Project Name:   Bukit Berapit High Speed Rail

Location: Malaysia

Application: Concrete Track Slab

The Bukit Berapit Tunnel is a twin bore, 3.3km horse shoe shaped rail tunnel. Bukit Berapit is one part of the larger Electrified Double Tracking Project (EDTP), a 180 km/hr 329 km double track railway line between Ipoh – Padang Besar.
JV MMC – Gamuda chose to use a concrete track slab design in the Bukit Berapit Tunnel. Concrete Trackslab offers many benefits over regular ballast tracks, most notably longer service life and maintenance cost reductions. Macro synthetic fiber concrete reinforcement was chosen as the primary reinforcement in the Trackslab.

It was determined that wherever conventional RC is used in electric traction railway slabs, the earthing and bonding issues relating to return and stray currents, including electrolytic corrosion and eddy current EMC impacts have been areas where problems have been foreseen and addressed in design but have not always been eradicated in practice.

Macro synthetic fiber reinforcement removed stray current risk. Furthermore, it provided superior crack control compared to conventional mass concrete RC solutions and eliminated the risk of long term corrosion. Finite element analysis was undertaken to determine the optimum design solution, ensuring the best possible outcome for the asset owners.

Outcomes:

• Removed stray current risk from the electrified track
• Solved issues with installation of cage reinforcement within track formwork
• Improved crack control with the ballast slab
• Eliminated the risk of corrosion

Author:  Geoff Sedgman: gsedgman@elastoplastic.com