Railway superstructure inspection
Inspection of the assigned specifications and tolerances, allocation to the respective acceptable minimum technical requirements under the premise that the correct turnout inspection cards with the specified and operational tolerances as well as the geometry specifications are provided by the client. For both of the new EMA scanning devices, our technicians developed useful additions, e.g. non-contact rail profile scanners, new on-board electronics and compatible operating software.
Our digital track measurement technology comprises:
- Visual inspection according to checklist (MR.pro®), because measurements are taken in unloaded condition and the measured values can be influenced significantly in operation and/or under load.
- (Initial) inspection for the complete master data creation as well as for the evaluation of condition and wear:
- Visual survey of type of construction/superstructure, configuration/specification, age, manufacturer, locking technology, etc.
- Quantitative measurement of geometry, lengths, transverse dimensions, coordinates, rail profiles, etc.
- Condition recording and assessment of maintenance requirements (scope of work, priority, sequence)
- Determination of causes of nonconformity with operational tolerances and allocation of the detected defects to the measured section
- Condition recording with MR.pro® is ergonomically designed for a minimum expenditure of time
- Dialogue guidance ensures that nothing is overseen, while the plausibility check prevents possible operator errors
- Photo for a quick identification of asset & surroundings.
- Extensive documentation for a quick & user-friendly evaluation
Maintenance management
- Interpretation, condensation and verification by our experts transform the gathered data into useful information
- Clear and easy-to-understand documentation provides a solid basis for decision-making:
- Reliable, reproducible results
- Meaningful, clear and comprehensible for users, decision-makers & regulators
- Transparency and easy interpretation without specialist knowledge or additional aids
- Detailed individual results & condensed overall results
- Uniform traceability of the development of the track condition
Assessment & classification methods
Classification of defects in terms of their safety relevance (defect classification) and economic efficiency (remaining useful life)
- Defect classification: classification of all defects of turnouts or tracks according to their importance & urgency into 4 defect classes.
- Asset classification: classification of the tracks and turnouts according to their importance into three location classes (jointly with the client); determination of construction site classes based on lost time, disruption of the regular traffic flow as well as load and speed.
- The aim is to derive and prioritize sensible and correct repair work to eliminate the identified defects.
Defect class 1: defects dangerous to operation
Immediate need for action
Defect class 2: safety-relevant defects with high priority
Elimination of the defect required within 1 month
Defect class 3: defects with medium priority - impact on useful life
Elimination of the defect within the next scheduled maintenance & repair work
Defect class 4: defects without priority - deviation from target condition
Only long-term effects - no need for action
Development of wear limits
Modular structure permits individual solutions for all tasks.
Customers themselves determine the right mix of services & own work: from consulting & planning via initial assistance for the internal development of maintenance work and services to the all-round carefree package.
Advantages:
- Qualification of decisions and planning
- Increased the efficiency of work planning
- Reduction of execution errors/deficiencies
- Transparency about the condition development
- Objective check of visual inspections and condition assessments
- Fulfilment of quality management requirements
- Provision of data for decentralized and centralized access as well as for long-term analyses
- Protection against liability risks
- Reproducibility of decisions
Asset management & turnout service
Complete service from a single source
Turnouts and crossings take on a special position within track systems – they combine components from different specialist areas. If all services come from a single source, expensive interfaces and unnecessary waiting times can be avoided.
Each turnout service team consists of two specialists who complement each other and are able to carry out all work on turnouts.
In order to maximize the useful life of turnouts and crossings, our asset managers take care of compliance with all requirements and specifications for the track infrastructure.
Using the wear reserve index (KAV®) as a parameter, the renewal planning can be scheduled and realized as required in the short, medium and long term.
Our maintenance modules for turnouts and special constructions
Locking & drive engineering
Straightening engineering
Measurement engineering – supported by MR.pro®
Welding
engineering
Grinding
engineering
Track & superstructure engineering
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Preserving value through expert maintenance
Our asset managers take care of compliance with all requirements & industry-specific specifications for the track infrastructure:
- Secondary railways (Obri NE) and industrial railways (connecting railways (BOA))
- Tramways (BOStrab)
- Special constructions:
- Rail-bound conveyors (e.g. in high-bay warehouses)
- Crane railways (K+S)
- Monorails (Wuppertal suspension railway)
- Special structures (turntables, traversers, transformer crossings, etc.)
- Crossings in mixed EBO/BOStrab traffic
- Mainline railways (DB according to EBO)
Your benefit
- Reduction of the costs of repairs
- Increased availability through the bundling of interventions
- Accelerated & simplified project handling through elimination of interfaces
- Regional availability
- No need for own spare parts inventory
- On-call service
Gantry train installation in the K+S workshop: New crane rails in a salt dome 940 m below ground
In the Sigmundshall potash mine, the rails of a gantry crane in the workshop including their fastening were renewed to upgrade them for future tasks.
The gantry crane can travel about 60 m on rails with a gauge of 13 m. The current rails with 33E1 profile are anchored to the workshop floor (solidified salt) with anchoring plates and M 30 round anchors every 600 mm.
To expose the rails, the workshop floor had first to be broken up and the existing crane rails had to be cleared from salt and exposed. After successful levelling, the supporting system was placed on the cleared site and then anchored to the ground. For this purpose, holes were drilled for the subsequent connection of cross girders and rails.
Thanks to good planning, the project was completed successfully.
Highlight: material and equipment had to be transported individually in the mine cage down to a depth of 940 m below ground. The air on site is heavy, salty and warm (ambient temperature: min. +5 °C, max. + 37 °C at a relative humidity of > 30%).
Wuppertal suspension railway:Repair of railway expansion joints
- 20 stations with an average distance of 700 m between them
- 132 railway expansion joints (SMR 29); terminal loops with a radius of 9 m
Noise and vibration issues triggered a visual inspection of the condition of the rail in June 2020
Examination of the rail condition by visual inspection & measurements
Repair of the 132 railway expansion joints during night-time stoppages together with employees of the operator WSW
In case of railway expansion joints in normal track, two stock rails and switch rails each move in relation to one another; in the Wuppertal suspension railway, they serve to absorb and compensate movements of bridge frames
Non-destructive examination of the rail on the entire line including the associated constructions and repair of the identified defects by grinding
Highlight: For working at a height of 8–12 m above ground, the logistics must be well planned in advance so that the platforms can be lifted up on the rail.
Turnout conversion DB station Lindau–Reutin: Targeted correction of a diamond crossing with double outside slip roads
In November 2019, a diamond crossing with double-slip roads in Lindau raised concerns.
For five of the eight switch blades, no safe final position at the stock rails and bearing studs was achieved because the switch blades exhibited a high residual tension. Due to the resulting gauge narrowing, acceptance and clearance for operation was out of the question.
Three of the short switch blades were mechanically separated, then fixed such that they were in the correct positive- fitting contact at the stock rails and the blade supports. Then the switch blades were again welded with filler wire to the connecting running rails. Now its was possible again to straighten the newly installed switch blades hydraulically free of tension.
The two remaining problematic switch blades could now be straightened without separating the welded joints, and the defective fish-plate blocks and bearing studs could be corrected by grinding so that the blade supports at the stock rails and the gauges were permanently corrected.
The selection & execution of the work proved to be immediately successful. The special method also aroused much interest on the client side; DB had expected a replacement of the components, which would have caused an enormous economic loss in terms of costs and availability.
Highlight: a kind of turnout that one does not see every day.
BahnWege® seminars
Further training with know-how and passion
- Increasing operational requirements and future tasks in the railway industry make it necessary to continually update the knowledge of railways and everything around them. Seminars spanning several days are directed at both (lateral) entrants and experienced employees:
- Practically oriented communication of basic knowledge of rail technology
- In-depth further training
- Targeted training for a specific function including final examination
- Digitally supported learning formats
- Our training organization BahnWege® Seminare has been recognized by the German Federal Railway Authority (EBA) as a training institution in accordance with the Traction Vehicle Driving License Ordinance since 2012.
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Referenzen
In-person/hybrid seminars
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Functional training
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CFL corporate training
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Forums
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MR.pro®
- MR.pro® is an asset management system designed for the total system of railway infrastructure that meets the specific requirements of each type and category of asset.
- This enables the software to provide asset managers with the necessary overview and show interrelationships.
- Thanks to the integrated workflow, the data maintenance effort is kept to a minimum, as the data, once recorded, are used throughout the entire maintenance process, so duplication of recording is avoided.
- Managing all types of objects in a structured manner in a single data model with a uniform framework avoids system and media discontinuities from the outset. Such a holistic data model facilitates understanding and communication and contributes significantly to an efficient division of labour.
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Central system for all objects of the railway infrastructure – instead of fragmented data management
A special software for the “big picture” of railway infrastructure
- In addition to the track infrastructure, MR.pro® also manages traction power supply, overhead lines, signalling and communications engineering, stops, buildings and load-bearing structures, real estate, workshops, stations as digital twins in a data model with a uniform framework.
- Developed by railway technology specialists who are familiar with the needs of the users, the integrated expert system makes MR.pro® a kind of “sponge” for the experience-based knowledge of the specialists in the transport companies. It also has interfaces to ERP systems such as SAP.
- MR.pro® maps the entire process chain of infrastructure maintenance and provides all the information in a convenient and comprehensible way.
- An integrated, digital construction site management system that permits an easy and stress-free planning, control and invoicing of construction and maintenance processes: work preparation, construction schedule, construction diary, completion notification and invoicing of repair orders. This way, the overview in the office as well as on the construction site is guaranteed at all times.
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Geographical functions
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For better orientation, all located inventory and condition data can be displayed to scale in maps or satellite photos; wherever it makes sense, also with colour coding in corresponding traffic light colours.
Measurement results
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MR.pro® is designed to import and analyse raw data generated by common measuring equipment and to document this information in a uniform, manufacturer-independent format. Data collected with different measuring devices, and even mass data, can be displayed in overlays for multi-year comparisons – perfect for tracking the development of the condition.
- Clear arrangement
- Free selection of measurement parameters
- Structures (e.g. level crossings, track fixtures, switchgear, signals, etc.) can be displayed in a freely configurable manner in order to be able to detect correlations.
Buildings & properties
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Numerous buildings, from filling stations to centralized traffic control offices, can be displayed in the route tapes and measurement records so their influence on the measurement results can be checked for plausibility and taken into account. Property management for land and buildings is also part of the functional scope of MR.pro.
References
Germany’s largest chemical complex relies on MR.pro®: Digital asset management system based on digital twins
The railway infrastructure comprises 93 km of track & 340 turnouts which service about 50 customer loading stations. The InfraLeuna rail network is connected to the DB AG network at the train stations Großkorbetha and Leuna Werke-Nord.
Digitalization of all existing installations of the InfraLeuna track infrastructure; creation of digital twins - digital representation of the real-world technical infrastructure elements in four steps - during the ongoing operation.
MR.pro® assists in the qualified recording of assets and inventories and the documentation and assessment through to the active planning & control of inspection, maintenance and repair processes. It also administers time-critical tasks such as audits, inspections & warranty periods.
We support of InfraLeuna in the use of the extensive analysis options and advice on aspects of service life management such as defect classification, wear equivalent and cost reduction potential.
MR.pro® enables a dedicated tracking of the condition and the analysis of loads, designs and other properties over extended periods of time so that meaningful medium-term forecasts of the condition can be derived and the operational and functional safety can be sustainably improved.
Turnout inspection at the Luxembourg state railway CFL: Presentation of the superstructure in the GIS-Map of MR.pro® for convenient management
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Rail network (2021): 630 km main track – of which 590 km are electrified, 56 km tertiary network, 68 stations/stops, 1,161 turnouts, 27 tunnels. Superstructure & turnout engineering based on DB technology (contents of technical regulations correspond to that of DB guidelines (Ril).
2017: introduction of MR.pro® to provide support in the inspection according to new regulations. Task: inspection of all turnouts twice per year. In 2021, the overall task was assigned to RSV under a framework contract; since then one inspection team works in the CFL network throughout the year.
To measure the internal geometry, the CFL tracks are additionally surveyed with the motorized track measuring train (GMTZ) of DB. The results of these measurements are only available in PDF format, which is not helpful for a comparison between several measuring campaigns.
For a proper identification and long-term tracking of the condition, both visually and on the basis of a numerical difference representation, measured data must be available in numerical form so that they can be processed in a spreadsheet software for an overlay on a common x axis. For this purpose, RSV converted the PDF-files of the GMTZ into a numerical, computer readable format. Since this format also includes the position data in the form of coordinates, it was possible to translate the information into a common geo-format.
Now the entire CFL track network can be completely mapped digitally and the point objects (turnouts), that previously were shown free in the space, together with the line elements (tracks) now represent the rail network as a digital twin.
Highly efficient track maintenance in Strasbourg: 20 years of inspection of a growing track network
Annual track inspection (visual inspection & measurement of the geometry) of the Strasbourg tram network including the required expert report on the track guidance for the definition of the operational tolerances
Digitalization of the assets using MR.pro®. The CTS database contains all current and historical data of the track objects already gathered by RSV as well as the turnout data that were gathered by another service provider since the opening and were converted by RSV.
Comparison of the findings with the nominal values & operating tolerances depending on the curve radius (SR100 from the economic perspective, SRlim from the operational perspective and SRG from the safety perspective); classification according to the priority of the repair & the expected costs; suggestion of meaningful measures to achieve the most cost-efficient repair.
Thanks to close attention to and monitoring of the assets during these 20 years, it became possible, amongst others, to delay the renewal of highly loaded track sections at stations and in tight curves so that the required planning cycles and lead times could be ensured.
CTS achieves the best public transport cost recovery ratio of all French metropolitan areas of >250,000 inhabitants. The CTS asset management makes a valuable contribution with its substance-preserving, proactive maintenance!
With the introduction of the digital asset management system, CTS was able to accomplish its set goals.
Geodetic surveying
- To check compliance with specified tolerances, RSV has been determining transverse dimensions, position and height, i.e. the internal geometry of the superstructure, since 1994. These results describe the steadiness, ride comfort and wear of the objects in the form of a spatial curve as “experienced” by the vehicles. For the evaluation of the absolute position and location in space, a geodetic survey of the outer geometry is required, which is determined by main axle points with coordinates and geometric alignment elements between neighbouring points (DB Ril 883).
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Wheel/rail system service
- In order to ensure a safe track guidance and the greatest possible running smoothness even in the permissible state of wear of the components, section 35 (1) of the German light railway regulations BOStrab requires a coordination of the vehicle and the track dimensions that are essential for the ride characteristics.
- The “right” combination of the two system partners, wheel & rail, enables a permanently safe and low-wear railway operation.
- A detailed track guiding analysis of the wheel/rail profile pairing usually identifies optimization potential for the interaction of wheel & rail.
Wheel/rail system service
- Design rating
- Gauge investigation
- Optimal interaction
- Knowledge management
The products and services listed belong to the Rhomberg Sersa Vossloh joint venture.
