How strong are those rails laid by those big Chinese machines?

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Saw i saw clips of this machine laying concrete down on gravel and rocks and rails for the trains https://vm.tiktok.com/ZS8mnMfM8/ .

But those concrete bars don’t seem to be anchored to anything so how strong are they actually?

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6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

I assume they’re going to come through in a later stage— maybe even a unit on this same apparatus, just out of frame— and dump a bunch more ballast (gravel) in between them. That’s what they do with wooden railroad ties, and those do a fine job anchoring rails on traditional railways.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I assume they’re going to come through in a later stage— maybe even a unit on this same apparatus, just out of frame— and dump a bunch more ballast (gravel) in between them. That’s what they do with wooden railroad ties, and those do a fine job anchoring rails on traditional railways.

Anonymous 0 Comments

That’s a good question! It’s hard to tell from the video, but it’s likely that the concrete bars are anchored to the gravel and rocks underneath them. Depending on the size and weight of the bars, they may need additional reinforcement to ensure they stay in place.

Anonymous 0 Comments

This is how rail is laid down in many countries.

The concrete bars (they’re called ties) are submerged in the gravel (called ballast) which is pretty damn heavy. There’s a few other steps as well, like shaking the track to let all the ballast settle tightly into place.

This style of track has been in use for 100s of years and is generally preferred with a few special exceptions.

Combined with the weight of the tie it’s pretty unlikely the track is going anywhere, even with high speed trains making turns along it. In some cases I’ve heard of extra tight corners being built with heavier ties to account for the increased strain, but that’s rare and such corners would be avoided for other reasons anyway.

Anonymous 0 Comments

That’s a good question! It’s hard to tell from the video, but it’s likely that the concrete bars are anchored to the gravel and rocks underneath them. Depending on the size and weight of the bars, they may need additional reinforcement to ensure they stay in place.

Anonymous 0 Comments

This is how rail is laid down in many countries.

The concrete bars (they’re called ties) are submerged in the gravel (called ballast) which is pretty damn heavy. There’s a few other steps as well, like shaking the track to let all the ballast settle tightly into place.

This style of track has been in use for 100s of years and is generally preferred with a few special exceptions.

Combined with the weight of the tie it’s pretty unlikely the track is going anywhere, even with high speed trains making turns along it. In some cases I’ve heard of extra tight corners being built with heavier ties to account for the increased strain, but that’s rare and such corners would be avoided for other reasons anyway.