The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is evaluating upgrading of their portion of Amtraks passenger route that runs from Chicago to Pontiac near Detroit as part of the Michigan Accelerated Rail Program. The MDOT portion of the rail line, referred to as the Michigan Line, was purchased from the Norfolk Southern in 2012. Currently, the rail line handles passenger and freight traffic. An upgrade of the Michigan Line would allow trains to travel at speeds up to 110 mph from Chicago to the Detroit area. To meet this speed requirement, the current track structure will need to be assessed to determine if it can handle the increased dynamic loads associated with higher speed traffic. An important track structure component is the ballast material. The Michigan Line is located in the southern portion of the state where the main aggregate deposits are carbonate rock, which is generally considered a lower quality rock deposit for railroad ballast. The key issue on the replacement of ballast is cost with the tradeoff being the quality of the ballast material and the distance to the rail line. The primary objectives of this report are as follows: (1) to assess the current MDOT quality specifications for the railroad ballast and to compare them with ballast specifications for higher and high speed rail (HSR), (2) to assess the current aggregate sources in Michigan for HSR ballast and (3) to investigate a carbonate aggregate deposits located in northern Michigan along Lake Michigan that was found to have unique dynamic properties that might make it useful as a HSR ballast.


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    Title :

    Assessment of Aggregate Sources in Michigan for High Speed Railroad Ballast. Final Report


    Contributors:

    Publication date :

    2014


    Size :

    62 pages


    Type of media :

    Report


    Type of material :

    No indication


    Language :

    English




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