballast cleaning
Figure 1 Whole Life Costs Shinkansen (Japan) is technically difficult and expensive.
• Noise emission and vibration
transmission from the track can be reduced and accurately determined by specific attention in the track
structure design, a particularly important aspect as environmental requirements become more demanding.
However, ballasted track should not be dismissed, its attenuation properties are often as good as some
non-ballasted trackforms and can be further improved by the use of resilient sleepers and ballast mats, but
maintenance may be an issue.
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Permanent Way Institution Inc 29 October 2004 Convention Journal

• Safety is improved as a consequence of greater track stability, easier train evacuation and a reduced
requirement for track access for maintenance.
• The mechanical properties of a track without ballast can be better determined and therefore the track
behaviour can be more accurately described and analysed using numerical methods (e.g. finite element
method).
• Lateral track resistance is increased, giving improved buckling restraint and allowing future speed
increases in combination with tilting technology.

WHAT? - SELECTION OF SLAB TRACK SYSTEMS

Concrete slab track systems fall into the following three general, and overlapping, types.

• Standard systems where the slab simply replaces the ballast to reduce maintenance costs. Some
resilience is provided to reduce impact loads and for passenger ride quality, but the trackforms are
generally relatively stiff. Examples are continuously supported rail, cast in sleepers, stiff baseplates or
original booted blocks. The system does not attempt to attenuate noise or vibration, is similar in
performance to ballasted track on a concrete invert and worse than good quality ballasted track at grade.
• Low isolation systems introduce additional resilience into the track system to reduce noise emission and/
or vibration transmission from the track. Typical systems are moderate to soft resilient baseplates and
resilient booted blocks. Acoustic performance is generally better than ballasted track on earthworks and
the best systems would be an improvement over ballasted track with ballast mats or sleeper pads.
• High isolation systems are generally mass-spring isolation systems of various types ie. floating slab track.
These are the most complex and consequently the most expensive slab track systems, but are capable of
considerable noise and vibration attenuation.

The criteria upon which the design is based fall into the following four broad categories.

• Structurally the trackform requires a high degree of stability, minimum depth of construction, free drainage
characteristics, an upper surface profile free of tripping hazards and an allowance for vertical and lateral
adjustment to compensate for expected movement after construction and to assist with rail replacement.
• Environmentally the system must ensure that noise levels, both in the train and outside, vibration
transmission and its subsequent propagation as re-radiated noise are mitigated to an acceptable level and
the infrastructure can be easily cleaned and kept free of debris.
• Operationally the requirements are a high quality of ride and comfort and a reliable service without delays
due to infrastructure failures or routine maintenance. Intensive operations extending close to 24 hours a
day on some urban railways makes the consideration of operating requirements, such as crossovers and
single line working, maintenance procedures and renewal planning, essential at the system design stage.
• Economic requirements are minimum realistic design, material, construction and maintenance costs and
straightforward maintenance procedures split into independent phases, each capable of completion within
short windows at night with no significant anti-social consequences, especially in urban areas.

The large number of non-ballasted trackforms makes generalisation of design requirements difficult, but some
basic aspects are worth noting. In designing for optimum acoustic performance, it is generally better to place
the resilient materials as far below the rail as possible, increasing the mass acting on the resilience and
reducing the stress induced in the resilient material with a consequential increase in its working life. There is a
limit to the softness of a rail support, as rail rotation increases with decreasing vertical stiffness, increasing the
stress in the rail, dynamic track gauge and affecting the ride characteristics of the vehicle.

Transitions between trackforms are always a design and maintenance problem, short sections of differing
trackforms should be avoided and transitions should be located on tangent track, avoiding the lateral loading
associated with curvature. The combined design of the slab track and supporting structures must produce a
system which meets all required safety, reliability and passenger comfort criteria and considers the transfer of
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Permanent Way Institution Inc 29 October 2004 Convention Journal

loads, movements and rotation at the interface, structure movement joints, drainage arrangements, inspection
and maintenance access requirements. Interfacing and coordination with the rail systems design is also
required in respect of mounting equipment on the track, services routes and connections to the rail.

HOW? - CONSTRUCTION METHODOLOGY

Unlike ballasted track where subsequent adjustments are relatively easy, for slab track the final alignment will
be literally cast in concrete. It is therefore essential that all aspects have been considered before construction
is commenced, including cant requirements on curves, locations and design of turnouts and allowances for
future modifications. The provision of non-essential features must be strongly avoided, every adjustment
provision for instance is a source of capital and maintenance cost. Other considerations being equal, a
straightforward installed trackform will outweigh an idealistic design that is difficult to install.

Construction methodology has to take account of the quantity of slab track to be constructed, its location
(tunnel, viaduct, etc), method of access and resources available (personnel and plant). In general slab track
requires more operations and takes longer to construct than ballasted track, so there is particular emphasis on
achieving a high speed of installation without sacrificing safety, robustness and reliability. An accurate and
straightforward installation technique is required, there are two common methods, bottom up and top down.

The bottom up method constructs the track support system accurately to line and level prior to fixing the rails.
To achieve the specified railhead accuracy it may be necessary for concrete grinding or the use of epoxy
mortars or rigid shims to adjust the level of the support surface before finally fixing the rail. The top down
method entails fixing the rails in space by the use of specialist jigs to their correct level and alignment,
complete with the rail support system, and casting that support system into concrete. This uses the rail itself
as part of the alignment setting process, and is similar to that developed over the years on ballasted track.

WHERE AND WHEN? - ILLUSTRATIONS OF SLAB TRACK DEVELOPMENT

Resilient Baseplates
The most common form of concrete slab track
consists of a resilient baseplate fixed to a concrete
slab. The slab can be cast in situ, pre-cast or slip
formed and the baseplates fixed by either bottom up
or top down methods. The first systems consisted of
a standard cast iron baseplate with a separate pad
between the baseplate and slab to provide
resilience, as in the Pandrol Vipa (Figure 2). One
piece resilient baseplates incorporate rubber bonded
between an upper and lower metal plate, such as
the Delkor Alternative 1 (Figure 3). Both these
varieties rely on the resilience acting in
Figure 2 Pandrol Vipa Baseplate
compression, giving static stiffness of about
20kN/mm, they work well in attenuating low frequency vibrations but less well for higher frequency re-radiated
noise.
To provide a softer resilient baseplate requires using the bonded rubber in shear rather than compression, as
in the Cologne Egg, first used on tramways in Cologne and produced in Australia by Delkor (Figure 4).
Different designs can be used to give variations in stiffness (6 – 15kN/mm) and acoustic performance,
however there is a trade-off between stiffness, load capacity and deflection. A further development of resilient
baseplate is the Pandrol Vanguard, originally produced as a low profile replacement in existing track on
London Underground (Figure 5). This again uses rubber in shear, but grips the web of the rail leaving the foot
suspended, which eliminates lateral deflections under load and permits greater vertical deflection, lower
stiffness (7.5kN/mm) and consequent improved acoustic performance, albeit at additional cost.

1ST Session – Concrete Slab Track – Why, What, Where, When & How 22
Permanent Way Institution Inc 29 October 2004 Convention Journal

Figure 3 Delkor Alternative 1 Figure 4 Delkor Egg Figure 5 Pandrol Vanguard

Resilient baseplates have been used in many locations in Australia to reduce noise and vibration transmission,
including the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and are proposed on the standard slab track structures in tunnel for the
Parramatta Rail Link and the Perth Southern Suburbs Railway.

Booted Blocks

The booted block system derived from the simple idea of

casting sleepers into a concrete slab. It was developed by
Stedef, using their standard twin-block sleeper with rubber
boots around the concrete blocks to provide resilience, first
installed in Switzerland in 1966 (Figure 6). The removal of the
steel tie and a change in the shape of the blocks, to give deeper
Figure 6 Stedef booted block system
embedment and facilitate future replacement, resulted in the
Sonneville Low Vibration Track (LVT) system.

LVT (Figure 7) comprises a basically rectangular block of concrete to which one rail is attached. The bottom
portion of the block fits into a rubber boot and the required track resilience is achieved by a soft pad in the
bottom of the boot. The rail is held to the blocks by cast in shoulders and the fastening assembly, with a rail
pad under the rail foot to prevent abrasion of the concrete. At the construction stage both rails and booted
block assemblies are held to the correct line, level and gauge and encased in concrete to just below the top of
the boot. The blocks can have either a sloping top surface to provide rail inclination, or top and bottom
surfaces parallel, with the appropriate rail inclination achieved when casting the blocks into the infill concrete.

Figure 7 Sonneville LVT booted block system

The original LVT system gave a stiffness approximately equal to ballasted track. The performance has been
improved by decoupling the boot from the block and using lower dynamic stiffness resilient pads, as installed
on the KCRC West Rail and East Rail Extensions in Hong Kong. More recent developments using a larger
and heavier block together with a thicker resilient pad to further reduce stiffness are incorporated in the system
being installed in tunnels on the Central London section of the CTRL in the UK.

Continuously Supported Rail

Both Resilient baseplates and booted blocks are based on the rail being supported at discrete points. In the
1970s British Rail Research and McGregor Paving Ltd developed a system with a slip formed slab and
continuously supported rail known as Paved Concrete Track or PACT. This was installed in several locations
around the World, including 5km of double track through the Zig Zag tunnels in the Blue Mountains in 1978. It

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Permanent Way Institution Inc 29 October 2004 Convention Journal

produced a very stiff trackform resulting in poor noise and vibration attenuation and corrugation problems,
particularly in very wet tunnels. A version with resilient baseplates was developed later.

A continuously supported rail system known as the Embedded

Rail Structure (ERS) has been in use in the Netherlands since
1976. The rail is embedded in a recess in the slab using a
cork/polyurethane compound, which also provides resilience.
Its development is partly a result of Edilon, the manufacturer of
the embedment compound, sponsoring significant research at
Delft University. One outcome is the development of a new
smaller rail profile as with continuous support much of the
strength of the normal rail section is wasted. More recently an
embedded rail system offering easier rail installation and
replacement has been developed by Balfour Beatty (Figure 8)
and is on trial in sections of main lines in Spain and the UK. Figure 8 Balfour Beatty Embedded Rail

Slabs on Formation

The original Shinkansen line in Japan saw the

first use of slab track on formation in 1964. By
1993 1,000km out of the Shinkansen network
of 1,400km consisted of ballastless double
track. The slab track design (Figure 9),
virtually unchanged since 1972, consists of a
sublayer stabilised with cement, cylindrical
bollards to prevent lateral movement,
reinforced prestressed concrete slabs and
asphalt cement mortar injected under and
between the slabs. Slabs on formation have
also been developed in Germany and are in
use on the new high speed lines. The
systems used are Rheda, consisting of Figure 9 Shinkansen Slab Track, Japan
sleepers cast into a reinforced concrete slab
on a stabilised subgrade, and Bögl, similar in design to the Shinkansen system.

The greatest risk area for slabs on formation is settlement, requiring a method of vertical adjustment to be built
into the system. If subgrades are poor significant soil improvements are needed and/or a high percentage of
reinforcement (up to 1.5%) has to be provided in the slab. For the new High-speed Line South in the
Netherlands, the proposed solution to this problem is the construction of a piled viaduct at ground level.

Floating Slab Track

Floating slab track (FST) is the most sophisticated type of concrete slab track, comprising a reinforced
concrete slab on discrete elastomeric bearings (Figure 10). A variety of systems have been installed at many
locations around the world, mainly in tunnels in urban areas. Slabs are normally pre-cast, although in-situ
slabs have been constructed, and slab lengths vary with design and construction parameters. Secondary
resilience can be provided by the use of bonded resilient baseplates on the slab. Acoustic attenuation of up to
30dB is achievable at frequencies above 30Hz, but at an installation cost of 3 to 4 times that of ballasted track.
This dictates that the use of FST is kept to the minimum necessary to provide maximum mitigation at critical
locations. FST is a complex mass spring system, each application is unique and the design has to take
account of acoustic and structural requirements, rolling stock, train operations and support structure.

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Permanent Way Institution Inc 29 October 2004 Convention Journal

The KCRC West Rail project had to achieve very low

levels of wayside noise and vibration in many areas to
comply with the Hong Kong Noise Ordinance, one of
the most severe in the World. FST was required for
vibration attenuation at specific locations in tunnels,
but is also installed on the entire length of the viaducts
as part of an integrated design to achieve noise
mitigation of 24dB(A).
The 34 track kilometres of floating slab track, which
accounts for 44 % of the 30.5km double-track line, is
the most extensive application in a single project and
includes 23 turnouts, 3 diamonds and 14 rail
movement switches.

Speed of construction was therefore an important

Figure 10 FST - KCRC West Rail, Hong Kong
criterion in the selection of the system.
A precast double-tie mini-slab system was used with slabs placed directly on the structure. The rail and
baseplates are assembled and held in the correct location with an adjustable tie-bar arrangement, holding
down bolts are grouted into the holes in the slabs and fibre-reinforced concrete is poured between the
baseplate and slab. This enables all cant, tolerances and deflections under the trackform to be consolidated in
the final alignment.

FST in tunnel is proposed for short sections of both the Parramatta Rail Link and the Perth Southern Suburbs
Railway to deal with acoustic mitigation at specific locations. A system known as Isolated Slab Track (IST),
with slabs supported on a ballast mat rather than discrete bearings, was considered where full FST
performance was not necessary, but discarded due to its limited benefit over resilient baseplates on slab and
concerns over inspection, maintenance and renewal. IST has been installed on sections of the MTRC in Hong
Kong, but its acoustic performance has not met design expectations.

REFERENCES

BEALE M. & CARLISLE J. Design and Construction of Floating Slab Track for KCRC West Rail
Rail Solutions Asia Conference, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia, March 2002.

ESVELD C. Recent Developments in Slab Track

European Railway Review, Issue 2 2003, 81-85.

ROBERTS D. & MURRAY B. Parramatta Rail Link – The Approach to Controlling Train Regenerated Noise
& Vibration
Conference on Railway Engineering, Darwin Australia, June 2004.

Technical Brochures from Balfour Beatty, Delkor, Pandrol and Sonneville International Corporation.

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