US2750118A

US2750118A - Track and road bed construction

Info

Publication number: US2750118A
Application number: US336142A
Authority: US
Inventors: John A Hastings; Weber Carl
Original assignee: TRANSP DEV CORP
Current assignee: TRANSP DEV CORP; TRANSPORTATION DEVELOPMENT Corp
Priority date: 1953-02-10
Filing date: 1953-02-10
Publication date: 1956-06-12
Anticipated expiration: 1973-06-12

Description

June 12, 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 10, 1953 INVENTORS CAM W555? w m&

JOH/VA. HAST/N ATTORNEY June 2. 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL 2,750,118

TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 10, 1955 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS B CAR! 'Wfezfi,

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BY 5 ATTORNEY June 12, 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL 2,750,118

TRACK AND ROAD CONSTRUCTION 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS 6/?! WFBER Filed Feb. 10, 1953 Jay/v A HASH/V619 B Ai IORNEY June 12, 1956 J. A. HASTINGS ET AL 2,750,113

TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION Filed Feb. 10, 1953 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 i IINVENTORS CARA WiBfi/Q, HN A. HASH/V68,

ATTORNEY United States Patent O TRACK AND ROAD BED CONSTRUCTION John A. Hastings, Great Neck, and Carl Weber, New York, N.Y., assignors, by mesne assignments, to The Transportation Development Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application February 10, 1953, Serial No. 336,142 4 Claims. (Cl. 238-25) This invention relates to the construction of railroads and may be utilized in urban, surburban, interurban, overland and transcontinental services.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a railroad construction which is more economical to construct and will facilitate the operation of cars and trains at higher speeds, with greater safety and at less cost of maintenance of the road itself and of the rolling stock operating thereover.

While great advances have been made in railroad rolling stock, it is still the universal custom to grade a rightof-way, to add rock or other ballast, to lay wooden crossties and to anchor the rails to the ties, thus forming a roadbed. The largest number and the most serious railroad accidents have always been and still are due to roadbed failures, which result in spreading or broken rails. Roadbeds fail when a section or area is unstable as on fills and on inherently unstable ground. Continuous and costly maintenance and constant inspection is and must be practised because the inherent weaknesses remain. Also, in certain parts of the United States and, more so in tropical countries, torrential rains occur several times yearly. These rains create streams and run-oflFs of such depth and force that roadbeds may be weakened, and at times, completely washed out.

An object of'this invention is to provide a railroad composed of a system or tandem series of very sturdy and rigid rectangular concrete sections or frames which will be highly stable against distortion, and to lay the rails thereon. The rails are anchored directly to the sections without the use of cross-ties.

Another object is to provide supports for the concrete sections in the form of concrete piers located at the corners of the sections in such manner that each section corner is supported by a pier jointly with the corner of an adjacent section. The piers will vary in height to adjust the tracks to the terrain of the ground. If the ground being traversed by one section is solid rock it may rest directly thereon, but otherwise it is recommended that the piers be of such height that the bottoms of the concrete sections are substantially above the ground by some distance as, for instance, two feet. In rather rough country the piers will vary in height from one to the other and may become quite high where obstaclesor streets are to be spanned. The supports are adjusted in height to maintain the roadbed level as opposed to adjusting the level of the ground.

Another object is to provide improved means for anchoring the sections to the piers, and improved means for anchoring and relating the tracks to the sections so that neither the tracks nor the sections will drift laterally or longitudinally.

More particularly it is an object to provide a firmly anchored, rigid roadbed and to lay the rails thereon without the use of cross-ties but with a continuous strip of rubber separating the rails from the concrete beams. Thus, the concrete is protected against high frequency vibrations, the cars thereover will be similarly protected, thus 2,750,118 Patented June 12, 1956 running more quietly and the tracks will have longer life.

A further object is to teach the manufacture of the road frames by pre-fabn'cation so that once the piers are placed and ready, the frames may be hauled by a train which lays them and thereafter runs over the laid section to permit laying of the next frame or section.

Other objects and advantages will become hereinafter more fully apparent as reference is had to the accompanying drawings in which my invention is illustrated and in which Figure 1 is a top plan view of a concrete frame, ready to receive the rails,

Figure 2 is a longitudinal vertical section taken along the line 22 of Figure 1, showing also the rail in dotted lines and showing ground terrain,

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the section of Figures 1 and 2 showing the rails in full lines and showing a ground terrain different from that of Figure 2, and also showing portions of adjacent frames,

Figure 4 is a transverse vertical line 44 of Figure 1,

Figure 5 is an enlargened side elevation of two frames resting on a common pier, ready for grouting,

Figure 6 is a vertical section taken along the line 6-6 of Figure 5 after application of the grout.

Figure 7 is an enlargened side elevation of the ends of two frames resting on a pier, partially broken away to show the expansion joint construction,

Figure 8 is a top plan view of the showing in Figure 7, broken away along the line 8-8 of Figure 7 for explanatory purposes,

Figure 9 is a vertical transverse section taken along the line 9-9 of Figure 10,

Figure 10 is a side elevation of a section of track at a point where the rails are anchored,

Figure 11 is a fragmentary side elevation of a section of roadbed showing one rail supported by a continuous strip of rubber,

Figure 12 is a top elevation of one rail and its supporting beam, with rubber supporting the rail, and

Figure 13 is a vertical transverse section taken along the line 13-13 of Figure 11.

More particularly, the reference numeral 1 indicates the longitudinal track supporting beams upon which the tracks are laid. These beams are made of concrete re-inforced by longitudinal rods 3 which are preferably, also prestressed, as is well understood in the art. The beams 1 are connected by a plurality of concrete cross-members 2, thus forming a highly rigid rectangular frame to receive rails 4.

The members 1 and 2 may be prefabricated at some convenient point and hauled to the point of laying, or the section 1, 2 may be fabricated in forms at the point of use. If fabricated at the point of use, it is recommended that the re-inforcing rods 3 be supplemented by incorporating vertical re-inforcing wires 5, as illustrated in Figure 4, and that re-inforcing rods 6 of the cross-members 2 be wrapped around the vertical wires 5.

If the members 1 and 2 are pre-fabricated, then it is recommended that slots or grooves 7 be provided in the beams 1 to receive the cross-members 2, whereupon a sealing grout is poured in the remaining cracks to make an integral union of the two.

The beams 1 are each molded with a series of spaced holes or depressions 8, as best seen in Figure 9, to receive the hold-down bolts 9. These bolts are sealed in place by a grout after the beams 1 are in place.

The rigid frame is supported at each corner by pier posts 10 which have been previously set in place. The setting of the posts 10 requires full knowledge of the subsoil structure and fabrication of a base therefor which will not sink or rock for indefinite periods of time. It

section taken along the is preferable that the base of each pier post find support on solid rock, but when this is not possible then it must be of such depth and size as to remain stable. Each post must, therefore, be fabricated with great care so that the frame 1, 2 which rests thereon will remain firmly supported and accurately in place. Each post 10' supports one end of two adjacent beams l. The height of the beams above ground will vary greatly. Where the terrain is hilly and of solid rock their height above ground may become practically Zero, as illustrated in Figure 3; where there is no particular requirement for height and only water run-off need be considered, the height may well be about two feet; and where very irregular ground with dips and ditches are to be spanned, their height may attain many feet. Also if it is desired, the height may be suificient to elevate the tracks above roads for automotive vehicles to the point where it becomes a true elevated structure through cities and towns.

As best shown in Figures 7 and 8, each beam may be provided with a metallic plate 11 to rest upon and have sliding contact with a metallic plate 12 on top of each post 10. This will allow for expansion and contraction under heat. In order to maintain the alignment of the beams 1 we provide metallic dowels 13 in one beam 1 for sliding engagement with sockets 14 embedded in the adjacent beam 1. These expansion joints may not be necessary at every pier post and may not be necessary at all in certain climates. Where they are not used the construction will be as illustrated in Figure 5.

In Figures and 6 it will be seen that some or all of the reinforcing rods 3 project outwardly of the ends of each beam 1 so that they overlap the rods 3 of the adjacent beam 1. Vertical pins 14 project upwardly from the posts to establish and help maintain the alignment of the beams 1 with respect to each other and with respect to the posts 10. Grout is then poured into the space between the ends of the rails to form a union therebetween.

As illustrated in Figures 6 and 9, a thin steel strip 15 is then laid on top of the beams 1, the tracks 4 are placed on this strip 15 and fish plates 16 anchor the tracks to the beams 1, the fish plates being anchored to the beams 1 by means of the bolts 9. While this construction is entirely practical, it is preferred that the tracks be laid as illustrated in Figures 11, 12 and 13.

In these figures it is seen that the beams 1 are cast with a groove 17 longitudinal thereof, and that a strip of rubber 18 extends continuously along this groove. A thin metal strip 19 continuously covers the rubber 18 and the tracks 4 rest on the strip 19. The bolts 9, previously described, anchor the fish plates 20 to the beams 1 and the fish plates 20, in turn, anchor the tracks.

The rubber of which the strip 18 is made should be of good quality in order to provide actual resiliency. The width of the rubber must be computed so that it will not be overstressed for the loading to which it is to be subjected.

Various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention and I therefore desire to be extended protection as defined by the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. A railroad construction comprising a double row of spaced pier posts, a series of rigid track supporting sections each composed of two parallel concrete beams rigidly connected by transverse members, said sections each being supported at its corners by one of said pier 4 posts jointly with a corner of an adjacent track section, metallic dowels anchoring each of said beams to each adjacent beam, the ends of said beams being slightly spaced from each other, dowels anchored in said pier posts and arising in the spaces between said beams active against the first named dowels to maintain said beams in anchored alignment, and'a filler material filling said space between said beams protecting said dowels against exposure to moisture.

2. A railroad construction comprising a double row of spaced pier posts, a series of rigid track supporting sections each composed of two parallel concrete beams rigidly connected by transverse members, said sections each being supported at its corners by one of said pier posts jointly with a corner of an adjacent track section, said beams each being slightly spaced from adjacent beams and having metallic dowel means longitudinally thereof for engagement with dowel means of the adjacent beam, some of said dowel means being composed of relatively movable members to permit expansion and contraction of said beams, other dowels anchored in said pier posts and extending into the space between said beams in contact with the first named dowels, and filler material protecting said dowels against exposure.

3. A railroad construction comprising a double row of spaced pier posts, a series of rigid track supporting sections each composed of two parallel concrete beams rigidly connected by transverse members, said sections each being supported at its corners by one of said pier posts jointly with a corner of an adjacent track section, said beams each being slightly spaced from adjacent beams and having metallic dowel means longitudinally thereof for engagement with dowel means of the adjacent beam, some of said dowel means being composed of relatively movable members to permit expansion and contraction of said beams, other dowels anchored in said pier posts and extending into the space between said beams in contact with the first named dowels, filler material protecting said dowels against exposure, rails laid on said beams, and means connecting said rails directly to said beams without the interposition of cross-ties.

4. In a railroad construction, the combination of parallel concrete beams rigidly connected by cross-members, said beams each having a groove longitudinally thereof, a strip of resilient material in said groove, a rail on said rubber, bolts embedded in said beams alongside said rails and tie plates secured by said bolts against said beams, said tie plates having vertical wall portions, rubber between each of said vertical wall portions and said rails, said rails being movable with respect to said beams against the resiliency of said resilient material and said rubber, said tie plates being slidable with respect to said rails in response to movement of said rails with respect to said beams.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 128,120 Connelly June 18, 1872 188,617 Foster Mar. 20, 1877 189,381 Palm et a1. Apr. 10, 1877 788,570 Wight et al. May 2, 1905 791,772 Gow June 6, 1905 948,236 Miller Feb. 1, 1910 969,966 Lyman Sept. 13, 1910 1,024,852 Holmberg Apr. 30, 1912 1,435,618 Newell Nov. 14, 1922