Method and system for concreting railway slab track

Abstract

Method for concreting railway slab track which envisages placing two parallel rails one at each side and at the exterior of the track under construction, supported and fixed on the platforms, semi-platforms or lateral spaces, on which at least one autonomous device or hopper moves, capable of loading concrete and / or pouring it in a controlled manner, distributing it uniformly along the track under construction to form the concrete slab of the slab track; transporting the concrete from a supply area to the pouring area on the track under construction is also carried out by means of devices or hoppers which move by rolling on the auxiliary rails, which are either the same devices that carry out the pouring, or are auxiliary transport devices or hoppers.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONObject of the Invention[0001]The invention, as its title indicates, relates to a method for concreting railway slab track, proceeding from an initial position in which the assembly formed by the rails fixed to the sleepers and / or fastening elements (which are called premounted track or skeleton track), once laid and premounted on an existing base or base plate (bed of the future slab track) and then perfectly positioned with precision and fixed by means of fixing / fastening means in the final suspended position, concreting of the assembly takes place, thus constituting the concrete slab which forms the support means which replace the ballast of a traditional track. In other embodiments, independent concrete blocks or fastening plates of the rail are mounted instead of the sleepers, (the track width being established until the setting of the concrete by way of provisional elements called “false sleepers” in these latter cases), or even any other system which...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is about a method for concreting railway slab track using a system of apparatuses to transport and distribute the concrete. The system includes a skeleton track fixed to sleepers or fastening plates, which are positioned with precision and fixed in the final suspended position. The system allows for controlled and uniform distribution of concrete over the skeleton track, ultimately forming a stable and level railway slab track once the concrete has set. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a more efficient and reliable method for preparing a stable and level railway track for passenger travel.

Problems solved by technology

In Spain, slab track is not generally used, but it is used in particular areas such as for example in tunnels, in which the problem and cost of maintenance of the ballast track are especially high, particularly on high speed lines.

The sections of pipe have to be cleaned in the interior thereof, moved, connected and disconnected, the total pipe length being modified, sections implemented or removed as the work advances, which is very laborious.

The lack of space is the main problem for carrying out these works appropriately.

In the case of tunnels with a single track, the problem is heightened even further.

In these tunnels, the difficulty of the work is greater, the options very limited and the yields of concreting are reduced.

The traditional methods of concreting slab track described are laborious, the mechanical means and above all manpower required are high, the degree of automation is low and the yields are limited.

The logistics of the supply and pouring process of the concrete is not efficient, interferences among the different activities being frequent.

The coordination of the tasks is complex, the stoppages are usually frequent due to various reasons and the stoppage times can be long.

Other noteworthy problems are those associated with pumping the concrete in the case where this system is used: blockages in the pipe, etc.

Moreover, it should be pointed out that one problem in any of the many stages of the process usually causes the interruption of the concreting, with the consequences which these stoppages cause under these conditions.

However, on the other hand, it has significant disadvantages which ultimately limit its competitiveness:the cost is very high due to the high cost involved with a special train with mixers and due to the cost involved with constructing the provisional auxiliary trackthe flexibility of the method is low.

The concrete volume to be pumped is limited by the capacity of the train (no. of mixers).

And in turn, the initial dimensioning of the train and the volume with which it is loaded will limit the process.

In this aspect, it is difficult to scale.once the concrete of the train has been depleted, it must exit in order to reload, the concreting process being interrupted.given the process described and the cost thereof, this system is only cost-effective for constructing long lengths of slab trackin the case of there not being sufficient space for constructing the adjacent auxiliary track, or in the case of it not being possible to construct it for any reason, the use of this method would not be viablethe use of the pump continues bringing with it certain related problems.

The flow rate of concrete is limited by the capacity of the pump.

However, the system still has all the drawbacks described, even being heightened, given the implemented dimensions.

Bringing the loading point of the train closer is all that has been achieved, but if we consider the lengths of the tunnel, each time the train has to reload, the stoppage time (movement+loading+return) amounts to many hours, time during which the concreting remains interrupted.

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