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Composites for Alternative Railway Sleepers

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EASEC16

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering ((LNCE,volume 101))

Abstract

Approximately 200 million timber sleepers are currently being used in rail networks around the world due to their availability, affordability and dependability. It is estimated that nearly 90% of the existing timber sleepers will need replacement by 2030. Recently, increasing costs, declining quality, hardwood timber scarcity and environmental sensitivity has challenged the continuing use of timber sleepers in rail track. Consequently, the Australian rail industry is now looking an alternative materials to replace existing timber sleepers and it is projected that in next five years they will move from a traditional timber-based system (15 years lifespan) to that of an engineered composites system (at least 50 years lifespan). This paper critically reviewed the recent development of composite sleepers, identified the potential issues and provided guidelines to overcome the challenges.

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Acknowledgements

This project is partly supported by the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P57360 - CRC-P Round 3) grants.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Southern Queensland, Centre for Future Materials (CFM), Toowoomba, QLD, 4350, Australia

    W. Ferdous, A. Manalo, P. Yu, R. Kakarla, C. Salih & P. Schubel

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Engineering College, University of Thi-Qar, Nasiriyah, Thi Qar, Iraq

    M. Muttashar

Authors
  1. W. Ferdous
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  2. A. Manalo
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  3. M. Muttashar
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  4. P. Yu
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  5. R. Kakarla
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  6. C. Salih
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  7. P. Schubel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to W. Ferdous .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, St. Lucia, QLD, Australia

    Chien Ming Wang

  2. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia

    Vinh Dao

  3. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Queensland, St Lucia, QLD, Australia

    Sritawat Kitipornchai

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Ferdous, W. et al. (2021). Composites for Alternative Railway Sleepers. In: Wang, C.M., Dao, V., Kitipornchai, S. (eds) EASEC16. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering, vol 101. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8079-6_26

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8079-6_26

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-8078-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-8079-6

  • eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)

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