Quantifying the Effectiveness of Methods Used to Improve Railway Track Performance over Soft Subgrades: Methodology and Case Study
Publication: Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 143, Issue 9
Abstract
This paper presents a methodology for quantifying the effectiveness of different methods used to improve the railway track performance on soft subgrades. This methodology consists of quantifying the changes in track stiffness from vertical track deflection (VTD) measurements taken before and after the track was upgraded, and the evaluation of the roughness of the track that has developed since the track was upgraded. A case study is presented to explain the steps of this methodology. These upgrades consist of changing the rail from () bolted rail to () continuously welded rail (CWR), embankment reconstruction, and using a layer of geogrid at the subballast–subgrade interface. The results of the study show that the VTD measurements are capable of measuring changes in track deflection, and thus modulus, due to the upgrading of the track structures with a high enough resolution to distinguish between the differing test sections. The track geometry measurements suggest that not enough time or train traffic had passed to degrade the track geometry to a level that would start indicating issues in performance. The paper also evaluates the relative effectiveness of the different remediation methods at this study site. Replacement of jointed rail with heavier CWR significantly increased the track stiffness, more so than excavation of the subgrade and reconstruction of the embankment. The combined effect of CWR and the substructure upgrades further improved the track modulus. The geogrid can be used with CWR to reduce the amount of subballast required without an increase in track deflection.
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Acknowledgments
The authors also would like to acknowledge the contributions of Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railway, and Tensar International Corporation for their support and facilitation of this project, and specifically Eddie Choi and Dr. Jayhyun Kwon. The authors would also like to recognize the work of Taylor Wollenberg-Barron and Hamid Wardak during the site investigation and laboratory testing. This research was made possible through the Canadian Rail Research Laboratory (CaRRL), which is funded by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, the Association of American Railways Transportation Technology Center, the National Research Council of Canada, Transport Canada, and Alberta Innovates - Technology Futures.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems
Volume 143 • Issue 9 • September 2017
Copyright
©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 17, 2016
Accepted: Mar 17, 2017
Published online: Jun 26, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Nov 26, 2017
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