Anuraj Saxena | 19113023 | M-2 batch | Tutorial 5 | CEN-307

1.
Prestressing of concrete is the process by which a concrete element is compressed,
generally by steel wires or strands. Prestressed concrete is basically concrete in which
internal stresses of suitable magnitude and distribution are introduced so that the
stresses resulting from external loads are counteracted to a desired degree. The
prestress is commonly introduced in the concrete member by tensioning the steel
reinforcement.
It is done because it has various advantages over normal concrete. Prestressing
can reduce the volume of concrete required in construction, lowering the use and
transportation of materials, as well as boosting durability and service life. Concrete is
intrinsically resistant to compressive stresses, but its resistance to tension is much
lower. With the help of prestressing, the tensile strength of concrete is increased. To
provide tensile capacity, reinforcement can be added. This reinforcement can be
tensioned during manufacture or construction, to apply a preliminary compression to
those parts of the concrete element that will be subject to tension when the element is
installed and in service.
In Indian Railways, we adopt pre-tensioning.

2.
The different types of concrete sleepers are monoblock sleepers and twin block
sleepers.
Monoblock sleepers are trapezoidal in section and are canted 1 in 20 for 175 mm on
either side of the centre line of the rail. The initial prestressing of steel gives strength
of 100 kg/cm2, and 28 days crushing strength is 525 kg/cm2. The pandoral clips are
provided with these sleepers to attach the rail to the base plate.
Twin block track is formed using a sleeper with two cast concrete blocks held to
gauge by steel bars. It has the advantage of being lighter than standard concrete
sleepers and the four faces of the two blocks resist movement better.
Some differences between them are:
 Monoblock sleepers give better longitudinal and lateral stability to track in
comparison to twin block sleepers.
 Monoblock sleepers have longer working life due to being monolithic concrete
mass. Twin block has tie bar which is weak and has comparatively shorter life
due to corrosion.
 Twin block sleepers require less capital expenditure for its manufacturing as
compared to monoblock.
 Monoblock sleepers is more likely to become centre-bound unlike twin block.
  In monoblock, cracks developed due to overstressing is likely to close down
upon return to normal condition, which is not so in twin block sleepers.
 In twin block sleepers, gauge can be affected as tie bars get deformed during
derailment and rough handling.
 Twin blocks are not likely to rest on ballast similar to the rails, which affects
the alignment and gauge. This is not in the case of monoblock sleepers.

3.
The fittings/fastenings used for joining rail to wooden sleepers are the spikes. Spikes
hold rails to wooden sleepers and are of various types- dog spikes, round spikes, screw
spikes, standard and elastic spikes.

4.
Video link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTnkv6p_wGI&t=7s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSIra38frCM
Process:
 Place the pad in the rail seat after making sure both are clean and free of debris.
 Then install the rail and tamp the tie.
 The insulators are installed next (one each side of the rail) making sure the
insulator is fully seated against the base of the rail.
 Then start the elastic clip from the right side of the shoulder by hand or set with
a few taps of a sledgehammer. The clip is fully driven when there is
approximately 3/8″ gap between the edge of the shoulder and the rear arch of
the clip. The clip can be installed by mechanical means.

5.
Moorum is formed by the decomposition of laterite. It is available mostly in red
colour and, sometimes, in yellow. If the track is to be laid on black cotton soil,
moorum can be used as a blanketing material or sub-ballast since it prevents
permeability of water into the subgrade or formation.
The benefits of moorum are that it is good as a sub-ballast especially in the case of
weak soil subgrades and provides good aesthetics to the track.
The drawbacks are that it is very soft and when subjected to vibrations gets converted
into a powdered form and blows away and it requires frequent maintenance.
The problems associated with using sand as a ballast material are that sand blows off
due to vibration produced by the trains or due to high winds. To encounter this
problem, sand ballast can be covered by stone or brick ballast. Excessive wear of
sleepers and moving parts can occur due to friction developed by the sand.

6.

7.
Minimum depth of ballast section = (sleeper spacing – width of sleeper) / 2
M+6 BG track:
Length of one rail = 13 m
Number of sleepers = 13 + 6 = 19
Sleepers spacing S = (13*100)/19 = 68.4 cm
Width of sleeper W = 25.4 cm
Minimum depth = (68.4-25.4)/2 = 21.5 cm

8.

9.
The angle of repose, or critical angle of repose, of a granular material is the steepest
angle of descent or dip relative to the horizontal plane to which a material can be piled
without slumping. At this angle, the material on the slope face is on the verge of
sliding. The angle of repose can range from 0° to 90°.
Turfing/toe and pitching is provided to prevent erosion.
Erosion control systems for the treatment of exposed slopes could be classified into
three broad categories:
Agronomic or biological methods: They make use of vegetative or other forms of
protective cover to check erosion. Protection of bare soil is affected by live plant
cover afforded by maturing crops or by mulching derived from crop residue such as
straw, wood shavings, sawdust, etc.
Non-agronomic treatments: They include asphalting, aprons, pitching, soil cement
stabilisation, etc. Large scale adoption of these techniques is often restricted on
economic considerations, even though some of them may offer long lasting solutions.
Engineered systems of erosion control: Largely bio-technical systems, they include
geosynthetics, geojute, etc. In case, long term soil protection is afforded by vegetative
cover alone, biodegradable nets and meshes, usually derived from natural fibre, are
used to provide short term protection. In situations, where vegetative cover alone is
inadequate or cannot be ensured for long periods of time and high velocity overland
flow is anticipated, synthetic roots reinforcing mats are advocated.

10.
The minimum specified compaction level for the foundation of railway track is 98%
of maximum dry density.

11.
Black cotton soil is a residual soil which has high shrinkage property, which changes
its properties considerably with change in moisture content, with addition of water it
swells and losses strength.
The provisions that should be undertaken for constructing a railway track on such type
of soil are:
 Treating the top layer with quick lime.
 Providing blanket of inverted filter layer.
 Consolidating soil at optimum moisture content.
 Improving drainage at surface/subsurface.
 Providing bituminous or other intercepting material such as polyethylene sheet.
12.
The earthwork to be undertaken for embankment on good soil:
 Up to 6 m high: For the layers not exceeding 30 cm of height, earthwork has to
be done manually. After a depth of 1 m below the formation, it is exposed to
rain for one season. Then mechanical compaction is done in layers, with
thickness of layer not exceeding 30 cm. The compaction is done to achieve
density of at least 98% of maximum dry density.
 More than 6 m high: In the first season, earthwork is undertaken for up to 6 m
depth or less, in the same way as before. In the next season, it is done up to
below 1 m depth of formation; and then mechanical compaction is carried out.
The earthwork to be undertaken for embankment on other than good soil:
The full compaction has to be done at optimum moisture content to achieve density
equal to 98% of maximum dry density. A minimum of 30 cm thick blanket layer has
to be provided.

13.
The different failures of embankment, reasons and possible remedial measures are:
 Failure of Natural Ground:
The natural ground on which the embankment is made can fail either due to
shear failure or due to excessive settlement. Failure of this kind is generally
associated with the upheaval of the ground beyond the toes of the embankment.
Shear failure of natural ground generally takes place when construction is in
progress or immediately after construction. Once the ground stabilizes, it
hardly fails under existing embankments.
The following remedial measures are generally adopted to improve the load-
carrying capacity of natural ground and hasten the process of settlement:
o Provision of suitably spaced sheet or ordinary piles on either side of the
embankment, which will check shear failure by obstructing the slipping
mass. 
o Provision of a balancing embankment to increase the load on the natural
ground to check its heaving tendency. 
o Provision of sand drains to help quicker consolidation.

 Failure of Formation Top:

Failure of the formation top is very common in clayey soils during or just after
monsoons. Some locations may trouble throughout the year.
The main causes for such failures are the following:
o Low bearing capacity of the soil: Sinking of the ballast and the track,
and the heaving up of cesses and bulging of side slopes as a
 consequence. The ballast punches into the formation causing ballast
pockets.
o Action of water and moving loads: The topsoil becomes soft and gets
pumped up resulting in the sinking of the ballast. The ballast also gets
clogged and loses its drainage property.
o Effect of weather: Cracks develop on the formation during the summer
months and the ballast sinks through the cracks, resulting in the
settlement of the track. The situation gets further worsened during the
monsoons when water seeps through these cracks, turning the upper
layers of the formation to slush and resulting in the formation of deeper
ballast pockets.
The remedies that can be adopted for this are:
 Provision of an inverted filter layer
 Improvement of surface drainage
 Cement grouting
 Sand piling
 Deep screening of ballast and drainage of water pockets

 Failure of Fill Material:

Sometimes shear failure and excessive settlement of an embankment takes
place due to the failure of the fill material of the embankment. This can easily
be avoided by judicious selection of the fill material, better construction
procedures, and adopting a suitably designed section for a new embankment.
The main reasons for this type of failure are the following:
o Heavy traffic causing excessive stress in the soil, beyond its safe limit
o Inadequate side slopes of the bank
o Percolation of water in the embankment, thereby increasing the weight
of the soil on one hand and reducing its bearing capacity and shear
resistance on the other. Shear failure of existing embankments is quite
common and occurs due to slips.
o Other causes of failure are the weights of the embankment and the
moving loads on it. The forces resisting the failure are the cohesion and
internal friction of the fill material.
The following types of slip failures may occur along different planes:
o A slip passing through the toe of the bank known as toe failure.
o A slip passing below the toe of the bank through its base known
as base failure.
o A slip passing above the toe of the bank through its slope known
as slope failure.
The remedies effective for such failures are listed below:
 Providing vertical piles on the slope on either side of the track, spaced at
suitable intervals. These piles, which may be of scrap rail, bullies, etc., help
check shear failure by causing an obstruction for the slip mass.
  Providing balancing embankments on either side of the embankment.
 Flattening the side slopes.
 Reducing the height of the embankment.
 Providing a lighter material at the top of the embankment, replacing the
older material.
 Providing proper surface and sub-surface drainage.

14.
An inverted filter layer is a blanket of adequate thickness which is provided between
the ballast and weak formation to improve the bearing capacity of the soil. It should be
of a non-cohesive material with adequate bearing capacity to bear the load. Inverted
blanket filter is a very effective method of improving the bearing capacity of the soil.
It serves as a barrier for the upward movement of the clay. It also provides a porous
medium to drain off the surface water. The blanket also works as a capillary cut-off
layer. The blanket can be inserted by imposing a traffic block of 4-5 hours or by
temporarily operating only one line.