Abstract
This paper presents an analysis of a new railroad track design based on substructure containing a double layer of geocells plus an additional geogrid layer for application on a new rail line being constructed. This new line is designed to accommodate both passenger and freight operations. The analysis looked at the applicability of the proposed design to the track substructure conditions on this new line with a primary emphasis on the bearing strength of poor subgrade locations on the new line. The analysis approach used Beam on Elastic Foundation theory to generate stresses on the top of the ballast layer and top of sleeper and then follow-up analysis to include use of test results to analyze the distribution of these stresses through the substructure and the determination of the subgrade bearing stresses. These bearing stresses were then compared with the strength of soils representative of those found on the proposed line segment. Based on the results of the analyses, the proposed substructure design (with 2 geocell layers and one geogrid layer) was found to significantly reduce stresses on the subgrade so that the proposed track was appropriate for use on even the poorest soil types identified on this line segment. This is because of the improved strength and stiffness characteristics of the geocell reinforced ballast layer.
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Notes
The AREMA dynamic wheel load formula was developed in English units but has been converted to SI units in this paper.
Rail seat force on sleeper is the force on the top of the sleeper at the rail seat, where the rail sits on the sleeper. Note these forces are per rail and per sleeper.
The Talbot equation of distribution of stress through the ballast was developed in English units but has been converted to SI units in this paper.
The Amtrak installation also had a geogrid layer below the geocell layer, separated by a 125 mm layer of sub-ballast.
Reference (Leshchinsky and Ling 2013a) reported that the double-reinforced embankment reached the tensile limit for the loading frame.
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Zarembski, A.M. Analysis of Geocell-Based Track Design for the Reduction of Stresses in the Track Substructure. Transp. Infrastruct. Geotech. 7, 390–404 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40515-020-00129-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40515-020-00129-4