Facing the high demand for faster and heavier freight trains in Australia, researchers and practitioners are endeavouring to develop more innovative and resilient ballasted tracks. In recent years, many studies have been conducted by the research team from the Transport Research Centre at the University of Technology Sydney (TRC-UTS) to examine the feasibility of incorporating recycled rubber into rail tracks. This paper introduces two innovative applications using recycled rubber products, such as (1) adding energy-absorbing rubber geogrid made from recycled conveyor belts at the ballast-capping interface, and (2) using recycled tyre cells to reinforce the railway capping layer. Large-scale laboratory tests using track process simulation apparatus and field testing were conducted to examine the performance of rail tracks incorporating these innovative inclusions. The test results reveal that the incorporation of rubber geogrid and tyre cells could increase the lateral confinement while improving the energy-absorbing capacity of the rail tracks and mitigate the ballast breakage and settlement and lateral movement significantly, hence increasing the track stability. The research outcomes will facilitate a better understanding of the performance of ballast tracks incorporating these resilient waste tyre materials while promoting more economical and environmentally sustainable tracks for greater passenger comfort and increased safety.


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    Title :

    Resilient Railways Using Energy-Absorbing Rubber Elements in Track Substructure


    Contributors:

    Conference:

    Geotechnical Frontiers 2025 ; 2025 ; Louisville, Kentucky


    Published in:

    Publication date :

    2025-02-27




    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English



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