D11 - PU - WP2 - Sustainable Railways MRG DLP

SUP&R ITN
Sustainable Pavement & Railway International Training

Network 2013 – 2017
Characterisation and Sustainability assessment of

the Sustainable Railway’s technologies
Deliverable No: D.10

September 2017
Call identifier: FP7-PEOPLE-2013-ITN
Sustainable Pavements & Railways International

Training Network
Project Acronym: SUP&R ITN
Initial Recommendations and Reporting Regarding

the Characterisation and Sustainability assessment
of the Sustainable Railway’s technologies
Actual submission date: October 2017
Start date of project: 01.10.2013

End date of project: 30.09.2017
Authors of this document:
Mª Carmen Rubio-Gámez (University of Granada)
Davide Lo Presti (University of Nottingham)
Contacts:
mcrubio@ugr.es
davide.lopresti@nottingham.ac.uk
SUP&R ITN Sustainable Pavement & Railway International Training Network 2013 - 2017
Table of contents
1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4
1.1 Railways Technologies for Infrastructures ..................................................................... 5
1.2 Approaches to improve the sustainability of railway infrastructure ................................. 6
Sustainable materials for the construction of modern railway tracks ....................... 7
Control of track performance for preventive maintenance ....................................... 7
Sustainable techniques for maintenance ................................................................ 8
1.3 WP2 Sustainable Railways Technologies ...................................................................... 9
1.4 Objective ..................................................................................................................... 10
2 Description and Characterization of the Sustainable Railway’s technologies ..................... 11
3 Assessment of the Sustainable Railway’s technologies ..................................................... 19
4 Main Results of the WP2 ................................................................................................... 30
4.1 Short term prospect: .................................................................................................... 30
4.2 Medium term prospect: ................................................................................................ 30
4.3 Long-term prospect: .................................................................................................... 31
5 Conclusions ....................................................................................................................... 31
6 References ........................................................................................................................ 32
Appendix (Publications, September 2017) .............................................................................. 33
1 Introduction
Railway trains are an essential means of communication for both people and freight, due
to a series of competitive advantages when compared with other modes of transport. Their
load capacity, high efficiency and safety, combined with their minimal environmental impact,
have made trains to be considered as one of the most important forms of transport at the
present and at the future. Thus, considerable improvement of the quality of the European
railway network is being carried out in order to provide a more efficient and competitive
means of communication, particularly through a number of European corridors (some of
them in construction) for the transportation of passengers and freight between the different
countries (Figure 1).
Figure 1. European railway network [1, 2].
However, the extension of railway network of the European Union (close to 220,000 km
in total, of which around 8,000 km are of high speed lines) is still quite shorter than the
length of the road network (as main mode of terrestrial transportation with around 5.3 million
km) [3, 4]. In addition, in reference to other continents, Figure 2 shows that railway
transportation in Europe should be encouraged to increase the use of trains for passengers
and freights communication.
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Figure 2. Use of railway networks in different continents [4].
With this purpose, a more extended railway network becomes necessary as well as the
improvement of the quality of the infrastructure (which serves, in a reduced space, as a soft
guide for train traffic while offering high bearing capacity and stability) since it is the
cornerstone of a more competitive and attractive means of communication. However, this
implies the construction of new and modern railway lines; renewal and improvement of
current conventional infrastructure for high-speed trains; and periodic maintenance
interventions to conserve appropriate quality indexes; which would lead to a significant
consumption of raw materials and energy while generating harmful fumes (Table 1) [5, 6].
Table 1. Emissions during construction and renewal of railway tracks [5]
Thus, the development of sustainable constructive and maintenance solutions and

materials would allow for improving the railway infrastructure (and then, the railway network
and transportation effectiveness) without compromising natural resources and environmental
heritage.
1.1 Railways Technologies for Infrastructures
Two main types of railway infrastructure can be considered in train transportation:

ballasted tracks and concrete slab tracks. The former represents the typology in track most
used of all around the world, since it has been traditionally applied in train transportation
from almost the origin of this mode of communication, while concrete slab tracks appeared
with the origin of high speed trains as an alternative infrastructure to reduce some problems
associated with ballasted tracks. However, slab tracks also presents important negative
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issues mainly related to its high initial costs, low maintainability, and low capacity to dampen
vibrations and noise, among other problems.
Then, ballasted tracks (Figure 3) are still the predominant type of infrastructure in railway
transportation, in both, conventional and modern lines. Because of that, this report focuses
on the study of sustainable solutions for ballasted tracks, which presents a series of benefits
such as relatively low construction costs, use of indigenous materials, high capacity to damp
loads and vibrations, reduction of drainage problems, and adjustability of the geometry at
relatively low costs, among other benefits [7, 8]. All these advantages of ballasted tracks are
mainly associated with the granular composition of the superstructure, which distributes and
dampens the traffic loads and vibrations transmitted from the sleepers to the trackbed.
Figure 3. Ballasted track.

However, the continuous passage of trains causes cyclic loads that are transmitted
through the track, generating important dynamic movements of the unbounded particles.
This phenomenon leads to the formation of permanent vertical deformations, mainly in the
ballast layer, which results in the degradation of the geometric quality of the track [8]. In
addition, this fact is more accentuated when increasing the dynamic overloads due to the
rise in train speed (which is the trend in railway transportation in order to obtain a more
effective mode of communication). Consequently, periodic maintenance operations are
carried out to recover the track quality and serviceability, which implies important negative
environmental issues, this being more accentuated when renewing the track due to the loss
of effectiveness of maintenance techniques.
In view of these problems, it results necessary the development of more sustainable and
durable solutions for new railway tracks in order to reduce the environmental impact during
track construction and maintenance interventions as a consequence of the decrease in need
for corrections, while more effective and sustainable maintenance operations are to be
analysed with the aim of reducing its negative effects during such interventions in ballasted
tracks.
1.2 Approaches to improve the sustainability of railway

infrastructure
The main approaches for the improvement of the sustainability of railway infrastructure
can be divided into three main groups depending on the period of its application during the
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life of the track: at the beginning, during the design and construction of the track; during
trains operations for predictive maintenance need; during maintenance interventions.
Sustainable materials for the construction of modern railway tracks

With the origin of high speed trains in 1964, line Shinkansen-Tokaido in Japan, the
concept for the design of the railway track started to evolve due to the increase in dynamic
overloads transmitted to the infrastructure while the need for a more accurate and
permanent geometry of the line was also increased for the circulation of trains at speeds
higher than 210 km/h [9]. From that moment, the train speed is continuously increasing with
the purpose of reducing travel time, which leads to the need for endless evolution of track
design to guarantee safety and comfort at high speed.
In this context, modern railway tracks commonly include a number of foundation layers
under the ballast in order to increase the bearing capacity of the infrastructure and the
resistance to permanent deformations [9]. Among these layers, in the last decades the use
of bituminous sub-ballast (Figure 4) is becoming a considerable solution to obtain such
benefits from increasing track strength and protection for the sub-structure while allowing for
reduction of the sub-ballast thickness in comparison to traditional granular sub-ballast (then,
lower consumption of natural materials) at the same time that a higher improvement of the
sub-structure could take place [10, 11].
Figure 4. Experiences of the application of bituminous sub-ballast [10, 11].

However, bituminous sub-ballast has been commonly manufactured from Hot Mix
Asphalt, which would lead to a series of negative issues such as important consumption of
energy during manufacturing, harmful emissions, susceptibility to cracking (and then,
reduction of sub-structure protection), etc. Then, it could be interesting to study the
application of more sustainable asphalt mixtures from reducing manufacturing temperature,
using waste materials as components, improving the design and composition of the asphalt
mixtures to obtain a more durable layer, etc.
Control of track performance for preventive maintenance

The continuous passage of trains through the railway track generates a progressive
deterioration of the lateral and longitudinal track geometry, resulting in the loss of
transportation effectiveness, safety and comfort. After that, periodic interruptions for
maintenance are necessary to correct the track geometry through techniques that generally
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leads to the degradation of materials such as ballast during tamping operation to recover the
original position of the track.
Then, it results necessary the control and assessment of the evolution of the track
behaviour and the state of the infrastructure to guarantee a safe travel while allowing for
programming preventive solutions to improve the performance of the track and its durability,
and then, reducing the need for maintenance [12]. With this purpose, particular vehicles
known as “laboratory trains” are used periodically to measure the state of the track as well
as other devices are located in specific points of the track to collect information. However, it
must be consider that monitoring through devices only allows for data in a particular point
while the circulation of such trains leads to important consumption of resources (energy,
expensive equipment, staff, etc.) at the same time that frequent traffic interruptions take
places as a consequence of the lower operation speed of such trains. In addition, it is
common that laboratory trains mainly evaluate the state of the superstructure, with little
information about sub-structure or specific sections such as bridges, tunnels, etc.
Figure 5. Train for the evaluation of the state of the track [13].
In this context, it could be interesting to develop more effective solutions to control the
state and evolution of the railway track though the use of innovative monitoring for sub-
structure and particular sections while using commercial trains to obtain a continuous
assessment of the behaviour of the track without interruptions either the use of extra
resources.
Sustainable techniques for maintenance

Ballast layer can be considered as the critical component in ballasted tracks, presenting
commonly a predominant influence in track degradation. Then, after the circulation of a
number of vehicles, maintenance operations are required to recover the original geometry,
which causes an important consumption of raw materials and energy, emission of fumes,
etc. Traditionally, ballast tamping has been the most widely used from the 1960s to date,
lifting and laterally squeezing the ballast to fill the void space generated beneath the sleeper.
8
Figure 6. Tamper [14].

However, with this maintenance method, which entails the loosening of the already
compacted layer, tamping does not produce durable track geometry, and the track profile
quickly reverts back to its original position, a phenomenon known as ballast memory. In
addition, tamping process can be considered as an aggressive maintenance operations,
producing important amount of fines particles as a consequence of ballast degradation and
breakage, and therefore, reducing the life of ballast layer and the effectiveness of further
maintenance operations [15].
In view of these disadvantages associated with the use of tamper machines for ballast
maintenance, it results necessary the development and study of alternative techniques that
could allow for recovering the track geometry without degrading ballast particles (and then,
reducing the consumption of this material in further interventions while the need for track
renewal is also reduced) while improving the effectiveness of the operations, and therefore,
reducing the frequency of maintenance and all the negative environmental issues associated
with these tasks.
1.3 WP2 Sustainable Railways Technologies

WP2 is composed of six individual projects that share the objective of developing
sustainable technologies for their future use in railway infrastructure.
This figure shows the titles the WP2 individual projects (title of the project, fellow and local
supervisor):
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Project 7. Optimisation of trackbed design and maintenance

ESR Giacomo D’Angelo
LS Nick Thom (University of Nottingham, UK)
Project 8. Characterisation of rubberised asphalt for railways sub-ballasts
ESR Fernando Soto
LS Gaetano Di Mino (University of Palermo, IT)
Project 9. Modelling and design of rubberised asphalt for railways sub-ballast
ESR Natalia Colinas
LS Mario Di Paola (University of Palermo, IT)
Project 10. Detection of Railway Track Settlement and Bridge Damage
ESR Paraic Quirke
LS Cathal Bowe, (IRAIL, IR)
Project 11. Optimisation Techniques for Geophysical Assessment of Rail Support
Structure
ESR Emina Balic
LS Ciaran McNally (UCD, IR)
Project 12. Op miza on of Bituminous Subballast in Railway Infrastructure under

sustainability criteria
ESR Luca Pirozzolo
LS Mª Carmen Rubio-Gámez (University of Granada. Spain))
The main objective of the WP2 is describe in the following figure:
1.4 Objective
The objective of this report is to present a description and characterization of the
Sustainable Railway’s technologies developed through SUP&R_ITN as well as an
assessment of the achievements already reached and their future potential implementation.
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2 Description and Characterization of the Sustainable

Railway’s technologies
This section provides a description and characterization of the sustainable railway’s
technologies studied through each of the ESR projects.
ESR7 Optimization of Track Bed Designed and Maintenance
Background: Railway plays a fundamental role in most transportation systems. It provides a

fast means of transportation via a durable and economical system. Ballasted track, presents
relatively low construction costs, high maintainability at a relatively low cost (for a single
operation), and the possibility of using indigenous material while providing relatively high
damping capacity, noise absorption and high flexibility, self-adjusting properties (in the case
of non-homogeneous subgrade) and high hydraulic conductivity.
However, the unbound nature of ballast, which allows it to fulfil its main functions, is also
related to reduction of geometric quality of the track, and therefore, its safety and ride
comfort. The passage of trains causes cyclic movements of the particles that result in
permanent vertical and lateral deformations. Thus, for this track form vertical settlement of
granular layers and ballast particle degradation represent the major problems affecting
frequency of maintenance and track durability.
Ballast layer settlement, which forms the highest contribution to total track settlement, occurs
in two major phases. The first one is faster and occurs when ballast is in a loose state (after
tamping or renewal) and is a consequence of initial major consolidation (re-compaction). The
second is due to various mechanisms that occur under cyclic loading: densification,
distortion and degradation. Densification is characterised by a progressive consolidation;
distortion is the mechanism where by individual particles slide and roll; and degradation
represents the change in particle size due to attrition and breakage.
Aside from contributing to permanent deformation, the degradation mechanism can also
prevent the ballast layer from fulfilling its main functions. Indeed, mineral contamination from
particle breakage and wear due to traffic loading and maintenance represents the highest
source (with more than 70%) of ballast layer fouling. This phenomenon jeopardises the rapid
draining and elastic characteristics of the ballast layer as well as its ability to be effectively
maintained by tamping.
Overall, ballasted track-bed requires frequent and costly maintenance. Nonetheless, its use
is widespread, and interest is therefore growing in alternative solutions which can reduce the
maintenance costs. In addition, the continuing depletion of raw materials with adequate
properties presents a need to reduce the degradation of in-service ballast (increasing its
durability and reducing the need for renewal), as well as solutions that allow the use of
aggregates that are excluded, according to current Standards because of their mechanical
properties.
In this context, one of the most important research topics in recent decades has been to
investigate into alternative solutions able to slow down the loss in track quality associated
with ballast settlement and its progressive degradation. The most common techniques have
been aimed at ballast stabilisation using different gluing materials, such as polyurethane,
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resins or biodegradable polymers. However, main issues related to these solutions were the
relatively high cost of the stabilisation agent, the productivity during installation and their
maintenance, limiting often their application to few railway hotspots such as bridge
transitions, crossing levels, switches, etc.
Thus, the proposed solution aims to increase sustainability of conventional ballasted track
while optimising its cost-effectiveness, applicability and maintainability for an extensive
application to existing railway lines.
Main Objective: The main objective of the project is to investigate into solution that an
increase sustainability of conventional ballasted track-bed. In this regard, the solution
proposed after a review of the literature aim to decrease maintenance frequency and, thus,
related costs and impacts, by slowing down the degradation rate of track geometry and
ballast particles.
In this context, bitumen stabilised ballast (BSB) has been proposed as a novel maintenance
strategy for traditional ballasted track-beds. Indeed, a protocol for the application of BSB
technology as a new construction and maintenance procedure was also defined within the
project.
At the same time, an integrated model was used to estimate minor and major interventions
for both traditional ballast (unbound) and stabilised ballast BSB (bound) in order to carry out
a comparative analysis of environmental impacts (Life Cycle Assessment) and costs (Life
Cycle Cost Analysis) and assess, thus, the feasibility of the proposed technology
Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied
Among other stabilisation techniques developed over the past few years, Bitumen Stabilised
Ballast (BSB) represents an innovative solution designed to be used for new track-beds as
well as to reinforce existing ones. It consists in the use of bitumen emulsion (BE), which is
poured or sprayed at ambient temperature onto the ballast. This technology is being
developed through small-scale and full-scale laboratory tests simulative of field conditions,
optimising the main factors affecting the stabilised ballast behaviour.
The initial concept behind this technology was to reduce maintenance of existing ballasted
tracks with a relatively economic solution to extend ballast service life, which is also
relatively easy to apply. In this regard, in order to minimise the traffic disruption, the bitumen
stabilisation would be ideally applied during a routine maintenance operation to correct track
geometry such as tamping or stoneblowing. The calculated amount of BE would be sprayed
over the ballast surface by a system analogous to that used by the stoneblower when the
sleeper is raised during the maintenance process, as illustrated in Figure 7. For instance, an
optimum dosage for clean ballast was found to be about 1.5 litres per sleeper end.
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Fig. 7. Schematic illustration of ballast stabilisation process with bitumen emulsion.
In order to stabilise only the ballast subjected to the highest contact pressure it is considered
that one third of the sleeper length per sleeper end should be treated by this operation. This
procedure represents a convenient way to use the same machine to perform both geometry
correction and ballast stabilisation with bitumen at the same time.
Based on the initial concept, the stabilised layer would ideally be maintained by
stoneblowing in order to not alter the cohesive bridges between particles given by the
bitumen application. This operation would not modify the BSB structure and so represents
an optimum way to restore track geometry while preserving the improvements brought about
by BE application. However, stoneblowers are available in only a few countries, tamping
being the most common maintenance process used for geometry correction worldwide. In
contrast to stoneblowing, tamping may damage the BSB structure due to the vibrating action
of tines. In this regard, as with other stabilisation techniques, BSB can be considered to have
built-in safety to the extent that the loss of cohesion would result in the ballast reverting back
to an unbound state.
ESR8 Characterization of Rubberised Asphalt for Railways Sub-ballasts
Background: Rubberised asphalt has been used in the manufacturing of asphalt pavement
providing a material able to improve the mechanical performance against cracking and
contributing to enlarge the service life of the road while contributing to the recycling of
wastes. During the last decades the use of asphalt mixtures as sub-ballast it is taking place;
however there are no specific design for this sub-ballast according to railway loads and its
specific operating conditions. This inspired the ESR8 project, in which the design of asphalt
sub-ballast containing high rates of rubber coming from deconstructed tyres is going to be
studied.
Main Objective: The ESR8 aims to study the use of sustainable bituminous sub-ballast
manufactured from a waste material; recycled rubber produced from scrap tires at the end of
their service life. To this end, the procedures developed in the Department of Civil
Engineering of the University of Palermo during 2014 to 2017, were focused on evaluating
the mechanical behavior of bituminous materials in comparison to that presented by
conventional sub-ballast. Thus, mechanical performance was examined; performing different
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test to analyze the material bearing capacity, energy dissipation, fatigue-cracking strength
and, waterproof properties among others.
Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied:

Dry Asphalt Rubber Concrete (DARC) in sub-ballast layer was the technology chosen.
DARC seems to be a suitable technique to reach high mechanical and environmental
performance.
This technology permits the inclusion of the highest rates of rubber into the asphalt mixture,
providing a sustainable solution with an acceptable mechanical performance also.
ESR9 Modelling and design of rubberised asphalt for railway sub-ballast
Background: Wasted materials such as end of life tyres are a real problem in most countries.
One of the ways of minimized these disposals consists of including them as materials to be
used in the construction of different civil engineering infrastructures. In this sense, the rubber
obtained from en of life tyres has shown significant improvement in road pavements and
thus these benefits could be extended to railway sub-ballast, enhancing damping properties
due to the capability of the rubber to absorb vibrations. Through Fractional Calculus the
ESR9 project tries to provide and advance solution to be consider in future railway sub-
ballast designs.
Main Objective: The aim of this project is to provide an advanced mathematical model for the
analysis and the design of sustainable bituminous mixtures as railway sub-ballast. This
mathematical tool is based on the Fractional Calculus, since this powerful branch of
mathematics is used to model viscoelastic materials from the second part of the last century.
The challenge of this project is to combine Fractional Calculus and Sustainability. In
particular, to propose a methodology to design sustainable rubberised asphalt and a
sophisticated mathematical model that allows to predict its mechanical response.
Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied: Fractional

calculus is nothing else than a generalisation of the integer order derivatives and integrals.
Fractional derivatives and integrals play an essential role in many branches of the physics
and engineering problems. In the last years, theories of tridimensional viscoelastic
constitutive laws based on fractional calculus (3D fractional viscoelasticity) have been
proposed. That is the reason why the Fractional calculus is the first pillar of this project.
Sustainability is the second and the strongest pillar of this project. Wasted materials and the
shortage of some raw materials are becoming a real problem in our society. That is the
reason why the Sustainable Pavements & Railways Initial Training Network (SUP&R ITN)
project was created, where the aim of this project was born. For this reason, this project has
been focused on the application of a wasted material (as used tyres). In particular, the
application is to use a bituminous mixture that contains wasted tyres as railway sub-ballast.
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The sub-ballast is the responsible of protecting the ground from the loads, reducing the
vibrations, making the superstructure more resistant and increasing the comfort of the
passengers inside the train.
The ESR9 sustainable technology consists of crumb rubber asphalt as Railway sub-ballast.
The re-use of crumb rubber in asphalt mixtures leads to the reduction of the natural
resources employed in the construction and maintenance/rehabilitation of railtrack and to
mitigate the need for the disposal of a solid waste.
Rubber grains can be incorporated into the preparation of bituminous mixtures by the so-
called "wet" and "dry" production processes. The wet process envisages the dissolution of
the crumb rubber in the bitumen as a modifying agent. The dry process envisages the
replacement of a small portion of aggregates with the same fractions of rubber grains.
In this project, the use of the "dry" technology studied and analysed in dept.
ESR10 Drive-by Detection of Railway Track Settlement and Bridge Damage
Background: Railway track is currently measured using dedicated track recording vehicles
(TRVs), which are expensive to purchase, maintain and operate. TRVs generally operate
below line speeds meaning that the act of measurement can delay scheduled train services.
As a result the periodicity of measurement depends on the importance of the track and the
level of service desired. The TRV measurement is good for enabling planning of corrective
track maintenance but does not have the frequency required to enable predictive
maintenance based on analysis of deterioration trends. Measurement of the track as a by-
product of regular service has the potential to provide a significantly higher frequency of
track measurement enabling track asset managers to predict when an asset will fail and plan
timely maintenance. In addition, preventative maintenance tends to be more economical
than corrective maintenance. Current methods of bridge monitoring involve subjective visual
inspection and, on occasion, direct monitoring involving inertial sensors attached to the
bridge. In this project an indirect railway bridge damage detection method is developed using
the measured inertial response of a passing train.
Main Objective: This project aims to research novel methods to determine longitudinal track
profiles through inertial measurements of vehicle response, and use the results to determine
track and bridge condition. The basis for the research is that a change to the structural
condition of railway track and bridges will induce a change in the riding response of a
passing train. Therefore, the measured inertial response of the train has the potential to
identify issues such as changes to track vertical alignment, stiffness and bridge damage.
The project consisted of two main parts:
A. Numerical modelling to prove the concepts that track stiffness, longitudinal profile
and bridge damage could be inferred/found from inertial measurements of the train
response through optimisation techniques; and
B. Testing of the concepts using measured field data from an in-service Irish Rail train.
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The sustainable technology is related to processing inertial data measured by sensors to

infer longitudinal track profiles to detect track settlement and bridge damage. This has the
potential to provide ‘real-time’ information on track and bridge condition, allowing
maintenance engineers to plan timely maintenance interventions. Timely, well-planned
maintenance generally requires less raw materials and improves the overall condition of the
railway infrastructure enabling more efficient running of rolling stock, thereby saving energy.
ESR11 Optimisation techniques for geophysical assessment of rail support structures
Background: Developed sustainable technologies within the project are applied in area of
monitoring and assessment of ballast bed. Before all, insight into health and condition of
ballast bed is provided. Developed sustainable technologies have several contributions and
give answer to following problems:
 Enhancing the sustainable decision-making where maintenance operations should
be done. Identifying weak spots along and across the railway track and acting on
spots that actually require rehabilitation.
 Acting on time and acting on the right location what will result in increasing the total
life span of the railway track.
 High track possession and disturbance of railway traffic is almost negligible when
compared to other investigation techniques. No need for high manpower or
technologies.
 Data acquiring in field and in laboratory is very rapid, e.g. it can be done in between
train movements in field.
 Developed numerical models of railway track can be validated with the data acquired
by impact hammer. Validated models can be used further for prediction of
settlements and bearing capacity of railway tracks.
At least, the optimisation techniques for geophysical assessment of rail support structures
are greatly beneficial for area of dynamic health monitoring of railway track and its
components. This will increase the popularity of using sustainable techniques in assessing
the ballast bed health.
Main Objective: Project objectives can be summarized as follows:

 Application of impact hammer tests and study of the data sensitivity to different
ballast bed condition. In the laboratory, the condition is referred to ballast crushing,
voids/pockets at sleeper contact and different heights. In the field, free vibration data
is acquired before and after maintenance operations.
 Identification and quantification of ballast bed health with use of Particle Swarm
Optimization algorithm and developed numerical models of railway track and sleeper-
ballast interaction. Identifying regions that have present severities in ballast such as
degraded ballast, voids/pockets at sleeper-ballast contact and extremely low ballast
height.
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 Identification of extent and severity present in ballast bed when laboratory and field
data of free vibration characteristics is used. Application of Particle Swarm
Optimization with data from impact hammer testing is utilized for assessment of
ballast bed condition.
 Validation of developed numerical models of sleeper-ballast bed interaction and
railway track models with use of acquired laboratory and field data and Particle
Swarm Optimization.

Sustainable railway technology studied in the project is related to monitoring and
assessment methodology for railway ballast. In this regard interaction of railway track
elements such as interaction of railway sleeper with ballast bed is utilized to get better
insight into condition or health of ballast bed. Main sustainable monitoring technologies
include following:
 Impact hammer testing of railway track elements

 Modern optimization algorithm such as Particle Swarm Optimization
Impact hammer testing is a non-destructive technique that is utilized to gather the free
vibration data of railway track elements, mainly sleeper and rail. Track elements are excited
with an instrumented hammer (approx. 5,5 kg) and vibrations along the sleeper and/or rail
are picked up by several accelerometers that are directly placed on the tested elements. The
technique is suitable for both laboratory and field testing. Acquired vibration data is being
further post-processed where corresponding signal processing techniques are applied. As a
result free vibration characteristics of tested track elements such as natural frequencies,
mode shapes and damping values are calculated.
Acquired free vibration characteristics are used within Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm
that is written in Matlab programming language. The obtained values for natural frequencies,
mode shapes and damping are utilized further for back calculation of properties of the track
system, i.e. sleeper, rail and ballast. In addition, sensitivity of obtained vibration
characteristics is utilized in solving the inverse problem of free vibration characteristics
where possible defects of railway sleeper-ballast interaction are being identified and
quantified. The defects of railway sleeper-ballast interaction are referred to stiffness
degradation, occurrence of voids/pockets and change of ballast height. As a result weak
spots in ballast bed that are present both along and across the track can be identified and
further maintenance operations can be conducted on time.
ESR12 Optimization of Bituminous Sub-ballast in railway infrastructure under

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Background: As previously stated in the WP2’s ESR projects, bituminous sub-ballast

constitutes a promising material to be used in the construction of railways. Nonetheless a
sustainable approach when designing this infrastructure hasn’t been considered yet and
therefore more research is needed with the aim of providing friendly environmental tools that
allows for lower energy consumption, the reduction of emissions throughout the production
process, diminishing the global costs of this layer, without changing its in-service mechanical
performance.
Main Objective: Base on this consideration, the main aim of the ESR12 project was the
optimization of bituminous sub-ballast in railway infrastructure under sustainability criteria
through the reuse of waste, in order to contribute to reduce energy consumption and gas
emissions among other environmental disadvantages associated with railway sub-ballast
projects. Therefore, the purpose was to obtain an innovative solution that were economically
and environmentally competitive, but providing an adequate mechanical behaviour.
Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied: In order to

ensure the sustainability of the bituminous sub-ballast, several technologies have been
design and tested through this project. These include reducing the manufacturing
temperature of the mixtures, replacing raw materials with waste materials, and
manufacturing more durable materials through the use of sustainable modifiers. In this
respect, warm mix asphalt (WMA), half-warm 100% recycled asphalt pavement (HWMA
100% RAP) and rubberized asphalt mixtures (using wet process, WRA, and dry process,
DRA) were studied as bituminous sub-ballast. The mechanical behaviour of these types of
bituminous sub-ballast has been evaluated in comparison with that presented by
conventional sub-ballast with respect to the main requirements that need to be met by these
materials (resistance to plastic and punching deformations, bearing capacity, stress
dissipation, cracking resistance, and waterproof properties) for their use in railway tracks.
These were the three types of sustainable bituminous sub-ballast in which the ESR12
project was focused on:
1. A warm mix asphalt WMA manufactured at 135 °C and compacted at 125 °C, using a
surfactant chemical additive (0,5% by weight) that reduces the surface tension of asphalt
binder and improves the moisture resistance of pavements by serving as an antistrip.
2. A rubberized asphalt manufactured by wet (WRA) and dry (DRA) process. In the DRA (dry
rubberized asphalt) the particles of crumb rubber were added directly to the aggregates; the
quantity added to the mix was 1% and the digestion time before the compaction was 45
minutes in an oven at a compaction temperature of 150 – 160 °C. The bitumen was type
50/70. In contrast, the WRA (wet rubberized asphalt) was manufactured with BC 50/70
rubber-modified bitumen where the crumb rubber was added to hot binder prior to mixing it
with the aggregates.
The mixes tested were a dense-graded mix type AC 22 S.
3. Finally, a HWMA with 100% RAP (reclaimed asphalt pavement), a dense-graded mix type
AC 16 S with a continuous grain size was tested. For this type of mix, 2,5% of slow-breaking
18
cationic emulsion and 2% of cement Portland as stabilising agent were used. The RAP was
preheated at 100±5 °C while the bitumen emulsion was heated between 50-60 °C, in order
to manufacture the mixture at 100 °C and to ensure a compaction temperature around 90
°C. The compaction of the mixture was conducted using a gyratory compactor (applying 65
gyros and avoiding compacting at below of 90 °C).
3 Assessment of the Sustainable Railway’s technologies

The section includes an assessment of the sustainable railway’s technologies based
on the most significant achievements reached, transfer of knowledge and the disseminations
of results of each ESR WP2 project.
ESR7 Optimization of Track Bed Designed and Maintenance
Achievements: One of the most remarkable works developed through ESR7 consists
of a simulative laboratory tests carried out in model-scale and full-scale that can be
considered as unique. This test showed that overall BSB technology has the potential to
improve track geometry resiliency and reduce ballast degradation. This potential was
especially highlighted by the full-scale PUMA tests with more than one million cycle
repetitions, where the improvement given by bitumen stabilisation in the long-term
settlement was sensibly higher than that obtained in the other short-term simulative tests.
The experimental survey carried out allowed comparison and correlations between
model scale and full scale at the same time that an integrated model was build in order to
define the future maintenance strategies of such a technology.
It is also remarkable the LCC and LCA performed for a case study; different
scenarios and the relative sensitivity analysis allowed to define to which extent the proposed
technology can increase sustainability of conventional ballasted track.
The above-mentioned research phased have been disseminated through several
journal and conference papers.
Transfer of the knowledge: This project provides the definition of a protocol to test,
assess and apply a novel solution which aim to mitigate track-bed geometry degradation and
ballast fouling.
In this regard, this innovative solution could be object of further investigation in
industry (optimisation of material used as stabilising agent/application method) and
represent a product to be applied in existing railways.
At the same time, the method followed and the integrated model proposed could be
used to assess the feasibility of different kind of technologies for ballasted tracks.
Dissemination (Journal & Conference papers):
Journal papers:
1) G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Bitumen stabilized ballast: A potential solution
for railway track-bed, Constr. Build. Mater. 124 (2016) 118–126.
19
2) G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Optimisation of bitumen emulsion properties for

ballast stabilisation, Mater. Construcción. 67 (2017).
3) G. D’Angelo, M. Sol-Sánchez, F. Moreno-Navarro, D. Lo Presti, N. Thom, Use of
bitumen stabilised ballast for improving railway trackbed conventional maintenance,
Geotechnique. (2017) (In press).
4) M. Sol-Sánchez, G. D’Angelo, Review of the design and maintenance technologies
used to decelerate the deterioration of ballasted railway tracks, Constr. Build. Mater.
(2017) (In press).
5) G. D’Angelo, S. Bressi, M. Giunta, D. Lo Presti, N. Thom, Novel performance-based
technique for predicting maintenance strategy of bitumen stabilised ballast, Constr.
Build. Mater. (2017) (Under review).
Conference papers:
1) G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Laboratory Simulation of Field Loading
Conditions and Maintenance Operations, in: Int. Conf. Railw. Eng. 2015, Edinburgh,
2015.
2) G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Using PUMA test to predict performance of
stabilised ballasted trackbed, in: Third Int. Conf. Railw. Technol. Res. Dev. Maint.,
Cagliari, Italy, 2016.
3) G. D’Angelo, M. Sol-Sánchez, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, M.C. Rubio-Gámez, Bitumen
Stabilized Ballast: A Full-Scale Investigation on its Use for Existing and Newly
Constructed Railway Trackbeds, in: Transp. Res. Board Annu. Meet., 2017.
4) D. Lo Presti, G. D’Angelo, Review and comparison of freely-available tools for
pavement carbon footprinting in Europe, in: Pavement Life-Cycle Assess., Illinois,
USA, 2017.
ESR8 Characterization of Rubberised Asphalt for Railways Sub-ballasts

Achievements: As a result, this project has provided a significant literature review related to
the advantages and disadvantages of the dry-recycled rubber technique in rail sub-ballast.
Other result to consider was the successful study about the effect of environmental
conditions such as temperature, bitumen aging and moisture damage on the mechanical
properties of the conventional and modified hot mix asphalt mixtures.
On the other hand, the optimal study of the solicitations present in the sub-ballast layers,
using an internal stress calculation methodology (Kenpave-Kentrack analysis of pavement
stresses software) allowed for the determination of the similarities between the road base
layer and the sub-ballast layer regarding deformations and strains at each level, considering
factors as temperature (environmental conditions) and traffic (bearing capacity).
Besides, new hot mix asphalt by dry process blends at laboratory scale that meet the
requirements for international rail sub-ballast standards has been successfully designed.
Among the main requirements is found that the best solution at 5Hz, 20 ºC to fatigue life and
20
a minimum void content of 3-4%, facilitates the stiffness of the layer with its minimum
allowed thickness (12-15cm) with dry blends at 2% of rubber.
Transfer of the knowledge:

The potential benefits of adding rubber to asphalt mixtures have been discussed for many
years however its use was delayed due to lack of technology and equipment to economically
mix the rubber in asphalt cement.
With the contribution of ESR8 results, improvements and sustainable solutions have been
provided through these techniques for the industry, allowing the optimization of mixtures in
the railway field for a bituminous sub-ballast solution.
Among these improvements, bitumen saving, manufacturing performance (temperatures,
amount of materials, and process development) and the use of recyclable materials
(recycled rubber from waste tires) are the most important points. From a technical point of
view to the industry, a methodology is introduced that allows optimizing the times of mix-
design and post-compaction.

Journal papers:
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino “The resistance to fatigue of dry asphalt rubber
concrete for the sub-ballast layer.” Railway Gazette UK, July 2015,
https://doi.org/10.13140/rg.2.2.11104.89606 (2015).
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2016) "Evaluation of Dry Asphalt Rubber Concrete
in Railway Sub-Ballast using the Four Point Bending Test," in J. Pombo, (Editor),
" Computational & Technology Resources," Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK,
Paper 37, 2016. doi:10.4203/ccp.110.37 (published).
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2017) “Effect of temperature and traffic on mix-
design of bituminous asphalt for railway sub-ballast layer,” International Journal
of Pavement Engineering (IJPE), CRC Taylor & Francis group (RN
196.1462313407).
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2017) "Increased Stability of Rubber-Modified
Asphalt Mixtures to Swelling, Expansion and Rebound Effect during Post-
Compaction," World Academy of Science, Engineering, and Technology,
International Journal of Transport and Vehicle Engineering Vol: 4, Nº7, 2017,
Scholar.waset.org/1999.59/73683.
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2017) "Empirical Superpave Mix-Design of Rubber-
Modified Hot-Mix Asphalt in Railway Sub-Ballast," World Academy of Science,
Engineering and Technology, International Journal of Civil and Environmental
Engineering Vol: 4, Nº9, 2017; Scholar.waset.org/1999.20/69025.
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2017) “Optimization of mix-design system for the
sub-ballast railroad,” (JTTE-E 20170721-2) Journal of Traffic and Transportation
Engineering, ISSN: 2328-2142, DOI: 10.17265/2328-2142/2017.05.002, David
Publishing Company, Valley Cottage, NY, USA.
21
 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2017) “Procedure for a temperature-traffic model on

rubberized asphalt layer for roads and railways,” (JTTE-E 20170721-1) Journal of
Traffic and Transportation Engineering, ISSN: 2328-2142, DOI: 10.17265/2328-
2142/2017.04.001, David Publishing Company, Valley Cottage, NY, USA.
Conference papers:
 Railway Engineering RW2015, paper entitled “The resistance to fatigue of dry asphalt
rubber concrete for the sub-ballast layer,” 13th International Conference (Edinburgh,
UK, 1st July 2015).
 COMPRAIL 2016, 15th International Conference on Railway Engineering Design and
Operation, abstract submission entitled: “Characterization of rubberized asphalt for
railway sub-ballast,” (19-21 July 2016, Madrid, Spain).
 CCP: 110 Civil-Comp. Press: Railways 2016, 3rd International Conference on Railway
Technology, Research, Development and Maintenance, paper entitled: “Evaluation of
Dry Asphalt Rubber Concrete (DARC) in railway sub-ballast using the 4PBFT”,
(Cagliari, Sardinia, IT, 5-8 April 2016).
 AIIT-ICTIS Roma 2017, ID159 & ID226 respectively, abstract submissions entitled
“Characterization of rubberized asphalt for roads and railways” & “Effect of
Temperature and traffic on rubberized asphalts for railway sub-ballast layer.”
 World Conference on Pavement and Asset Management, WCPAM 2017, ID-470,
poster entitled: “Effective parameters to define an optimal mix design system for the
sub-ballast railroad” (13th June 2017, Milan, Italy).
 1st International Interuniversity symposium on infrastructure management (IISIM),
World Conference on Pavement and Asset Management, 12th June 2017, Milan,
Italy, paper1 entitled: “Characterization of rubberized asphalt for roads and railways.”
 Railway Engineering 2017, 14th International Conference & Exhibition, paper entitled:
“Criteria for a new mix-design system for railway sub-ballast” (Edinburgh, Scotland,
21st-22nd June 2017).
 BCRRA-2017, 10th International Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads,
Railways and Airfields, paper entitled: “Effect of temperature and traffic on mix-
design of bituminous asphalt for railway sub-ballast layer,” ID 196.1462313407 (28th-
30th June 2017, Athens, Greece).
 ICRE-2017, 19th International Conference on Railway Engineering, paper entitled:
“Empirical Superpave mix-design of rubber-modified hot-mix asphalt in railway sub-
ballast,” (London, UK 21st -22nd Sept. 2017).
 ICRT-2017, 19th International Conference on Rail Transportation, paper entitled:
“Increased Stability of Rubber-Modified Asphalt Mixtures to Swelling, Expansion and
Rebound Effect during Post-Compaction,” (Rome, 17-18th July 2017).
 WIT Urban Transport 2017, 23rd International Conference on Urban Transport and
the Environment, paper entitled: “Optimization of the manufacturing process-
22
compacting layers of sub-ballast rail through modified bituminous mixtures with

rubber tires” (Rome, 5-7th September 2017).
 TRA2018, 7th European Transport Research conference; scientific paper entitled
“Mechanical characterization of dry-rubberized asphalt in railway sub-ballast”
(ID959), topic SP-7 Transport Infrastructure (16th -19th April 2018, Vienna);
 COMPRAIL 2018 “Development of dry-rubberized asphalt mixtures for railway sub-
ballast using Free-Free resonant frequency technique,” 16th International Conference
on Railway Engineering Design & Operation 2-4th July 2018, Lisbon Portugal);
ESR9 Modelling and design of rubberised asphalt for railway sub-ballast
Achievements:
A methodology for the mix design optimisation of crumb rubber mixtures has been proposed
and validated.
A 3D Fractional Viscoelasticity theory has been proposed and validated by means of
experimental triaxial test performed on the asphalt mixtures.
The performance as sub-ballast layer of the bituminous mixtures (reference and crumb
rubber) is evaluated through a discrete mechanical model that takes into account the
temperature effect.

Journal papers:
 N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola & F. P. Pinnola (2016) "Fractional
characteristic times and dissipated energy in fractional linear viscoelasticity".
Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation, 37: 14–30.
 N. Colinas-Armijo & M. Di Paola (2016) "Probabilistic analysis of the response
of fractional viscoelastic railtrack under random train speed". Meccanica dei
Materiali e delle Strutture, 6 (1), 33-40.
 N. Colinas-Armijo, S. Cutrona, M. Di Paola & A. Pirrotta (2017) "Fractional
viscoelastic beam under torsion". Communications in Nonlinear Science and
Numerical Simulation, 48: 278–287.
 G. Alotta & N. Colinas-Armijo (2017) "Analysis of fractional viscoelastic
material with mechanical parameters dependent on random temperature".
ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering Systems, Part B:
Mechanical Engineering (DOI: 10.1115/1.4036704]).
 N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola & A. Di Matteo (2017) "Fractional viscoelastic
behaviour under stochastic temperature process” Probabilistic Engineering
Mechanics (DOI: 10.1016/j.probengmech.2017.06.005).
Conference papers:
23
 Badagliacco, N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola and A. Valenza (2106)

"Evaluation of the temperature effect on the fractional linear viscoelastic
model for an epoxy resin". AIP Conference Proceedings, 1736(1): 020089.
 N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola & A. Pirrotta. (2017) “Markovian approximation
of linear systems with fractional viscoelastic term”. AIMETA 2017 Conference
Proceedings.
ESR10 Drive-by Detection of Railway Track Settlement and Bridge Damage
Achievements: About results to highlight; it was demonstrated in the numerical simulations

that variations in track stiffness, longitudinal profile and bridge damage could all be found
using the novel methods and a limited level of added uncertainty (Gaussian noise). To
enable the inference of track longitudinal profile from measured field data, a calibration
exercise was necessary to determine the unknown mechanical properties of the train. A
novel technique for calibrating the train model was tested, in which good agreement was
achieved between simulated vehicle inertial response using the calibrated vehicle and
measured inertial response from the in-service train. The testing of the algorithm developed
to determine longitudinal profile from inertial measured yielded fair results when compared to
surveyed track profile.
Transfer of the knowledge: The main transfer of knowledge of this project can be
summarized as follows:
 Contribution to the state of the art in inference of railway track stiffness through
optimisation methods using measured inertial response of an in-service train as
input.
 Contribution to the state of the art in inference of railway track longitudinal profile
through optimisation methods using measured inertial response of an in-service train
as input.
 Contribution to the state of the art in railway bridge damage detection through
optimisation methods using measured inertial response of an in-service train as
input.
 Contribution to the state of the art in calibration of 2D railway vehicle numerical
models using measured inertial response of an in-service train.
 Recommendations/justification that more frequent measurement of railway track
condition can aid early identification of track and bridge defects allowing timely
maintenance which is generally at a reduced cost.

Journal papers:
 OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Quirke, P., Cantero, D. Determination of longitudinal profile of
railway track using vehicle-based inertial readings. Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit,
231 (5), 518-534. 2016.
24
 Quirke, P., Cantero, D., OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C. Drive-by detection of railway track
stiffness variation using in-service vehicles. Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, 231
(4), 498-514. 2017.
 Quirke, P., Bowe, C., OBrien, E.J., Cantero, D., Antolin, P., Goicolea, J-M. Railway
bridge damage detection using vehicle-based inertial readings and apparent profile.
Submitted to Engineering Structures. Article under Review (2017).
 Quirke, P., OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Cantero, D. Calibration of railway vehicle model
using measured inertial response of in-service train for use in drive-by track
monitoring system. Submitted to Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing. Article
under Review (2017).
 OBrien, E.J., Quirke, P., Bowe, C., Cantero, D. Determination of railway track
longitudinal profile using measured inertial response of an in-service railway vehicle.
Submitted to Structural Health Monitoring. Article under Review (2017).
Conference papers:
 OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Quirke, P. ‘Determination of vertical alignment of track from
accelerometer readings.’ Proceedings of the IMechE Stephenson Conference for
Railways, London, 2015.
 Bowe, C., Quirke, P., Cantero, D., OBrien, E.J. ‘Drive-by structural health monitoring
of railway bridges using train-mounted accelerometers.’ Proceedings of 5th
International Conference on Computational Methods in Structural Dynamics and
Earthquake Engineering Vol 1., Crete, 2015.
 OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Quirke, P., Cantero, D. ‘Drive-by inference of railway
longitudinal track profile using accelerometer readings taken by in-service vehicles.’
Proceedings of Civil Engineering Research in Ireland Conference, Galway, 2016.
ESR11 Optimisation techniques for geophysical assessment of rail support structures
Achievements: The most significant achievements can be summarized in the following way:
 Development of numerical models of railway track: sleeper-ballast interaction;
 Application of impact hammer testing on railway track elements in field and
acquiring of data that can be further post-processed;
 Application of impact hammer testing for study of sleeper-ballast interaction in
laboratory setup and acquiring of data for various condition of ballast bed;
 Extraction of free vibration characteristics of railway track elements from acquired
vibration data in laboratory and in field;
 Application of Particle Swarm Optimization Algorithm for detection of damage and
its extent in sleeper-ballast interaction within numerical models;
 Application of Particle Swarm Optimization for detection of damage and its extent
in sleeper-ballast interaction when laboratory and field data are considered.
25
Transfer of the knowledge: The acquired knowledge within the project can find its place
within the industry. Since monitoring of ballasted railway tracks is of high importance for
performance and subsequent maintenance of railway track the dynamical health monitoring
of track elements can be utilized as an addition to the knowledge in that area.
It is envisaged to observe the interaction of railway track superstructure and substructure
layers for various conditions that are present in ballast bed and even subgrade. Impact
hammer testing is one of the rapid, non-destructive techniques that could be used for this
purpose. Track of changes in dynamic characteristics of track elements for different ballast
bed condition could be developed. On this way, benchmark parameters of track elements
could be established and their sensitivity to various ballast bed condition could be monitored
in later stages of track life. Any significant change in the benchmark parameters would
further point out on sections of track that have poor ballast bed. As a result a database of
changes of dynamical characteristics of track elements can be formed and used in
monitoring purposes.
The use of soft optimization algorithm such as Particle Swarm Optimization can be utilized
within the decision making tool for maintenance operations. By this means sections of track
that require maintenance operations can be selected based on high or low sensitivity of
important benchmark parameters of railway track health. Sections of railway track that have
very high/low benchmark parameters can be considered for further maintenance operations
or even more in depth geotechnical investigation of substructure layers.

Journal papers:
 E. Balic, C. McNally, Damage Detection in Railway Ballast by Particle Swarm
Optimization, under review for Engineering Applications of Artificial
Intelligence.
 E. Balic, C. McNally, Three Stages Particle Swarm Optimization for Damage
Detection in Railway Sleeper-Ballast Interaction, Draft in preparation for
Applied Soft Computing.
Conference papers:
 E. Balic and C. McNally, Non-destructive assessment of railway substructure.
Joint symposium of Irish Mechanics Society Irish Society for Scientific &
Engineering, UCD, Ireland, 09 December, 2015.
 E. Balic and C. McNally, Assessment of Railway Substructure by Impact
Hammer Testing. The Third International Conference on Railway Technology:
Research, Development and Maintenance, Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy, 5-8 April
2016.
 E. Balic and C. McNally, Transient vibrations of railway track elements and
the influence of support conditions, Ninth (9th) Days of BHAAAS in Bosnia
and Herzegovina, The International Symposium on Civil Engineering – ISCE
2017, Teslic, B&H, 28-30 May 2017.
26
 E. Balic, D. Hester and C. McNally, Impact Hammer Testing of Railway Track,

BCRRA, Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields, Athens, Greece,
28-30 June 2017.
27
ESR12 Optimization of Bituminous Sub-ballast in railway infrastructure under

Achievements: In terms of mechanical behaviour, the proposed sustainable alternatives offer

similar properties to those presented by the traditional solution.
In terms of susceptibility to water action, strength and stiffness modulus, it was found that all
sustainable solutions were able to reduce its susceptibility to water action, as well as to
improve strength and stiffness modulus. This indicates that sustainable bituminous sub-
ballast could improve its resistance to train loads and thus reduce plastic deformations.
Considering the resistance of the sustainable solutions against plastic deformation, under
routine in-service temperatures (around 25 °C), all types of sustainable bituminous sub-
ballasts presented higher resistance to plastic and punching deformations with respect to
conventional bituminous sub-ballast. The rise in temperature to 40 °C led to an increase of
resistance to plastic and punching deformations of both rubberized asphalt while the WMA
presented very similar levels of resistance compared with the conventional hot mix asphalt.
In contrast, HWMA 100% RAP showed a slight decrease in its resistance to permanent
deformations at these temperatures.
Increasing the temperature to 60 °C (extreme temperature) led to an important decrease in
resistance to permanent deformations in the WMA and HWMA 100% RAP with respect to
both the conventional and rubberized asphalt sub-ballast manufactured by wet process.
Moreover, all types of bituminous sub-ballast presented higher bearing capacity and
protection for the remainder of the bed layers than the granular sub-ballast in both static and
dynamic conditions.
Transfer of the knowledge: Conventional bituminous sub-ballast has been widely used in a
number of railway lines (particularly in high-speed railways) in countries such as the United
States, Italy and Japan, whilst its use is not spread in European countries such as Austria,
France or Spain. From an investment/cost point of view, it has been demonstrated that the
use of bituminous sub-ballast is a competitive choice in comparison to granular material,
specially when transport distances from the quarry are higher than 60–80 km, although the
cost of granular sub-ballast is highly dependent on the local availability of quarries with
materials that are suitable for meeting high-speed track standards. Considering that all the
sustainable solutions studied have already been adopted in road engineering and that the
results obtained in this project have shown the performance of these mixtures can be at
least equivalent to conventional mixes, they have great potential for their application as
bituminous sub-ballast in railway tracks. This project has provided a final sustainable design
solution ready to be implemented at an industrial scale in the construction of railway
infrastructures.

Journal papers:
28
 Sol-Sánchez, M., L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, & M. C. Rubio-Gámez,

(2015). Advanced characterisation of bituminous sub-ballast for its application
in railway tracks: The influence of temperature. Construction and Building
Materials, 101, 338–346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2015.10.102
 Sol-Sánchez, M., L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, & M. C. Rubio-Gámez,
(2016). A study into the mechanical performance of different configurations for
the railway track section: A laboratory approach. Engineering Structures, 119,
13–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2016.04.008
 L. Pirozzolo, Sol-Sánchez, M., F. Moreno-Navarro, G. Martínez-Montes, M. C.
Rubio-Gámez, (2017). Evaluation of bituminous subballast manufactured at
low temperatures as an alternative for the construction of more sustainable
railway. Materiales de Construcción, 67(327), (Accepted in-
press). https://doi.org/10.3989/mc.2017.04816
Conference papers:
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Análisis del
comportamiento mecánico de neumáticos usados para su empleo como elementos
elásticos en vías de alta velocidad - IX Jornadas Internacionales “Ingeniería para
Alta Velocidad” - 2015
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez -
Caracterización avanzada de la respuesta mecánica de subbalasto bituminoso para
su utilización en infraestructuras ferroviarias - X Jornada Nacional de ASEFMA. 2015
– Spain.
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Reducing
Railway Maintenance: Effectiveness of Combining Stoneblowing Technique with
Rubber Elements from Waste - Transportation Research Board TRB - 2015.
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - A Study for
the Viability of using Warm Mix Asphalt as Bituminous Sub-Ballast for Railway Track
- The Third International Conference on Railway Technology - 2016.
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Stone-
Rubber Blowing: a New Maintenance Task for Railway Tracks. The Third
International Conference on Railway Technology – 2016.
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Desarrollo
de sub-balasto bituminoso a partir de mezclas a baja temperatura para su utilización
en infraestructuras ferroviarias. XI Jornada Nacional de ASEFMA – 2016.
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Stone-
Rubber Blowing: a New Maintenance Task for Railway Tracks – 11th World
Congress on Railway Research - 2016
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Study into
the viability of using Warm Mix Asphalt as bituminous subballast in railway tracks -
11th World Congress on Railway Research - 2016
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Desarrollo
de una técnica alternativa para reducir el mantenimiento de vías ferroviarias - X
Jornadas Internacionales “Ingeniería para Alta Velocidad” - 2016
29
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - Análisis de la

respuesta mecánica de subbalasto bituminoso ante sus principales formas de fallo
para su aplicación en vías de alta velocidad - X Jornadas Internacionales “Ingeniería
para Alta Velocidad” - 2016
 M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez - X
International Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields –
2017
4 Main Results of the WP2

WP2 aimed to investigate sustainable technologies for road pavements by analysing
materials and technologies available at the beginning of the project (from a technical,
economic and environmental view), to acquire the knowledge and to understand how railway
infrastructures are designed (structure, material composition, behaviour during their service
life,…), and how they perform in order to develop new sustainable materials and techniques
as well as to improve existing ones to deliver long-term benefits in terms of Eco-designed
railway infrastructure.
Through the analysis of the combined achievements of the 6 individual projects, different
strategies to improve the sustainability of the pavement are identified according to the time
scale considered: short, medium or long term.
4.1 Short term prospect:

Considering the level of development achieved by the ESRs project and taking also into
account how railways infrastructure (ballast track mainly) perform; from a technical and
economic point of view there are some solutions that designers can consider to include in
their designs, from an industrial perspective these solutions can be manufactured without
significant invest, and are ready to be used.
This is the case for the WMA sub-ballast; conceived to be manufactured in a convectional
hot mix asphalt plant, without modifying the industrial equipment where the reduction of
manufacturing temperature is achieved by the use of additives. There are experiences in
Italy and France among others where bituminous sub-ballast has been used in ballasted
tracks, thus, considering that the WMA sub-ballast uses the same manufacturing, spreading
and compaction equipment’s, this is ready to be used.
The use of crumb rubber in the design and manufacturing of bituminous sub-ballast can be
considered to be in the same level of development.
About railway bridge damage detection through optimisation methods using measured
inertial response of an in-service train as input this can be considered as ready to be used.
4.2 Medium term prospect:
30
WP2 was able to provide with sustainable materials and techniques that showed good
performance at laboratory scale but that needs for further analysis and study in field. This
section includes those that are expected to be implemented in a medium-term period.
Bitumen stabilised ballast (BSB) has been tested at different laboratory scales. On the other
hand a construction and maintenance procedure has been defined. Next step should be to
study its performance in a trial section, which is possible from an economical and technical
perspective. Considering that industry has been involved in this project, and that they
showed their interest in implementing this solution, it has high possibilities to constitute a real
alternative to conventional solutions in a short term.
Other achievement whose application could be really take place in a medium-term period is
the acquired knowledge within the monitoring of ballasted tracks that can find its place within
the industry.
The soft optimization algorithm such as Particle Swarm Optimization (developed in the WP2)
can be utilized within the decision making tool for maintenance operations. The tool is ready
to be tested in real sections of the track, but it need of further study in the medium-term.
4.3 Long-term prospect:
One of the most environmental technologies developed in WP2 consists of the

manufacturing of bituminous sub-ballast with high content of rubber particles and bituminous
sub-ballast with the use of RAP as substitute of natural aggregates.
Both solutions have been tested at laboratory scale, and require for further studies before its
real implementation in railways. First, trial sections should be built and analysed, and in the
case of bituminous sub-ballast with high content of rubber particles, the industrial
manufacturing process as well as the spreading and compaction procedure need to be
further studied.
5 Conclusions
Coming back to the introduction section and considering the need of enhancing the use of
sustainable solutions to give a proper answer to all the disadvantages associated with the
construction of railways, going through the results of the 6 ESRs projects that composed the
WP2, it can be said that the objectives targeted at the beginning of the SUP&R_ITN project
have been successfully fulfilled.
- The construction process of any transportation infrastructure can be summarized in
the following stages: a design stage (in which the designer choses and develops in
detail a final solution to be built in-site), the in-site construction stage, the exploitation
and maintenance stage, and finally the demolition stage once its service life is over.
All these stages need of sustainable tools and solutions to be implemented at every
31
moment. It should be highlighted that the WP2 projects have developed technologies
to improve the sustainable standards in the different stages. In this sense the use of
materials such as RAP coming from the demolition of end of life asphalt pavement to
be used in new railway project is an example. In the same way the reuse of rubber
coming from end of life tyres as materials for bituminous sub-ballast has been
studied, providing interesting solutions ready to be implemented in industrial
processes in a short-medium period of time. An environmental improvement of
industrial manufacturing asphalt technologies has been enhanced through the low
temperature manufacturing techniques. And finally the optimization and development
of innovative non-destruction tests to assess the quality of the railway infrastructure
performance should be highlighted.
- It is also remarkable the high dissemination impact of WP2 results through more than
20 journal papers, more than 40 conference presentation in the most prestigious
international journals and conferences all over the world.
- In terms of the training received by the fellows, this has been excellent. Not only
because of the content and the quality of the institutions and professors involved, but
the variety, intensity, frequency and its internationalization, which is a guaranty to
assess that the training objective was completely achieved. 2 of the fellows got the
phD, 3 are expected to do it before the end of November 2017 and 1 before February
2018.
6 References
1. Rail Europe. http://www.raileurope.com (Access on 20 October 2017)
2. European Commission. Mobility and Transport.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/transport/infrastructure/tentec/tentec-
portal/site/en/maps.html (Access on 20 October 2017)
3. Statistics of the European Commission, Mobility and Transport.
http://www.ec.europa.eu/transport/facts-fundings/statistics/pocketbook-2016 (Access
on 21 October 2017)
4. International Railway Union (UIC – Union Internationale de Chemins de fer).
http://uic.ogr/statistics#Statistics-Group (Access on 21 October 2017)
5. Tuchschmid, M.; knor, W.; Schacht, A.; Mottschall, M.; Schmied, M. (2011) Carbon
Footprint and environmental impact of railway infrastructure. Commissioned by UIC.
https://uic.org/IMG/pdf/uic_rail_infrastructure_111104.pdf (Access on 19 October
2017)
6. Railway handbook 2015. Energy consumption and CO2 emissions
http://uic.org/IMG/pdf/iea-uic_2015-2.pdf (Access on 19 October 2017)
7. Sugrue, W. (2013) Permanent Way for High Speed Lines. In: 9 Th Train. High Speed
Syst. Perm. W. High Speed Lines, UIC – Paris.
8. Selig, E.T. and Waters, J.M. (1994) Track Geotechnology and Substructure
Management, T. Telford
32
9. López-Pita, A. (2010) Alta Velocidad en el Ferrocarril (High Speed Railway).

Universidad Politécnica de Cataluña.
10. Rose, J.G.; Teixeira, P.; Ridway, N.E. (2010) Utilization of asphalt/bituminous layers
and coatings in railway trackbeds – A compendium of international applications. Join
Rail Conference, Urbana, IL, USA
11. Rose, J.G.; Teixeira, P.; Veit, P. International design practices, applications and
performances of asphalt bituminous railway track beds.
12. Asmussen, B. (2013) Overview of methods for measurement of track irregularities.
RIVAS SCP0-GA-2010-265754
13. ADIF (Spanish Administrator of Railway Infrastructure) www.adif.es (Access on 22
October 2017)
14. Vias y Construcciones SA. www.vias.es (Access on 22 October 2017)
15. Sol-Sánchez, M.; Moreno-Navarro, F.; Rubio-Gámez, M.C. (2016) Analysis of ballast
tamping and stone-blowing processes on railway track behaviour: the infuence of
using UPS’s, Geotechnique, 66, pp. 481-489.
Appendix (Publications, September 2017)

Full texts are available at the SUP&R ITN library (http://superitn.eu)
33
Bitumen stabilized ballast: a full-scale investigation on its use for existing and newly
constructed railway trackbeds
G. D’Angelo, Miguel Sol-Sanchez, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Ma Carmen Rubio-Gamez,
Proceedings of TRB 2017, Washington DC, USA
Optimisation of bitumen emulsion properties for ballast stabilisation
G. D’Angelo, D. Lo Presti, N. Thom, Article accepted in Materiales de Construccion, 2017
Use of bitumen stabilised ballast for improving railway trackbed conventional
maintenance
G. D’Angelo, Miguel Sol-Sanchez, F. Moreno-Navarro, D. Lo Presti, N. Thom, Under review
on Geotechnique, 2017
Effect of temperature and traffic on mix-design of bituminous asphalt for railway sub-
ballast layer
F. Martinez Soto Department of Civil, Environmental & Materials Engineering (DICAM),
University of Palermo, Italy G. Di Mino & F. Acuto D.I.C.A.M. University of Palermo, Italy,
2017
Characterization of rubberized asphalt for roads and railways
Fernando Martínez Soto
and Gaetano Di Mino, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Palermo, Italy, 2017
Increased stability of rubber-modified asphalt mixtures to swelling, expansion and
rebound effect during post-compaction
Fernando Martínez Soto and Gaetano Di Mino, Department of Civil Engineering, University
of Palermo, Italy 2017
Fractional viscoelastic beam under torsion
N. Colinas-Armijo, S. Cutrona, M. Di Paola & A. Pirrotta. Communications in Nonlinear
Science and Numerical Simulation, 48: 278–287. 2017
Analysis of fractional viscoelastic material with mechanical parameters dependent on
random temperature
G. Alotta & N. Colinas-Armijo. ASCE-ASME Journal of Risk and Uncertainty in Engineering
Systems, Part B: Mechanical Engineering (DOI: 10.1115/1.4036704]). 2017
Markovian approximation of linear systems with fractional viscoelastic term
N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola & A. Pirrotta. AIMETA 2017, Salerno, Italy, 2017 (Upcoming)
Transient vibrations of railway track elements and the influence of support conditions
E. Balic, C. McNally. Ninth (9th) Days of BHAAAS in Bosnia and Herzegovina, The
International Symposium on Civil Engineering, ISCE 2017, Teslic, B&H, 2017
Impact hammer testing of a railway track
E. Balic, D. Hester, C. McNally. In Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields:
Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads,
34
Railways and Airfields (BCRRA 2017), Athens, CRC Press Taylor and Francis Group, UK,
2017
Evaluation of bituminous sub-ballast manufactured at low temperatures as an
alternative for the construction of more sustainable railway structures
L. Pirozzolo, M. Sol Sanchez, F. Moreno Navarro, G. Martínez Montes, M. C. Rubio Gámez.
Journal : Materiales de Construcción, 2017
Effect of stiffness and bearing capacity of railway components on track behaviour: a
laboratory approach for design optimization of railway tracks
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. X International
Conference on the Bearing Capacity of Roads, Railways and Airfields, Athens, Greece, 2017
2016
Using PUMA test to predict performance of stabilised ballasted trackbed
G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, in J. Pombo (Editor) Proceedings of the Third
International Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and
Maintenance, Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, 2016 doi:10.4203/ccp.110.10
Bitumen stabilised ballast: A potential solution for railway track-bed
G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Article in Construction and Building Materials
124(2016):118-126 · July 2016 doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.07.067
Evaluation of Dry Asphalt rubber concrete in railway sub-ballast using the four-point
bending test
Computational & Technological resources, ISSN 1759-3433, DOI10.4203ccp.110.37, 2016
Fractional characteristic times and dissipated energy in fractional linear
viscoelasticity
N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola & F. P. Pinnola (2016) Communications in Nonlinear Science
and Numerical Simulation, 37: 14–30.
Viscoelastic modeling by Katugampola fractional derivative
N. Colinas-Armijo, G. Cottone & M. Di Paola. The 10th International conference on
Mechanics of Time Dependent Materials, Paris, France, 2016
On the influence of stochastic train speed variation in the mechanical behaviour of
fractional viscoelastic rail track ballast
N. Colinas-Armijo & M. Di Paola. Stochastic Mechanics Conference, Capri, Italy, 2016
Probabilistic analysis of the response of fractional viscoelastic railtrack under
random train speed
N. Colinas-Armijo & M. Di Paola. Meccanica dei Materiali e delle Strutture, 6 (1), 33-40. 2016
Determination of longitudinal profile of railway track using vehicle-based inertial
readings
35
Paper 1: OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Quirke, P., Cantero, D., 2016. ‘Determination of longitudinal
profile of railway track using vehicle-based inertial readings’. Journal of Rail and Rapid
Transit, DOI: 10.1177/0954409716664936.
Drive-by detection of railway track stiffness variation using in-service vehicles
Paper 2: Quirke, P., Cantero, D., OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., 2016. ‘Drive-by detection of railway
track stiffness variation using in-service vehicles’. Journal of Rail and Rapid Transit, DOI:
10.1177/0954409716634752.
Railway bridge damage detection using vehicle-based inertial readings and apparent
profile
Paper 3: Quirke, P., OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Cantero, D., Antolin, P., Goicolea, J.M. Article
under Review. ‘Railway bridge damage detection using vehicle-based inertial readings and
apparent profile’.
Drive-by inference of railway track longitudinal profile using accelerometer readings
taken by in-service vehicles
OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Quirke, P., Cantero, D. CERI, Galway, 2016.
Assessment of railway substructures using impact hammer testing
E. Balic, C. McNally in J. Pombo (Editor). Railways2016: Proceedings of Third International
Conference on Railway Technology: Research, Development and Maintenance, Cagliari,
Civil-Comp Press, Stirlingshire, UK, 2016. doi:10.4203/ccp.110.3
A study into the mechanical performance of different configurations for the railway
track section: a laboratory approach
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. Journal: Engineering
Structures, 2016
A Study for the Viability of using Warm Mix Asphalt as Bituminous Sub-Ballast for
Railway Track
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. The Third
International Conference on Railway Technology, Cagliari, Italy, 2015
Stone-Rubber Blowing: a New Maintenance Task for Railway Tracks
The Third International Conference on Railway Technology, Cagliari, Italy, 2016
Desarrollo de sub-balasto bituminoso a partir de mezclas a baja temperatura para su
utilización en infraestructuras ferroviarias
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. XI Jornada Nacional
de ASEFMA, Madrid, Spain, 2016
Stone-Rubber Blowing: a New Maintenance Task for Railway Tracks
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. 11th World Congress
on Railway Research, Milan, Italy, 2016
Study into the viability of using Warm Mix Asphalt as bituminous subballast in railway
tracks
36
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. 11th World Congress

on Railway Research, Milano, Italia, 2016
Desarrollo de una técnica alternativa para reducir el mantenimiento de vías
ferroviarias
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. X Jornadas
Internacionales “Ingeniería para Alta Velocidad” Fundación Caminos de Hierro, Córdoba,
Spain, 2016
Análisis de la respuesta mecánica de subbalasto bituminoso ante sus principales
formas de fallo para su aplicación en vías de alta velocidad
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. X Jornadas
Spain, 2016
2015
Laboratory simulation of field loading conditions and maintenance operations
G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, in J. Pombo (Editor) Proceedings of Railway
Engineering 2015, Edinburgh, UK, 2015 doi: 10.13140/RG.2.1.4538.9521
The Resistance to Fatigue of Dry Asphalt Rubber Concrete for Sub-ballast Layer.
Gaetano di Mino, Maurizio Di Liberto, Silvia Noto, Fernando Martinez Soto* Department of
Civil, Environmental, Aerospace Engineering and Materials University of Palermo Viale delle
Scienze, Palermo, IT, 2015
Determination of equivalent longitudinal rail profile using measured inertial response
of in-service railway vehicle
Paper 5: OBrien, E.J., Quirke, P., Bowe, C., Cantero, D. Article being prepared.
‘Determination of equivalent longitudinal rail profile using measured inertial response of in-
service railway vehicle’
Determination of vertical alignment of track from accelerometer readings
OBrien, E.J., Bowe, C., Quirke, P. IMechE Stephenson Conference for Railways, London,
2015.
Drive-by structural health monitoring of railway bridges using train-mounted
accelerometers
Bowe, C., Quirke, P., Cantero, D., OBrien, E.J. COMPDYN, Crete, 2015.
Advanced characterization of bituminous sub-ballast for its application in railway
tracks: the influence of temperature
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. Journal: Construction
& Building Materials, 2015
Análisis del comportamiento mecánico de neumáticos usados para su empleo como
elementos elásticos en vías de alta velocidad
37
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. IX Jornadas

Spain, 2015
Caracterización avanzada de la respuesta mecánica de subbalasto bituminoso para
su utilización en infraestructuras ferroviarias
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. X Jornada Nacional
de ASEFMA, Zaragoza, Spain, 2015
Optimization of bituminous subballast in railways infrastructures under sustainability
criteria
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. Pre-Conference
Workshop on “Testing and Characterization of Sustainable & Innovative Bituminous
Materials” 8th International RILEM Symposium. Ancona, Italy, 2015
Reducing Railway Maintenance: Effectiveness of Combining Stoneblowing Technique
with Rubber Elements from Waste
M. Sol-Sánchez, L. Pirozzolo, F. Moreno-Navarro, M.C. Rubio-Gámez. Transportation
Research Board TRB 94th Annual Meeting. Washington, D.C. United States, 2015
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SUP&R ITN

Sustainable Pavement & Railway International Training

Characterisation and Sustainability assessment of

Deliverable No: D.10

Sustainable Pavements & Railways International

Project Acronym: SUP&R ITN

Initial Recommendations and Reporting Regarding

Actual submission date: October 2017

Start date of project: 01.10.2013

Authors of this document:

Mª Carmen Rubio-Gámez (University of Granada)

Davide Lo Presti (University of Nottingham)

Figure 1. European railway network [1, 2].

Figure 2. Use of railway networks in different continents [4].

Thus, the development of sustainable constructive and maintenance solutions and

1.1 Railways Technologies for Infrastructures

Two main types of railway infrastructure can be considered in train transportation:

Figure 3. Ballasted track.

1.2 Approaches to improve the sustainability of railway

Sustainable materials for the construction of modern railway tracks

Figure 4. Experiences of the application of bituminous sub-ballast [10, 11].

Control of track performance for preventive maintenance

Sustainable techniques for maintenance

Figure 6. Tamper [14].

1.3 WP2 Sustainable Railways Technologies

Project 7. Optimisation of trackbed design and maintenance

Project 12. Op miza on of Bituminous Subballast in Railway Infrastructure under

The main objective of the WP2 is describe in the following figure:

2 Description and Characterization of the Sustainable

Background: Railway plays a fundamental role in most transportation systems. It provides a

Fig. 7. Schematic illustration of ballast stabilisation process with bitumen emulsion.

Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied:

ESR9 Modelling and design of rubberised asphalt for railway sub-ballast

Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied: Fractional

ESR10 Drive-by Detection of Railway Track Settlement and Bridge Damage

The sustainable technology is related to processing inertial data measured by sensors to

ESR11 Optimisation techniques for geophysical assessment of rail support structures

Main Objective: Project objectives can be summarized as follows:

Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied:

 Impact hammer testing of railway track elements

ESR12 Optimization of Bituminous Sub-ballast in railway infrastructure under

Background: As previously stated in the WP2’s ESR projects, bituminous sub-ballast

Description and Characterization of the sustainable railway technology studied: In order to

3 Assessment of the Sustainable Railway’s technologies

ESR7 Optimization of Track Bed Designed and Maintenance

2) G. D’Angelo, N. Thom, D. Lo Presti, Optimisation of bitumen emulsion properties for

ESR8 Characterization of Rubberised Asphalt for Railways Sub-ballasts

Transfer of the knowledge:

Dissemination (Journal & Conference papers):

 F. Martínez Soto-G. Di Mino (2017) “Procedure for a temperature-traffic model on

compacting layers of sub-ballast rail through modified bituminous mixtures with

ESR9 Modelling and design of rubberised asphalt for railway sub-ballast

Dissemination (Journal & Conference papers):

 Badagliacco, N. Colinas-Armijo, M. Di Paola and A. Valenza (2106)

ESR10 Drive-by Detection of Railway Track Settlement and Bridge Damage

Achievements: About results to highlight; it was demonstrated in the numerical simulations

Dissemination (Journal & Conference papers):

ESR11 Optimisation techniques for geophysical assessment of rail support structures

Dissemination (Journal & Conference papers):