Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

Tn Engg (CE-353) Introduction

1.

Comparison between roadways and railways: Roadways More Railways Few Very high

No Item 1 Accident rate

2 Construction cost Low as compared to railways and maintenance cost 3 Cost of transport 4 Employment potential 5 Gradient More High Steep gradients provided. Suitable High Short distances Limited capacity may

Cheap especially distances Less be Minimum to carry loads at high speeds. Not suitable

for

long

heavier

6 Hilly areas 7 H.P. requirement 8 Length of haul 9 Load handling capacity 10 Maintenance 11 Right of entry 12 Use

Less Long distances Can handle heavier loads at high speeds.

Only occasional repairs are Require constant maintenance required. Everybody has right to ingress Not free to all or egress. Used by different types of Reserved only for vehicles such as motors, movement of trains. cycles, buses, trucks, etc. the

2.

Characteristics of railways:

Characteristics of railways as follows: a. The railways are the biggest undertaking in the world. They employ many people and carry out considerable turnover. b. The railways exist practicaiIy all the parts of the world. c. The railways are the cheapest in preference to other modes of transport d. The railways require the least amount of power as compared to their weight. e. The direction of movement is controlled and practically no steering is required as the vehicles are not at liberty to deviate from the rails.
1

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

f. The railways alone can carry lots of people quickly and safely through big towns full of crowded streets. g. As compared to a car or a truck or an airplane, it is better to travel in a train for making long journeys, carrying a lot of heavy things. 3. Advantages of railways: The railways grant various advantages and for the purpose of convenience, they can be grouped in the following three categories: a. Economic advantages b. Political advantages c. Social advantages. Economic advantages: These include the following: a. Employment to people in the form of staff required for the smooth working of railways; b. Encouragement to commercial farming; c. Increase in land values and thereby increase of national wealth; d. Increase in mobility of people and thereby relieving to some extent the congestion of big cities; e. Industrial development and growth because bf mobility of labour and raw materials; f. Stabilization of prices due to easy, speedy and efficient mobility of products and natural resources g. Transporting food and clothes in times of emergencies such as floods and famines; etc. Political advantages: These include the following: a. Easy control of the central administration. b. Development of a national mentality in the minds of people. c. Migrating population on a mass scale; d. Mobilizing troops and war equipment in times of war and emergencies; e. Unity of people of different castes, customs and religions; etc

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

Social advantages: These include the following: a. Broadening the social outlook of masses as people can visit all the parts of the country and be proud of this great country; b. Easy access to religious places of importance; c. Providing convenient and safe mode of transport; d. Removal of feeling of isolation as the railway has proved to be the safest, comfortable and cheap type of transport than all other types of conveyances, etc.

4. Trains of tomorrows The trains of tomorrow would not ride on the wheels but they would simply levitate i.e. rise into the air and float in apparent defiance of gravity. Explain. The technology of such trains, to be known as the linear expresses, is based on the principle of magnetic repulsion. Every magnet consists of a south pole and a north pole. The poles with the same polarity repel each other. Thus the North Pole repels the North Pole and the South Pole repels the South Pole. The trains of tomorrow will run on G-shaped guideway. The train as well as the guide way will be equipped with magnets having south and north poles arranged alternately. The attraction and repulsion of the magnets will propel the train forward. The poles of the magnets will be altered continuously by the computer so that the repulsion forces of the magnets keep the trains running in the centre of the guideway. The U-shaped guideway will be equipped with coils which do not require electricity. The trains will be provided with rubber wheels on which they will run till a speed of about 1 00 km p.h. is reached and thereafter the repulsion will elevate the train which then will run 100 mm above the ground.

5. Advantages

of

the

linear

expresses

of

tomorrow

are

as

follows:

a. The passengers would enjoy a smooth without noise and vibration and with no disturbance to the neighborhood. b. The travel would be totally safe. c. The students can study, the business people can write letters and the tired passengers can just sleep and relax while travelling at speeds over 500 km p.h. d. These trains would have direct access upto the centers of the metropolitan cities.
3

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

e. The weight of such trains would be about 30 to 50 percent of the conventional trains. f. The maintenance costs of such trains would be much less because of less wear and tear. g. The construction costs of such trains would be fair and reasonable as compared to the costs of high speed tracks of trains. h. The energy required for such trains would be less than half the energy required by an airplane to carry one passenger to a distance of one kilometer. i. Such trains would be able to operate or run on extremely steep slopes.

Railway Surveys
4

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

1.

Reasons for laying a new railway line:

A new railway line is required or is proposed for the following purposes: a. Strategic considerations: Sometimes it becomes essential to join two points by a railway line for strategic purposes so that in case of emergency; the army can be transferred from one point to the other. b. Linking of trade centres: The two trade centres may not be linked up by a railway line. In such cases, a new railway line is proposed between two such trade centres. c. Connecting port with the interior of the country: A port is sometimes not connected with the interior of the country. In such cases, it becomes essential to have a new railway line joining the port and the trade centres of the interior of the country. d. Shortening existing routes: A route exists between two points. But if it is possible to shorten the existing route, a new railway line is to be laid. e. Laying of a branch line: It becomes necessary sometimes to lay a branch line to an existing main line to develop certain other cities on the proposed branch line. f. Undeveloped area: The new railway line is laid to develop an area which may be rich in mineral resources or other natural wealth like timber resources.

2.

Factors influencing the proposed route:

The proposed route is to be decided finally by giving serious consideration to the following three factors: a. Cost b. Safety and c. Speed.

Cost:
5

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

The cost of laying the railway line should be minimum. The cost of the railway line is composed of capital cost of the project, the maintenance cost, the renewal expenditure and the working expenses. The route should be so selected as to bring the sum of all these costs to a minimum. Safety: The available passenger and goods traffic should be transported safely by the railways. This means that the new route should be so laid as to have minimum chances of train accidents. Speed: The route should be so selected as to have reasonable speed of trains.
3.

Railway surveys:

The various engineering surveys which are carried out for the Choice of a route a new railway line can broadly be divided into the following three categories: a. Reconnaissance survey b. Preliminary survey c. Location survey.

Reconnaissance-survey: Definition: A reconnaissance survey is the first engineering survey that is carried out in territory which has not been previously surveyed for the purpose of laying a new railway line. The main objects of reconnaissance survey are as follows: a. To obtain the general knowledge of the whole territory, and b. To obtain the information regarding the salient features of the territory.

4.

Importance of reconnaissance survey as follows: a. A number of possible alternative routes between two points can be worked out. b. This information becomes useful at a later stage in the selection of the best possible route between two points. c. Is a means to an end and It is not a science but it is an art.

5.

Information gathered in reconnaissance survey:

6

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

A reconnaissance survey can broadly be divided into two broad categories: a. Traffic reconnaissance survey. b. Engineering reconnaissance survey.
6.

Traffic reconnaissance survey:

This survey consists of collection of the information regarding the following: a. The general character of the country and the extent of the cultivation; b. The information regarding the local industries and religious festivals; c. The general condition as regards prosperity of people in density of population and its distribution; the locality and

d. The probably amount of traffic to be served by new railway line; e. The probable new traffic lines to be opened up to join large centres of trade; f. The nature and volume of exports and their destination; g. The amount of imports and centres of their distribution; h. The possibilities of development of industries as a result of the new railway line and any other public works such as irrigation scheme to cover the area; visiting all trade centres and consultation with prominent citizens and local authorities regarding the most suitable route for the railway; i. The standard of construction required for carrying the probable traffic;

j. The study of the existing means of transport; k. The estimation of passenger and goods earnings separately and comparing with actual figures of other similar existing lines.
7. Engineering reconnaissance survey:

This survey consists of collection of information regarding the following: a. The physical features of the country; b. The surface formation of the ground; c. The nature of soil and its classification; d. The streams and rivers of the immediate vicinity, especially those which are likely to cross the proposed railway line; e. The positions of hills and lakes; f. The samples of water from wells, rivers, etc. so as to ascertain weather the water is suitable for use in locomotive or not. g. The availability of materials and labour for use during construction.

8.

Factors to

be

kept

in

view

during
7

reconnaissance survey.

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

Following factors should be kept in view in reconnaissance survey are as follows: a. Area: A reconnaissance survey should be carried out for the whole area of country. It should never be carried out for a line only. b. Existing roads: A reconnaissance survey should not be guided by the existing roads because the ground which is favorable for construction of roads may not be useful for the construction of a railway line. c. Starting of route: The engineer should not reject a particular route simply because it starts badly i.e. with curvature or with sudden rise and fall etc. He must ascertain that the route continues badly for a long distance. d. Assumptions: The assumptions should be made very carefully as sometimes they are likely to be proved wrong, when tested by actual observations. e. Ocular illusions: The ocular illusions should be prevented. The most common illusions are as follows; (i) Estimating wrong length of line or offset; (ii) Estimating wrong curvature; (iii) Overlaps of hills which may appear as a continuous ridge from a distance. But actually, it may have an open valley at the overlap; (iv) In flat countries, the observer finds a lake or a flowing river at a distance but in fact, no such thing exists.
f. Revenue: worked out.

The probable revenue from the proposed railway line may be

9.

Preliminary survey.

Object of preliminary survey: a. Conduct the survey work along the alternative routes found out by reconnaissance survey and to determine with greater accuracy, b. Cost of the railway line along these alternative routes and to decide which route will be the most economical. c. All the possible routes of railway line are critically studied, examined and analyzed. Importance of preliminary survey: The preliminary survey decides the final route and recommends only one particular route in preference to other alternative routes. Thus the preliminary survey should be carried out with great precision as on it depends the alignment of the final route. 10. Location survey: Object of location survey:
8

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

The main object of location survey is to carry out the detailed survey along the route which has been found and fixed as the most economical route from the data of the preliminary survey. Importance of location surveys: The location survey establishes the centre-line of the actual track to be laid and hence, as soon as the location survey is completed, the construction work is started. Thus the end of location survey is the beginning of the actual laying of new railway line.

Rails
9

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

1. Permanent way: Definition: The finished or completed track of a railway line is commonly known as the Permanent Way. It essentially consists, of the following three parts: (1) Rails (2) Sleepers (3) Ballast. The main requirements of an ideal permanent way to have smooth running of trains. They are as follows: a. The gauge of track should be uniform and there should not be varying gauges. b. There should be minimum friction between the wheels of rolling stock and the rails. c. The facilities should be provided at various points along the permanent way to repair, replace or renew the damaged portion of the track. d. The design of the permanent way should be such that the load of the train is uniformly distributed over it. e. The components of the permanent way should be so selected as to produce a permanent way with a certain degree of elasticity to prevent the shocks due to impact. f. The gradient provided on the permanent way should be even and uniform. g. The special attention should be given on the design of permanent way on curves. h. It should possess sufficient lateral rigidity and vertical stiffness. i. The overall construction of the permanent way should be such that it requires minimum of maintenance,

j. The permanent way should possess high resistance to damage at the time of derailment. k. The various components of the permanent way should possess antisabotage and anti-theft qualities. l. The drainage facility should be perfect. m. The precautions should be taken to avoid the occurrence of creep. n. The rail joints should be properly designed and maintained. o. The alignment of track should be free from kinks or irregularities.

2. Functions of rails Following are the three functions or purposes of rails in a railway track:
10

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

a. To bear the stresses developed due to heavy vertical loads, lateral and braking forces, and thermal stresses; b. To provide a hard and smooth surface for the passage of heavy moving loads with a minimum friction between the steel rails and steel wheels; and c. To transmit load to the sleepers and consequently to reduce pressure on ballast and formation. 3. Requirements of an ideal rail: Following are the requirements of an ideal rail for the railway track: a. The rail section consists of three components head, web and foot. It should be designed for optimum nominal weight to provide for the most efficient distribution of metal in its various components. b. The bottom of head and top of the foot should be given such shapes that the fish-plates can easily be fitted. c. The centre of gravity of rail section should be located very near to the centre of height of rail so that maximum tensile and compressive stresses are more or less the same. d. The depth of head of rail should be sufficient to allow for adequate margin of vertical wear. e. The rail should possess adequate laterals stiffness and vertical stiffness. f. The rail table should be suitably shaped. It is generally given a shape of a compound curve consisting of 3 curves with radii of about 80 mm, 300 mm and 80 mm. g. There should be a balanced distribution of metal in head, web and foot of rail so that each of them is able to fulfill its assigned function. h. The surface of rail table and gauge face of rail should be hard and should be capable of resisting wear. i. The thickness of web of rail should be sufficient to take safely the load coming on the rail.

j. The width of foot of rail should be sufficient to grant stability against overturning and it should be capable of spreading the load on a large area of the sleeper. k. To bring down the contact stresses to the minimum level, the contact area between the rail and the wheel should be as large as possible.

4. Types of rails: At present, the steel rails can be broadly divided into three categories as follows:
11

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

a. Double headed rails b. Bull headed rails c. Flat footed rails. Double headed rails: These rails indicate the first stage of development. Essentially this type of rail consists of three parts a.
b. c.

Upper table, Web and Lower table.

Both the upper and lower tables were identical and they were introduced with the hope of doubling the life of rails. When the upper table was worn out, the rails can be reversed in the chair and thus the lower table can be brought into use.

Fig-1

Bull headed rails: These rails consist of head, web and foot and are made of steel. The head is larger than the foot and the foot is designed only to properly hold the wooden keys with which the rails are secured to chairs. Thus the foot is designed only to furnish the necessary strength to the rail. The two cast-iron chairs are required per each sleeper when these rails are adopted. The bull headed rails are extensively used in England and in some parts of Europe. The weight of standard rail of this type on British Railways on main lines is 47 kg per metre of length and it is 42 kg per metre of length on branch lines. The length of the rail is generally 18.29 metres. Fig.2 shows a 43.90 kg bull headed rail.

Fig-2

Flat footed rails: In this type of rail, the foot is spread out to form a base. This form of rail was invented
12

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

by Charles Vignoles in 1836 and hence these rails are sometimes known as the Vignoles rails. This form of rail has become so much so popular that at present about 90% of the railway track in the world is laid with this form of rails.Fig-3 shows the standard rail of 45 R.B.S. on the Indian Railways

Fig-3

5. The advantages of flat footed rails are as follows: a. Chairs: No chairs are required in this form of rails. The foot of the rail is directly spiked to the sleepers. This fact makes them economical. b. Stiffness: This form of rail is stiffer, both vertically and laterally than the bull headed rail of equal weight. c. Kinks: This form of rail is less liable to develop kinks and it maintains a more regular top surface than the bull headed rails. d. Cost: The flat footed rails are found to be cheaper than the bull headed rails. e. Load distribution: The flat footed rail distributes the train load over a great number of sleepers.

6. Corrugated or roaring rails: Definition: In certain places, the heads of the rails are found not straight but corrugated i.e. with a wavy surface. Such rails are known as the corrugated rails and when vehicles pass over such corrugated rails, a roaring noise is caused and hence such rails are also referred to as the roaring rails. 7. Causes: Factors which contribute to the commencement and development of corrugation of rails: a. b. c. d. e. f. Coning of engine wheel. Excessive slack or excessive tight gauge. High speed of trains. Non-uniformity of the diameter of engine wheel. Presence of high humidity and dust in the atmosphere. Rigid railway track.
13

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

g. h. i. j. k. l. m. n. o.

Slipping of wheels of engines. Small spacing between driving axels of the locomotives. Soft and yielding formation. Steep gradient. Sudden application of brakes. Use of light wagons and coaches. Use of steel having high nitrogen content and high tensile strength. Soft ballast. Vibration during rolling of rail section, etc.

8. Occurrence. The corrugated rails are found normally at the following places along a track: a. The corrugated rails are found in long tunnels along a track. b. At the points of starting and stopping of the trains, the corrugated rails are seen. c. On the electrified section of a railway track, the corrugations develop on rails. d. If ballast used for the railway track consists of broken bricks, there are chances for the development of the corrugated rails.

Effects: The track with corrugated rails produces discomfort to the passengers and it requires more attention in maintenance work.

9. Corrosion of rails: Sometimes the rails are corroded. The phenomena of corrosion of rails are mainly due to the presence of damp conditions. It is usually seen in active industrial areas, wet tunnels, near ash-pits, etc. Following are the effects of the corrosion of rails: a. The rail section is gradually reduced. b. The fatigue strength of a rail is lowered. c. There is considerable increase in wear of rail and if corrosion is not prevented, it may lead to the failure of rail.

10. To prevent corrosion following measures are taken:

14

Maj Mohammad Zahidul Karim CE-12

a. Quality of rail: For the areas where corrosion is likely to occur, the rails prepared from special steel or alloy/steels are employed in the construction of permanent way. b. Surface treatment: The rail surface is coated with non-corrosive material. For this purpose, special paints, red lead, bitumen, coal tar, .etc have been tried. 10. Length of rails: However the length of rail is governed by the following considerations: a. The length of rail which can be manufactured at a reasonable post is adopted. b. The rails should be of such length that they may be carried in the largest wagon available. c. The length of rail is also limited by the facilities available for lifting or handling the rail. d. Theoretically, longer the rail, longer would be the expansion gap between the adjacent rails. The coefficient of expansion for steel is 0,000012 per degree centigrade. In practice, it is observed that the theoretical expansion is not possible because fittings which hold the rails to the sleepers prevent large movement. e. The shortest piece of rail which may be used on a track with through traffic is not prescribed. But it is desirable to avoid any rail piece which is shorter than the largest rigid wheel base of wagons i.e. the distance between -two adjacent axles. The distance between bogies of a vehicle does not affect the minimum length of rail. 11. A rail piece of less than the standard length is also known as the rail closure and it should neither be located near each other nor in proximity to the following: a. Bridges, level-crossings and ash pits, b. Junction of different types of rails, and c. Junction of different types of sleepers.

15