Assessment of Ballast Requirements

Assessment of Ballast Requirements

The requirements of the ballast should be assessed separately for

(a)  correcting the deficiencies existing in the track as well as those arising out of overhauling, through packing and deep screening,

(b) providing adequate cushion for mechanical tamping, and

(c)  providing extra cushion while converting into LWR.

The ballast required for maintenance purposes is estimated by assessing the quantity approximately, if necessary by a survey, over every 1 km of rail length. Care should be taken to ensure that the cores under the sleepers are not disturbed.

In the case of deep screening, the ballast required for recoupment and providing a standard section should be assessed by deep screening the ballast on a trial basis. For this, full depth screening is done for a length of 2-3 sleepers at every 0.5 to 1 km interval. In this case, the screening is done under the sleepers as well. The quantity of ballast required for deep screening is roughly taken as 1.5% of the existing quantity of ballast based on field trials.

The quantities assessed above will be the net quantities of ballast required to recoup the deficiencies or to provide required profiles/sections. These net quantities of ballast may be enhanced suitably (say by 8%) to arrive at the gross quantities of ballast needed for the purpose of procurement in case the measurements are proposed to be taken in stacks or wagons at the originating station.