Material and Manufacturing Requirements for Freeze-Thaw Durable Concrete Railroad Ties: Volume I

This research program was conducted as a partnership between the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Kansas State University (KSU), and the Illinois Department of Transportation to study the freeze-thaw durability of concrete railroad ties as air is purposefully entrained in concrete railroad ties to impart freeze-thaw durability, and vibration used during manufacture to consolidate concrete can reduce entrained air needed for freeze-thaw protection. This report is divided into two volumes. Volume I is a summary report that emphasizes key project methodologies, results, and recommendations. Volume II contains detailed project results from field monitoring of concrete tie temperature and moisture, laboratory experiments, and modeling performed. The objective of this research was to gain insight into the environment conditions that concrete ties experience, and to better understand how the interaction of materials and processes used in tie construction affect freeze-thaw durability. Key research questions were answered by measuring concrete tie manufacturing conditions, as well as developing a robust laboratory-based experimental research program, computational modeling of systems, and measuring field conditions. The results of this research program is to facilitate improved concrete tie specifications and quality assurance testing.

  • Record URL:
  • Corporate Authors:

    Kansas State University

    Manhattan, Kansas  United States 

    Federal Railroad Administration

    Office of Railroad Policy and Development, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
    Washington, DC  United States  20590

    Federal Railroad Administration

    Office of Research, Development, and Technology
    Washington, DC  United States 
  • Authors:
    • Riding, Kyle A
    • Lange, David A
    • Castaneda, Daniel
    • Koch, Jeremy
    • Albahttiti, Mohammed
    • Ghadban, Ahmad
    • ORCID 0000-0001-8399-0684
    • Song, Yu
    • Zou, Ruofei
  • Publication Date: 2018-8

Language

  • English

Media Info

  • Media Type: Digital/other
  • Edition: Final Report
  • Features: Photos; References;
  • Pagination: 26p

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01680057
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/FRA/ORD-18/31
  • Contract Numbers: DTFR53-12-C-00026
  • Files: TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
  • Created Date: Sep 11 2018 11:16AM