Quality condition assessment and determination of effective maintenance activities in railway slab tracks

Abstract

A significant part of railway track maintenance management is the periodic and systematic evaluation of track conditions and representation of these conditions by quantitative parameters. In spite of a significant global increase in the construction of railway slab tracks, there is no practical method for evaluating and quantifying slab-track quality conditions. This research is aimed at developing a slab-track condition evaluation algorithm and a methodology for predicting the required repair and maintenance strategy. This is done using a large set of data from a comprehensive field investigation, implementing experts' evaluations and applying statistical techniques. Two methods for slab-track condition inspections are introduced. Track indices are developed, expressing structural and geometric conditions in numerical forms. An algorithm for prioritising required repair activities is proposed by establishing correlations between structural conditions and geometry indices. The research results are evaluated by applying the proposed methods and algorithm in a light rail transit line.