Design of alternatives with new materials like sub-ballast layer for railways lines

As an operational goal, the current study intends to get results on the behaviour of a high speed track with the sub-ballast layer made up of a mixture of alternative materials, and compare it with the behaviour of a conventional granular sub-ballast layer.

The general goal in the long run is to provide a feasible alternative to the granular sub-ballast layer through the use of alternative products, with the premise of preserving the current configuration of the inferior or superior layers of the railway infrastructure.

The main technical goal that the company is committed to achieve with this projects focuses on the development of a feasible alternative to the granular material employed today, either through the use of alternative materials or through complementing the one already employed so that the performances achieved should remain equal or superior to those in the past.

By achieving this goal the effects will be:

• Reducing the use of natural material.
• Mitigating environmental impacts from the exploitation of open-air quarries.
• Reuse of waste materials, difficult to dispose of.
• Reducing the maintenance requirements for the infra and super structure.
• Diminishing the release of emissions.

The scope of this project will not be restricted to the study of a unique alternative, but instead various multiple alternatives will be designed, tested and confirmed. Following the analysis of each and every one of them the company will opt for the most feasible alternative that should comply with the technical and economic objectives set previously.