BIONICS and Remote Asset Inspection for Transport Corridors
Rail and road embankments are integral components of transport networks, comprising a significant proportion of the rail and road networks. In the case of rail networks, embankments and cuttings comprise approximately 5,000km of the total 16,000km route length. Embankments are the foundation upon which the rail track and the road pavement are built. The growth in demand for rail and road transport contributes to increased damage from traffic and imposes tight restrictions on the time available to inspect embankments and to carry out maintenance. Unplanned inspection and maintenance, as a result of undetected damage, is expensive, results in significant traffic disruption, and can have a significant impact on adjacent infrastructure (bridge foundations for example). In terms of infrastructure management and reliability of train services, there are considerable advantages to be gained from the ability to: inspect embankments without disrupting traffic, identify those embankments most at risk; and then plan for inspection and maintenance with minimum disruption to train services. On behalf of the Vehicle/Structures System Interface Committee, RSSB engaged as a project partner providing financial and technical support to two EPSRC supported research projects led by Newcastle University. The first project, BIONICS (BIOlogical and eNgineering Impacts of Climate change on Slopes), involved the construction of full size trial embankments that are representative of UK infrastructure. This facility, built at Nafferton Farm, Northumberland, is designed to support and improve the understanding of the long-term impact of climate change on infrastructure embankments; and inform industry and stakeholders of the adaptation strategies needed to mitigate the effects. This facility is now complete and has established a database of high quality embankment performance data that is supporting further research into the interaction of climate, vegetation, and engineering on the behaviour of infrastructure earthworks. The second research project has undertaken a trial application of an embankment inspection methodology which involved the remote collection of embankment data using photographic imaging techniques on the BIONICS facility and an 8km test corridor of rail and road infrastructure. The results have demonstrated the capacity of airborne survey techniques, including lidar (airborne laser scanning) and multi-spectral aerial imagery, to deliver high quality information on key slope stability parameters, such as local slope gradient, vegetation type, and soil moisture distribution. In addition, these techniques are capable of supporting analysis at very high spatial resolutions, improving overall understanding of localised slope behaviour.
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Corporate Authors:
Rail Safety and Standards Board Limited
Block 2 Angel Square, 1 Torrens Street
London, United Kingdom EC1V 1NY - Publication Date: 2011-3
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Web
- Edition: Research Brief
- Features: Figures; Maps;
- Pagination: 8p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Aerial surveying; Climate change; Data collection; Embankment foundations; Embankments; Environmental impacts; Inspection; Maintenance; Railroads; Remote sensing; Slopes
- Subject Areas: Environment; Geotechnology; Railroads;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01345029
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: T552
- Files: TRIS
- Created Date: Jul 20 2011 7:25AM