Adequate stone ballast is an issue with floatation and support of the objects on the rails.

You can use the ARRA or Indian rail standards for ballasting but it will not work for very long if at all.

The problem is the foundation or lack there of as a stacker reclaimer is treated no differently than a locomotive crane and overhung loads and the rail it uses.

Stone ballast supports and flexes with the load of any kind en mass witht the ground underneath it. The ballast mat must be wider than the ties and properly tamped and the track geometry maintained for it to work properly to maintain adhesion.

Repairing stone ballast foundations requires a track geometry car, a ballast cleaner, a ballast spreader, A tie remover and inserter, a rail spiking machine and a ballast tamper and time to do the job.

A wheel set for a locomotive will grind into a rail and do a lot of damage if there is little or no adhesion and that is not fixed unless the rail is cut out and replaced.

The weight of the stacker reclaimer is going to be on X numbers of wheels which support and provide motive power for the reclaimer.

If a railed stacker reclaimer is used its an issue of total weight including the reclaiming head, wire rope,

The counterweight, the entire frame of the machine including the reclaimer and the weight of the drive units, electric motors, pumps and belting, chains, idlers, control cabin etc

Then you have to deal with the wheels if it is rail mounted-

If a rail mounted reclaimer is desired the entire weight of the reclaimer is pressed down upon the X numbers of wheels used to tram and support the BWR.

If a BWR has 16 wheels the entire weight of the unit is condensed on the very small contact area of each wheel that contacts the rail which in turn concentrates the weight fraction of the machine on that two inches of contact area per wheel on thr rail head which effects adhesion and it operation plus the effects of the overhung weight load weight of the reclaiming head while stock piling or reclaiming the material- its not hard ro see why folks are using concrete pads and concrete pilings to support a bwr and pouring a slab for the entire stockpile to provide a floating mass to distribute the weights.

A tracked stacker reclaimer has more surface area contacting the ground and reducing the ground pressure per square inch of the machine over the entire surface area of the entire numbers of tracks used.

It is not a simple issue to create and deal with because of the need for proper foundations and overhung wieghts affecting the loading of the rails- which is the tiny portion that is adhering or trying to stay in contact with the rail while at the same time the weight is trying to push the rails outward. ■

Your Standard for assistance is the AREA Handbook. Part 2 Ballast. Paragraph 2.1.1.3 Standards, Design Criteria and Regulations will give you a start.

An electronic copy of the relevant document could be available through private email contact to louispanjang@gmail.com , in a plain brown paper bag of course.

+961 553311643 for speed. ■

Hello,

You intend to have rail track installed on ballast, for movement of stacker reclaimer machine. This is civil engineering (and also railway engineering) subject. Obviously, there will be extensively investigated theory and practice for such important issue. So, there is no scope for inferences. Discuss the matter with your civil engineers, and take the technical support from civil engineering expert who are regularly concerned with such work. Design civil engineers concerned with shiftable conveying system are likely to be well versed about this subject.

As for general information; ground preparation, the ballast arrangement, design, drawing and quantity is likely to get influenced by:

- Machine wheel load (static).

- Machine wheel load dynamic (or dynamic factor).

- The dynamic factor will be low compared to railway engineering.

- Soil condition, rain, sub-soil water level variation.

- Permitted tolerance in rail-alignment (vertically, horizontally, gauge, etc.), as defined by S/R machine designer.

Such ballast mounted rail is likely to need periodic checking by your civil engineering dept, for rail alignment, etc., particularly during initial settling period (some months), and corrective measures.

Possibly, as I remember, Neyveli (India) Power Station has one machine on such track (there may be also more).

Regards,

Ishwar G. Mulani

Author of Book: Engineering Science And Application Design For Belt Conveyors (new print November, 2012)

Author of Book: Belt Feeder Design And Hopper Bin Silo

Advisor / Consultant for Bulk Material Handling System & Issues.

Pune, India.

Tel.: 0091 (0)20 25871916

Email: conveyor.ishwar.mulani@gmail.com

Website: www.conveyor.ishwarmulani.com ■

I imagine this almost 5 year old thread had reached the end of the line some time ago: soon after the thread starter had realised that he did not really understand what he was asking. ■