What Are the Works Involved in Building Railroad Tracks?

As the most important component of a railroad track system, railroad tracks serve to provide a reliable surface for train operations. Railroad track is also known by other names such as railroad track, track and permanent way.

Railroad track is just a type of metal track used for trains. There are also highway guardrails and industrial railing systems. Typically, railroad track includes a rail bed, steel rails, railroad ties, railroad fishtails, rail clamps, sleeper plates and other railroad fasteners. How do you build a railroad track with all these components? This is a step-by-step guide to the process.

Pre-Construction Activities

There are a number of preparatory activities prior to railroad track construction. Of all the activities, roadbed drainage and material preparation are common.

Roadbed drainage is the system used to prevent flooding of the railroad. The roadbed, roadbed and side slopes of railroad tracks are highly susceptible to water washout. Improper roadbed drainage measures will result in roadbed distress. Drainage devices must be installed before laying the track. Specifically, drainage pipes, carrier drainage and attenuation ponds are mainly used in some areas.

Preparation of construction materials is another task before laying the track. Common materials include railroad sleepers, rails, railway fasteners and some construction equipment. The preparation work is mainly to check the integrity and completeness of all materials.

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Laying of the bottom ballast

The ballast bed is a reliable foundation for the railroad track. According to the construction procedure, the sub-ballast bed construction is divided into two parts: the bottom ballast and the top ballast. There are other procedures between the laying of the bottom ballast and the top ballast. Therefore, bottom ballast and top ballast will be presented separately.

The main track track is designed as a double track. Bottom ballast consists of medium and coarse sand.

Lay out the railroad sleepers. Place sleepers evenly on each side of the railroad track. Manually lay railroad sleepers on the track. Keeping the center point of the rail sleepers aligned with the track centerline.

The bottom ballast is delivered to the track and unloaded evenly as planned. Compaction is achieved by hand spreading and mini-rollers.

Anchoring is the process of securing railroad ties to railroad sleepers. This procedure requires the following materials: sulfur, sand, cement, paraffin, and screws.

Laying of rails

Rail laying mainly includes rail matching and track laying.

Rail matching is a necessary process in the track laying process. The length of each rail is measured and the rail matching can be based on this. It is suitable to use rails with the same length deviation. The length deviation is less than 3mm and the accumulated deviation is less than 15mm.

Rail laying starts from the back end of the turnout. The length of non-standard rails can be determined according to the position of insulation joints. The rails are conveyed by monorail vehicles and manually lifted to the rail trench.

The rails are laid by fastening system and rail joints to connect the rails to the rail sleepers.

Top ballast

Top ballast laying refers to the laying of ballast on the track to modify the track to achieve the desired effect. Top ballast laying has a certain order: transport ballast - lay ballast - track lifting - track lining - filling ballast - tamping - finishing the bed.

Track lifting means lifting each rail to the correct position and filling it with ballast. Keep each point of the rails on the same level.

Track lining. Switch the road to the centerline to smooth out straight lines and curves.

Tamping. Once the top ballast is ready, the tamper goes to work. Tamping is continued tree or four times.

Fill ballast. Fill the crib with ballast.

After some trains pass, the second ballast laying begins. Compared to the first top ballast laying, most of the procedures are the same except for the refurbishment of the rails.

Rail anchors

Rail anchors are used to prevent track creep. Rail spacers are connected to the rails by rail bolts and nuts. Both rail anchors and rail brackets are designed to hold the rails in place and secure them.

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