Railway Earthworks: Design and Performance
Railway Earthworks: Design and Performance
Earthworks are the embankments and cuttings that allow a railway to maintain a certain line, level and grade through the landscape. Earth embankments consist of an engineered bank of earth that carries the railway above the natural ground. A cutting is used to carry the railway through ground with a natural level above the line of the railway. Modern (post 1960s) earthworks are carefully engineered to perform well. However, many railways run on earthworks that were constructed over 100 years ago without the use of mechanised plant. The quality of construction of older earthworks was often poor compared with present-day engineering practice. Ageing of the earthwork structures, and the greater demands of heavier and faster trains and climatic change, means that earthworks suffer ultimate and serviceability failures that can present operational difficulties. Older earthworks that fail or do not perform well require maintenance and repair, and sometimes complete replacement. This chapter explores the main engineering considerations for modern earthworks, and the challenges associated with older earthworks including their modes of failure and upgrade and repair.
Construction, Cuttings, Earthworks, Embankments, Failure, Performance
91-111
Smethurst, Joel
8f30880b-af07-4cc5-a0fe-a73f3dc30ab5
Powrie, William
600c3f02-00f8-4486-ae4b-b4fc8ec77c3c
8 August 2022
Smethurst, Joel
8f30880b-af07-4cc5-a0fe-a73f3dc30ab5
Powrie, William
600c3f02-00f8-4486-ae4b-b4fc8ec77c3c
Smethurst, Joel and Powrie, William
(2022)
Railway Earthworks: Design and Performance.
In,
Blainey, Simon and Preston, John
(eds.)
Transport and Sustainability: Transport and Sustainability.
(Transport and Sustainability, 14)
Emerald Publishing, .
(doi:10.1108/S2044-994120220000014006).
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Book Section
Abstract
Earthworks are the embankments and cuttings that allow a railway to maintain a certain line, level and grade through the landscape. Earth embankments consist of an engineered bank of earth that carries the railway above the natural ground. A cutting is used to carry the railway through ground with a natural level above the line of the railway. Modern (post 1960s) earthworks are carefully engineered to perform well. However, many railways run on earthworks that were constructed over 100 years ago without the use of mechanised plant. The quality of construction of older earthworks was often poor compared with present-day engineering practice. Ageing of the earthwork structures, and the greater demands of heavier and faster trains and climatic change, means that earthworks suffer ultimate and serviceability failures that can present operational difficulties. Older earthworks that fail or do not perform well require maintenance and repair, and sometimes complete replacement. This chapter explores the main engineering considerations for modern earthworks, and the challenges associated with older earthworks including their modes of failure and upgrade and repair.
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Chapter 6 Sustainable Railway Engineering and Operations
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Published date: 8 August 2022
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© 2022 by Emerald Publishing Limited.
Keywords:
Construction, Cuttings, Earthworks, Embankments, Failure, Performance
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 469539
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/469539
ISSN: 2044-9941
PURE UUID: a757b295-64c6-4f44-b98b-cc2e1d1e9104
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Date deposited: 16 Sep 2022 16:52
Last modified: 12 Aug 2024 01:36
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Editor:
Simon Blainey
Editor:
John Preston
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