Re: re-sleepering tunnels

["Stephen Devenish" <JohnnyR@bigpond.com>]

In tunnels, as Matthew said, pulling them out to the side on an angle is the
norm.  Jacking the track to much will lift the other sleepers and hump the
track (very bad), if the replacement is in a face ie all the sleepers then
panels would be a quicker option.  But spot replacement means sliding them
out.

On bridges there are a couple of types in Victoria that are standard,
Ballast Deck bridges and Skeleton deck.  The ballast deck bridges are easy
to work on and replacement can be done with a tie crane or backhoe
(providing you have hand rails and game workers).  The sleepers are the same
as normal track and are seated on ballast with a narrower shoulder.  On
Skeleton deck bridges the sleepers are in fact Transom Timbers, wider and
deeper than normal sleepers.  These timbers are bolted to the steel I beams
that make up the bridge.  As they have no ballast around them and are bolted
down, replacement is a lot harder.  Tie cranes and backhoes can still be
used but the skill factor and the hight factor increase the level of
difficulty.  As with all sleeper insertion it is done from the side and slid
into place the bolted back onto the bridge.  Transom Timbers have a longer
life due to the fact that they are mostly high and dry and only rest in
water at the interface with the I beam.  A side note, I have watched the PTC
(Vline) replace a whole skeleton deck bridge by hand!!!  Jackson's Creek
Bridge out of Maroona during the regauge, very scary, no handrails, no
safety lines and the sleepers where dragged out by one big bloke........ It
took about four men to get it in.

Cheers

Stephen Devenish

"Welding over numerous bridges on the way to Geelong"




Lineman wrote in message <7pv4c9$q2g$1@perki.connect.com.au>...
>
>Matthew Geier <matthew@mail.usyd.edu.au> wrote in message
>7psm14$f42$1@metro.ucc.usyd.edu.au">news:7psm14$f42$1@metro.ucc.usyd.edu.au...
>> In article <0kaw3.227$kW3.7645@nsw.nnrp.telstra.net>,
>> Thommo <mjthom@hdc.com.au> wrote:
>> >How are sleepers replaced in single track tunnels and single deck
>bridges,
>> >the only way that I can think of is to replace the whole section at a
>> >time???
>> >
>>  The tunnels are usually just wide enough to pull the sleeper out the
side
>> stick the new one in. It might not come straight out, but I dont think
ive
>> seen any narrow enough that you couldnt get the sleeper out at an angle.
>>
>>  Hard work, but doable.
>>
>>  The other option would to be unspike a number of sleepers on one side
>> and jack up the rail. You often jack up the rails a bit anyway to take
>> the weight off the sleeper.
>>
>>  Bridges usually have enough space around them to poke the sleeper over
>the
>> side :-)
>>  A lot of old timber bridges dont have sleepers anyway, but special
>decking
>> timbers that are thicker (and part of the bridge structure) than
sleepers.
>
>
>>  I thought they used special sleepers which are shortened by 9 inches at
>one end to aid insertion.
>
>