Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Pasi Lautala, Michigan Tech University Tyler Dick, HDR, Inc.

Topics Horizontal and Vertical geometry Clearances Turnout design Structures and loading
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REES Module #6 - Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Railroad vs. Highway Passenger Vehicles

Passenger Car Top speed (mph) Weight (tons) Power to weight ratio (hp/ton) Length (ft) # of passengers 65+ 1.4 150 15 5

Light rail vehicle 65 53.5 9.3 92 (articulated) 160

Propulsion method

Gasoline engine
2

Electric (or dieselelectric)

REES Module #6 - Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Railroad vs. Highway Freight

Semi-trailer Truck Top speed (mph) Weight (tons) Power to weight ratio (hp/ton) Length (ft) 55+ 40 12.5 65

Freight (Unit) Train 40+ 18,000 0.73 7,000

# of power units
# of trailing units Propulsion method

1
1 Diesel engine
3

1-4
Up to 125 Diesel-electric
REES Module #6 - Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Horizontal Geometry Degree of Curve

Arc (Roadway and LRT)
Angle measured along the length of a section of curve subtended by a 100 arc

Chord (Railroad)
Angle measured along the length of a section of curve subtended by a 100 chord

100 100 D R
D/360 = 100/2(pi)R 1-deg curve, R= 5729.58 7-deg curve, R=818.51

D R
R = 50/sin(D/2) 1-deg curve, R=5729.65 7-deg curve, R=819.02
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Curve length difference

Watch out for LONG and SHARP curves

REES Module #6 - Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Horizontal Geometry Curves

Highway Criteria Typical values - Design speed Freeway: - 60 mph, R=1,340, D=4.28 - 70 mph, R=2,050, D=2.79

Railroad -Design speed -Allowable superelevation Main lines: -High speed: R > 5,729, D<1 -Typical: R >2,865, D<2 -Low speed: R>1,433, D<4 Industrial facilities: - R>764, D<7.5

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REES Module #6 - Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Horizontal Geometry Superelevation

Highway Expressed by Function of

Railroad

e expressed as cross-slope E is inches of elevation difference in percent between high rail (outside) and low rail (inside) Vehicle speed, curve radius and tire side friction (0.01e + f) / (1 0.01ef) = V2/15R 6-8% Centerline Function of design speed, degree of curve E = 0.0007V2D Eu Where Eu is unbalance (1-2 typical) Freight: 6-7 Light Rail: 6 Inside rail

Max. values Rotation point Transition

Runoff (2/3 on tangent, 1/3 in Spiral curve) 7

REES Module #6 - Railway Alignment Design and Geometry

Unbalanced Elevation
Different maximum allowed speeds for different trains on the same track:
passenger, express freight, general freight

OVERBALANCE

EQUILIBRIUM

UNDERBALANCE

Center of Gravity

Centrifugal Force

Centrifugal Force Center of Gravity Center of Gravity Centrifugal Force

Resultant Resultant Gravity Gravity Resultant Gravity

Superelevation

Superelevation

Superelevation

Actual elevation on track to balance head and flange wear of both rails

Vmax
V max Ea D

Ea 3 0.0007 D

Amount of Underbalance

= Maximum allowable operating speed (mph). = Average elevation of the outside rail (inches). = Degree of curvature (degrees).

Spiral Transition Curves

TS (Tangent to Spiral) SC (Spiral to Curve)

Railways use the higher length of two formulae: To limit unbalanced lateral acceleration acting on passengers to 0.03 g per second: L = 1.63 Eu V Eu = unbalanced elevation (in.) To limit track twist to 1 inch in 62 feet: 9 L = 62 Ea Ea = actual elevation (in.)

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Superelevation Tables

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Avoid Reversed Curves

Min. 100 or 3 seconds of running Time between curves (select greater)!!

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Critical Issues with Horizontal Curves

a) Too short tangent between reversed curves b) Broken back curve c) Curve within turnout d) Additional horizontal clearance required

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Vertical Geometry - Grades

Highway 4% common 6% on ramps Up to 8% on county roads
Rail rarely exceeds 1% (2-2.5% for industry lines)

LRT maximum 4 to 6% Up to 10% for short sections

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Design Grade for Railways

Ideal maximum for railway grade: Trains can roll safely down 0.3% grade without wasting energy on brakes <0.1% for tracks for extensive storage Railway vertical curves old formula: L=D/R
D = algebraic difference of grade (ft. per 100-ft. station) R = rate of change per 100-ft. station

0.05 ft. per station for crest on main track 0.10 ft. per station for sag on main track Secondary line may be twice those for main line
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New Shorter Vertical Curves

Old railway formula developed in 1880s for hook and pin couplers in those days Present day couplers can accommodate shorter vertical curves New formula developed in recent years: L = 2.15 V2 D / A V = train speed in mph D = algebraic difference of grade in decimal A = vertical acceleration in ft./sec2 0.1 ft./ sec2 for freight, 0.6 ft./ sec2 for passenger or transit

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Critical issues with Vertical Curves

a) Overlapping vertical curves b) Avoid lowering existing tracks c) No vertical curves within turnouts d) Provide additional clearance in sag curves e) No vertical curves within horizontal spirals
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Railroad Turnouts
Allows diverging from one track to another Identified by frog number

N PS PI 1

Typical frog numbers: Mainline No.20 or 24 Sidings No.15 Yards and Industry No. 11 Diverging turnout speed ~ 2 x N
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#8 RH Turnout

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#8 Offsets & layout

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Designing a Turnout in Plans

Need to know: PS to PI length (B) Angle (C) PS to LLT (A) Draw centerline of each track Good to mark PS & LLT No curves and/or adjacent turnouts between PS and LLT

Legend:
PS = Point of Switch PI = Point of intersection LLT = Last long tie Angle C = Turnout angle
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Basic Plan Sheet for Track Design

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Track Clearances
Specific clearances necessary for safe operations Size of car clearance envelope is based on dimensions of:
Locomotives Cars Potential large loads

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Requirements set by several agencies

Horizontal Clearance
Constant on tangent track Additional clearance: In curves for car end swing and car overhang In superelevated tracks to provide room for cant Use clearance chart (next page) to define horizontal clearance for: Main track 5.5 degree curve 2 inch superelevation 10 feet high object

truck centers "t" t/2 swing out of center line of car from center line of track "m" center line of track at center of car center line of car overhang at center of car "s"

car w/2 width "w"

center of car

centre line of track

radius of track curvature "R"

center of curve

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Clearance Chart

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Vertical Clearance
Constant on tangent track Additional clearance: In sag vertical curves In superelevated tracks For specialized equipment (double-deck cars) To provide threshold for future track maintenance and equipment changes

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Typical Section - Railroad

Subgrade top width of 24 to 30 for single track

Typical section - multiple tracks

Track centerlines minimum 13 apart

Track centerlines minimum 13 apart Roadbed sloped to drain Sometimes wider shoulders for maintenance purposes
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Bridge Loading - Highway

HS-20 truck loading

Impact Loading I = 50 / (L + 125) but I < 0.3

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Bridge Loading - Railroad

Cooper E-80 railroad loading

Developed in 1890s 80 refers to 80kip driving axle load on steam locomotive

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Bridge Loading Railroad (cont.)

Impact Loading The following percentages of Live Load, applied at the top of rail and added to the axle loads (E-80 Loading)

For L 14 ft: I = 60 For 14 ft < L 127 ft: I = 225/L For L> 127 ft: I = 20
L = Span Length in ft

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Typical Section Roadway Superstructure

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Typical Section Railroad Concrete Superstructure

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Grade Separations Road over Rail

23 vertical clearance, plus future track raise Allow for maintenance road and future second track Collision protection for piers within 25 of rail centerline Do not drain roadway on to tracks! Other details vary by specific railroad

Grade Separations Rail over Road

Steel preferred structure type as it can be repaired Concrete bridges - sacrificial beam or crash beam Depth of structure increases rapidly with span length under railroad loading
Decreases clearance or increase required railroad fill Need to minimize skew and span lengths

Copyright Restrictions and Disclaimer

Presentation Author
Pasi Lautala Director, Rail Transportation Program Michigan Tech University Michigan Tech Transportation Institute 318 Dillman Hall Houghton, MI 49931 (906) 487-3547 <[email protected]> It is the authors intention that the information contained in this file be used for non-commercial, educational purposes with as few restrictions as possible. However, there are some necessary constraints on its use as described below.

Copyright Restrictions and Disclaimer:

The materials used in this file have come from a variety of sources and have been assembled here for personal use by the author for educational purposes. The copyright for some of the images and graphics used in this presentation may be held by others. Users may not change or delete any author attribution, copyright notice, trademark or other legend. Users of this material may not further reproduce this material without permission from the copyright owner. It is the responsibility of the user to obtain such permissions as necessary. You may not, without prior consent from the copyright owner, modify, copy, publish, display, transmit, adapt or in any way exploit the content of this file. Additional restrictions may apply to specific images or graphics as indicated herein. The contents of this file are provided on an "as is" basis and without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. The author makes no warranties or representations, including any warranties of title, noninfringement of copyright or other rights, nor does the author make any warranties or representation regarding the correctness, accuracy or reliability of the content or other material in the file.
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