Monitoring of railway track with light high efficiency systems

Rail Track performance is highly dependent upon the magnitude and variation of differential track geometry. Consequently, there is an increasing interest in obtaining a consistent measure of trackbed stiffness and track geometry in the physical and time restrictions applicable on live track for assessing potential maintenance requirement and subsequent design of remedial measures. Furthermore, a lack of a systematic monitoring brings to the impossibility to produce an effective long term track management system, by allocating budget where emergencies come. In this framework, in the case of local railway track with reduced gauge, the use of the traditional high speed track monitoring systems is not feasible. This paper details a site investigation comprising trial Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), Light Falling Weight (LWD) and Laser Measurement System (LCMS) testing. These systems are currently used in road pavement maintenance where have shown their reliability and effectiveness. Application of such Non Destructive Tests in railway maintenance are promising but in the early stage of investigation. In the paper literature review and trial site testing are used to identify Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT analysis) of the application of GPR, LWD and LCMS for the assessment of trackbed stiffness and geometry.