How Long Do Concrete Sleepers Last?

When using concrete railway sleepers, we all have such a question: how long is the service life of concrete railway sleepers? The long service life of concrete sleepers is also one of the significant advantages of concrete sleepers, which is one of the reasons why concrete sleepers gradually replace ordinary wooden sleepers. Next, Weihai Rui and sleepers will take you to understand the service life and advantages of concrete sleepers.

First, advantages of concrete sleepers

The concrete sleepers need to use steam demoulding to form at one time, with smooth appearance, hard inside, and multiple thread steels; concrete sleepers have a wide range of materials, the same specification, uniform elasticity, good insulation, high stability, and is not affected by external conditions such as weather and temperature, and have long service life without decay; prestressed concrete sleepers not only save a lot of high-quality steel, but also have service life. It has the advantages of long life, good track stability and can meet the requirements of high speed and large traffic volume.

Second, service life of concrete sleepers

The service life of concrete sleepers has a great correlation with the weight and speed of rail transportation. Large rigidity and poor elasticity of cement sleepers will cause greater pressure and vibration on the track bed, resulting in faster pulverization of ballast, and then it is easy to cause track subsidence. Therefore, it is necessary to use solid ballast and add elastic cushion. The concrete sleepers are much heavier than hardwood timber sleepers and are not suitable for use in newly filled or unstable subgrade. Compared with wooden sleepers, it does not consume wood, has longer service life, higher stability, easier maintenance, lower damage rate and scrap rate. On the jointless track, the stability of concrete sleepers is 15-20% higher than that of wooden sleepers, especially for high-speed passenger lines. Generally speaking, the service life of concrete sleepers is about 20 years, beyond the service life of cement sleepers, and the stability of cement sleepers will be reduced, and the strength will be gradually weakened. If the new cement sleepers are not replaced in time, it may have an irreversible impact.

Third, function of concrete sleepers

The service life of cement sleepers is inseparable from its function. It is mainly used for laying railway track and sleeper platform as some special devices, with the characteristics of long service life and good stability. When it is used on high-speed lines and special lines with large transportation volume, it can effectively disperse the pressure, avoid the deformation of railway line caused by track sinking, prevent the occurrence of problems such as derailment or slide, and ensure the safety of train operation. In addition, it can also increase the stability of train movement and reduce the noise problems caused by train running.