VERSOVIEW - INNOVATIVE TRACK DESIGN

Straight track makes up a significant proportion of the Railway infrastructure yet in most cases the design process is often slow, inaccurate or given a low priority. Long sections of straight track are rarely straight but made up of smaller straight sections connected by tangent points. These tangent points represent a small change in direction and are necessary to accommodate structures or fixed points like longitudinal bridges or switch and crossing layouts. Platforms that are situated in straight track can also pose problems in the design process, to achieve correct stepping distances the straight alignment often has to be bent to follow the line of the copers. Where a straight section of track abuts a curved section of track the survey method of measurement is different for each. The data from each survey must be checked to correlate the two surveys. Failure to do this can lead to designed overshot or undershot transitions. It is important to demonstrate this to persons checking and validating the design. During the design process offsets to adjacent tracks and structures must be checked so that clearances are not compromised and to establish the best position for the track. Curve designs are commonly achieved using either a system called Shorts or Hallade, giving similar output in terms of slew and versine. This uniformity makes it relatively easy for the design checker to understand. Straight design appears to be a regional characteristic. A design checker could be expected to understand a multitude of design variants depending on where they were produced and who they were produced by. For the covering abstract see ITRD E123713.

  • Availability:
  • Corporate Authors:

    ENGINEERING TECHNICS PRESS

    46 CLUNY GARDENS
    EDINBURGH,   United Kingdom  EH10 6BN
  • Authors:
    • PEACHEY, P
  • Publication Date: 2001

Language

  • English

Media Info

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 00985516
  • Record Type: Publication
  • Source Agency: Transport Research Laboratory
  • ISBN: 0-947644-45-8
  • Files: ITRD
  • Created Date: Feb 4 2005 12:00AM