Track Maintenance of Heavy Haul Railways with Resilient Versus Stiff Fastenings

Abstract

The average stress on the tie ballast contact surface is used to examine the stress on the seating of the track. According to AASHTO testing for road construction, increasing the pressure on the ballast by 10% results in a decrease that is 1.3 to 1.5 times more rapid in the geometry of the track and a corresponding increase in the maintenance cost. The type of fastening used, rigid or resilient, plays a major role in the magnitude of the stress at the seating surface of the tie on the ballast. Track maintenance and renewal are planned accordingly, always taking into consideration local conditions, on the basis of a combination of control data from measuring systems, visual observation, and economic data. This paper presents a parametric investigation of the influence of rigid versus resilient fastenings on track maintenance of heavy haul railroads.