Surcharge Caused by Railway Spur 1

[DaveAtkins]

I am checking a sheet pile bulkhead along a river, with a railway spur in the active zone. Does anyone have a reference for the surcharge (PSF) to use for analysis?

DaveAtkins

 

[dik]

Dave:
Can you find out what the rail traffic is to get a handle on the intended loading? Can treat as a line load. Do you have access to a good geotekkie?

Dik

 

[DaveAtkins]

Yes, we have geotechnical engineers in house. I will check with them.

DaveAtkins

 

[JoelTXCive]

I think that AREMA (American Railway Engineering & Maintenance) has a design document that has loading information in it. (not a 100% sure of this but it's worth exploring)

https://www.arema.org/publications/mre/index.aspx

 

[DaveAtkins]

My geotech recommended using a 2000 PSF strip load, for the width of the railway ties.

DaveAtkins

 

[PEinc]

Most railroads require a Cooper E80 surcharge which is an 8.5' wide strip load with a vertical pressure of 1,882 psf (= 80,000# axle load at 5' spacing on 8.5' wide ties). Sometimes, a railroad will also specify a percent increase for impact. In addition, most railroads require this load to be applied using Boussinesq analysis for a rigid wall. Most railroads I deal with have specifications on application of this LL surcharge. Check AREMA.

http://www.PeirceEngineering.com

 

[dik]

Thanks PEInc...

Dik

 

[dhengr]

DaveAtkins:
I’d check with the servicing RR and/or the RR which owns the spur, they will tell you what they want you to use, they try to keep pretty tight control over this kinda stuff. They really hate picking engines out of the water. They all have their own pet criteria for these things, although it will likely be in the range of what Peinc laid out.