A recent ammendment to the FRA Track Safety Standards focused on the issue of inspection and maintenance of concrete crossties. The particular focus was on addressing the degradation or failure of the concrete ties and fastening systems that can result in a loss of gauge strength and the potential for derailments. The safety-related areas addressed include rail seat abrasion, concrete tie pad failure, fastener degradation or loss of functionality and overall loss of gauge strength of the concrete ties. These failure modes could result in excessive gauge widening under load, which in turn can result in derailments. Inspection and detection of these reduced strength concrete tie locations can be performed using new generation track strength inspection systems, such as the gauge restraint measurement systems or GRMS.
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