Categorizing Track Mud Spot Risk by Measurement of Vertical Track Deflection

Details

• Creators:
  Hartsough, Christopher M ; Palese, Joseph W ; Kelly, James P
• Corporate Creators:
  Harsco Rail
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Mud
  • Risk
  • Maintenance practices
  • Ballast (Railroads)
  • Railroad tracks
  • Rail (Railroads) Mud spot
  • Vertical track deflection
  • Track maintenance
  • Prioritization
  • Track stiffness
  More +
• Publication/ Report Number:
  DOT/FRA/ORD-21/24
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Contracting Officer:
  Hugh Thompson
• Corporate Publisher:
  United States. Federal Railroad Administration. Office of Research and Development
• Abstract:
  Mud spots are a common problem faced by railroads where water, through capillary action, is “pumped” from the subgrade into the ballast by ties that move downward and upward under passing axle loads. When mud is mixed in with the ballast, several problems can occur which can increase the risk of derailment due to increased vertical track deflection. Maintenance crews typically know the location of their mud spots, and in general, perform repetitive, expensive, track time consuming maintenance to fix the symptom and not the root cause of the problem. If the level of risk for each mud spot were quantified, maintenance could be prioritized, whereby high-risk mud spots are addressed first, while low risk mud spots are monitored in the event their situation worsens.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DTFR5316C00016
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/57312/dot_57312_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.59 MB]
• Collection(s):
  Federal Railroad Administration
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3c5683d7488977dcdf673366674f2317cf80e69bdafaae21bb0c4d516efce3ea70662a4d1357f996422fa34f04a2a5569020ec899419d9af66d95fe56d6026ef