Rail Safety Improvement Through Enhanced Understanding of Ballast and Subgrade Interactions
Sponsor: Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)
Project Description
This FRA-sponsored project examined ballast behavior under different tamping conditions using SmartRock wireless sensors embedded beneath railway ties. Field tests on Norfolk Southern lines between 2021 and 2023 captured real-time data on ballast movement, acceleration, stress, and energy transfer during tamping. The results showed that clean ballast responded more effectively to tamping, while fouled ballast required adjusted strategies due to greater resistance and less uniform compaction. The project highlights the value of sensor-based, data-driven maintenance for improving tamping effectiveness, track stability, and rail safety.
Paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214391224000096
Collaborators
- Penn State
- Plasser & Theurer
- Norfolk Southern