Possibilities of Utilization of Alternative Materials within Railway Trackbed

Abstract

One of the main objectives of the research work carried out by the Department of Railway Structures, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague is to investigate utilization possibilities of granular recycled materials and by-products within railway structures. This article summarizes results of a research which was carried out between years 2005 and 2012. The main goal of the research was to assess key parameters of granular recycled materials and by-products from the point of view of their possible utilization within trackbed. Three different types of granular materials were investigated. Particularly, these were stabilized fly ash from a coal-fired thermal power plant, recycled asphalt pavement material (RPM) and crushed concrete made by crushing used railway sleepers. For each material the article introduces the most important results gained by testing of laboratory specimens as well as full-scale laboratory models. The stabilized fly ash was investigated for the longest period of time. In 2005, a test section of railway track utilizing the stabilized fly ash within bound trackbed layer was constructed. The article shows results of the test section monitoring gathered between 2005 and 2011