CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS RESEARCH PROJECTS
AT COVENTRY UNIVERSITY
RAIL SUPPORT Back to home page
Full Title: Maintaining the ride quality of ballasted rail track
Academic Staff: Dr P A Claisse
Research Staff: Chaitanya Calla
Funding: £36000 over 3 years from industry.
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Maintaining a railway costs considerably more than maintaining the equivalent length of motorway. One of the major costs is re-packing the ballast under sleepers where the foundation has settled. In many instances a very short length will settle, and the sleepers will be supported by the rail form either side. As a train passes the loose sleepers will hammer down onto the ballast and aggravate the problem. This project researched a patented system to use smaller sized ballast between the sleepers, which will migrate into the void below them and solve the problem.