Ballast of the future on heavy‑haul lines: Assessing the viability of Neoballast on the Coal Line

摘要

The results from this study indicated thatthe Neoballast presents 96% more abrasionresistance from the LA Abrasion Test and100% more abrasion resistance from theMill Abrasion Test compared to the currentCoal Line ballast. The Soundness Testindicated that Neoballast would performbetter in extreme weather conditionscompared to the current Coal Line ballast,with Neoballast offering 90% more resistanceto weathering. The Water AbsorptionTest indicated that Neoballast will providea better medium for drainage as it is 75%less porous than the current ballast. Fromthe results it can be concluded that theuse of Neoballast aggregate as the ballastlayer would be more durable and wouldresult in a decrease in the degradation ofballast particles and a decrease in the rateof settlement per load cycle of the ballastlayer. Neoballast met all the minimumrequired specifications for ballast on theheavy-haul lines in South Africa, thusindicating that Neoballast would be viablefor use on the Coal Line in terms of itsmechanical properties. It can further beconcluded that Neoballast will reduce therate of track geometry deterioration andin turn reduce the cost of maintenance onheavy-haul lines.