Concrete sleeper

Concrete sleeper

A concrete sleeper is a railroad tie made out of steel reinforced concrete.

Concrete sleepers
Concrete sleepers were used on whole length of the Adelaide-Darwin railway line

Contents

History

Concrete sleepers were first made in Germany in 1906 for use between Nuremberg and Bamberg.[1]

Types

Concrete sleepers can be of one piece of uniform dimensions, or of variable dimensions. Concrete sleepers can also consist of two separate blocks connected by a steel tie rod. Exceptionally, the concrete can be poured as two separate longitudinal slabs as has been used in Namibia.

Slab track consists of a continuous concrete roadbed without division into separate sleepers, and these are most often used in tunnels.

Austrak has developed a concrete Timber Replacement Sleeper that can be inter-dispersed with timber sleepers. These sleepers have a similar profile to the timber but have the benefits of concrete - especially when it comes to holding gauge.

Advantages

  • Do not rot like timber sleepers.
  • Extra weight makes track more stable, particularly with changes in temperature.
  • Unlike wooden sleepers, concrete sleepers don't expand under hot conditions causing tracks to buckle.
  • Withstand fire hazards better than wooden sleepers.
  • Longer life than wooden sleepers
  • Less maintenance means lower ongoing costs and less track closures
BNSF line north of Yakima, Washington

Pads

Concrete sleepers usually have rubber pads of about 10mm thickness between the rail and the baseplate to absorb somne of the shock of the passing train.

Disadvantages

  • When trains derail and the wheels hit the sleepers, timber sleepers tend to absorb the blow and remain intact, while concrete sleepers tend to shatter and have to be replaced.
  • Concrete sleepers are heavier and need stronger people and even special tools to carry them.
  • Gives more retentivity to the track.
  • Cost more, especially initial cost.

Alternatives

Sleepers made of recycled plastics, which are less brittle than concrete, are under development.[2]

Characteristics

Gauge and weight

  • 1,676 mm (5 ft 6 in) - 300 kg

Axleload

Manufacture

Concrete sleepers are made upside down in moulds, several sleepers long. Pandrol clip bases or other fittings are inserted into the moulds. Pretensiled steel wire are installed in these moulds, and then the concrete is poured. It takes several days for the concrete to cure, after which the sleepers are removed from the moulds and cut into individual sleepers. The bottom of the mould is marked with the logo of the manufacturer and a datestamp.

Occasionally sleepers are made with conduits for track circuit wiring, or extra fixtures for guard rails.

Sleepers can be made using a Long Line method or a Short Line method; each method has its advantages and disadvantages.

Ingredients and components

  • Portland cement made into suitable concrete.
  • Steel wire usually galvanised, and pre-tensioned.
  • Railclips such as Pandrol.

Transport

When transported in small piles, pieces of timber are interposed between the layers of concrete sleepers.

Installation

Oldest

  • United Kingdom

The 597 mm (1 ft 11 1⁄2 in) gauge Lynton and Barnstaple Railway (1898 to 1935) in North Devon, experimented with concrete sleepers at a number of locations along the line. Currently unknown why experiment was not continued.

Some concrete sleepers can now be seen on display at Woody Bay Station www.lynton-rail.co.uk

Chaired bullhead concrete sleepers have been around since at least the 1950s.[4]

Turnouts

Concrete sleepers for turnouts are much longer than normal sleepers, have gaps for switch motors, have sleepers indivually designed, and are generally made by a small number of specialist manufactures. If a turnout is needed in a hurry, it may be made with timber sleepers which can simply be drilled to suit.

Problems

German rails have experienced cracking of their sleepers on high speed lines.[5]

Examples

Ghana Ghana

Concrete sleeper plant at Huni Valley, Ghana:

  • Number: 2 m
  • Cost: Euro 85m
  • Cost each: Euro 42.5 per sleeper.
  • Cost of plant: Euro 7
  • Jobs: 130
  • Output: 400,000 per annum
  • Output: 1096 per day (about 0.5 km of track).
  • Makers: Kampac and Rail.One
  • Gauge: possibly dual gauge 1435 mm/1067 mm

Pakistan Pakistan

  • Line: Karachi - Lahore main line.
  • Gauge: 1676 mm gauge.
  • Cost per km: Rs33·85m
  • Rail: UIC-54 rails
  • Number per km: 1,640
  • Fastenings: Vossloh

List of plants

Angola Angola

(Three plants needed)

Australia Australia

Austrak concrete sleeper factory in Wagga Wagga

(clockwise)

  • Queensland Townsville Austrak - 1067 mm - defunct [7]
  • Queensland Mackay Austrak - 1067 mm - defunct [7]
  • Queensland Rockhampton Austrak - 1067 mm [7]
  • Queensland 610 mm are also made for cane tramways.
  • New South Wales Mittagong - 1435 mm
  • New South Wales Taree - 1435 mm
  • New South Wales Denman - 1435 mm
  • New South Wales Mittagong [8]
  • New South Wales Grafton [8]
  • New South Wales Wagga Wagga (Bomen) Austrak - 1435 mm
  • Victoria (Australia) Geelong (Avalon ] Austrak - 1435 mm & 1600 mm
  • Western Australia Port Hedland Austrak - 1435 mm
  • Western Australia Wedgefield Austrak - 610 mm, 1067 mm, 1435 mm [9]
  • Western Australia Wickham - 1435 mm
  • Northern Territory Katherine Austrak - 1435 mm - defunct [7]
  • Northern Territory Tennant Creek Austrak - 1435 mm - defunct [7]
  • Austrak - Australia's largest manufacturer of concrete railway sleepers [10]

Bangladesh

Botswana

China

  • China China United Railway Logistics [13]

Ethiopia

Germany

Ghana

India

Iraq

Kenya

Korea, North

Korea, South

Libya

Malaysia

Mozambique

Namibia

Romania

Russia

Saudi Arabia

  • Saudi Arabia - Ha'il - Transport in Saudi Arabia 32.5T axleload - 1435 mm [34]
  • Rail.one [35]
  • PCM Strescon Overseas Ventures Ltd;www.pcmstrescon.com;manufactures Heavy Haul 32.5T Axle Load Standard Gauge Sleepers at their Long Line Factories at Al Jouf and Hatifa,Kingdom Of Saudi Arabia by Wegh Group ,[36] Italy.


Sierra Leone

South Africa

Switzerland

Thailand

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.dsiminingproducts.com/au/references/details/article/prestressed-concrete-sleepers-germany.html
  2. ^ http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=8437
  3. ^ http://www.fmgl.com.au/irm/ShowStaticCategory.aspx?CategoryID=213&HideTopLine=True
  4. ^ ndrailusers » Mag09
  5. ^ :: View topic - German track in big trouble
  6. ^ Railways Africa - NAMIBE RAILWAY INSPECTED
  7. ^ a b c d e f Austrak: Factories - Overview
  8. ^ a b Rocla
  9. ^ Laing O'Rourke - Intelligent Thinking Intelligent Construction
  10. ^ Austrak: In Profile
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ RailwaysAfrica
  13. ^ Concrete Sleeper - Trains and Railroads Product - from China Railway United Logistics Co., Ltd. | asiaproduct.net
  14. ^ EthioBlog - Archives for: January 2008, 22
  15. ^ Consta
  16. ^ Walter Beton Concrete Sleepers Germany
  17. ^ http://www.railone.com/en/top-navigation/news/press/news-single-view/browse/3/article/railone-beteiligt-sich-an-der-erneuerung-der-western-and-central-line-in-der-republik-ghana/90.html
  18. ^ a b Manufacturer of Prestressed Concrete Railway Sleepers from India, Prestressed Concrete Monoblock Railways Sleeper
  19. ^ IRFCA
  20. ^ Patil Group Of Industries
  21. ^ http://www.ircon.org/railways.asp
  22. ^ http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P3-1000014461.html
  23. ^ http://wikimapia.org/10924305/Vishal-Nirmiti-Pvt-Ltd-Concrete-sleeper-Plant
  24. ^ Sudan Tribune
  25. ^ September 2004 Panapress 24 June 2004
  26. ^ Past news
  27. ^ Pusan Industrial Co
  28. ^ Walter-Beton
  29. ^ http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/rail/gallery.html
  30. ^ allAfrica.com: Mozambique: Reconstruction of Sena Line Behind Schedule (Page 1 of 1)
  31. ^ Railway to new opportunity
  32. ^ http://www.railwaysafrica.com/blog/category/africa-update/sadc/namibia-sadc/
  33. ^ Viazma Concrete Sleeper Plant
  34. ^ RailwaysAfrica 2007/6 p36
  35. ^ http://www.railway-technology.com/contractors/engineering/pfleiderer2/Press27.html?WT.mc_id=DN_PR&mxmroi=15093578/2651435/false
  36. ^ http://www.gwegh.it
  37. ^ http://www.racecgroup.com/our-services/rail-construction/
  38. ^ INFRASET
  39. ^ http://www.railwaysafrica.com/2009/11/infraset-sleepers-for-ore-line/
  40. ^ http://www.tribeton.ch/uploads/media/We_re_right_on_track.pdf
  41. ^ ITALIAN-THAI Development Public Company Limited
  42. ^ Wallonia

Concrete sleeper research URL http://ro.uow.edu.au/

External links

Media related to Concrete sleeper at Wikimedia Commons


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