The use of track connected to a concrete slab instead of traditional ties and ballast promises to prevent transit and rail track from buckling in hot weather, according to Portland Cement Association research. When the track heats up, expansion causes it to buckle. The phenomenon, known as sun kink or heat kink, may have caused the summer 2002 Amtrak derailment in Maryland that injured 97 people. PCA is sponsoring a multi-year research project at Construction Technology Laboratories to develop a concrete supported track requiring no ballast and based on the "slab track" system widely used in Europe and Japan. Among many potential benefits PCA cites is safer track capable of accommodating heavy leaded freight cars and high-speed passenger trains. Most importantly, such track can be stable enough to resist buckling during hot weather and pulling apart during cold snaps.
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