Analysing the experience of operating a section with composite sleepers and developing a pilot technological process for replacing sleepers

Abstract

   This article considers the issue of using composite sleepers on the heavy traffic sections of the West Siberian railroad. The results of complex estimation of the experimental section with composite sleepers on the basis of the data provided by different structural divisions of the West Siberian railroad are presented. The condition of the sleepers and the track section as a whole was analyzed both by means of on-site inspections and using the results of evaluation by a track measuring car in the period from May 2023 to June 2024.
   The section with composite sleepers was evaluated for both the condition of the rail track geometry and the distribution of labour on the linear section. Each sleeper was considered separately in terms of the main parameters of rail track geometry. The largest volume of track maintenance works on the section with composite sleepers falls on the spring period. For the whole period of analysis one failure of rail track narrowing was revealed, after adjustment of track gauge this deviation was not repeated.
   In the course of the study was developed a pilot technological card for the work on the replacement of reinforced concrete sleeper composite. Timekeeping was performed and the main problem areas in the production of this work were recorded. The calculation of labour costs for the works on sleepers replacement depending on the technology and type of sleepers and fastenings has been carried out. During the operation of composite sleepers for one year within the the current maintenance of the track section, no obvious difficulties in their operation, as well as defects of composite sleepers, were found.