Service Condition of Railroad Corridors around the Insulated Rail Joints

AbstractRailroad corridors contain a large number of insulated rail joints (IRJs) that act as elements (critical to safety) in the circuitries of signaling and broken rail identification systems. IRJs are regarded as sources of excitation for the passage of loaded wheels that lead to high-impact forces. These forces in turn cause dips, cross levels, and twists to the railroad geometry in close proximity to the sections that contain IRJs, in addition to local damage to the railhead of the IRJs. Therefore, a systematic monitoring of IRJs in railroads is prudent to mitigate the potential risk of their sudden failure (e.g., broken tie plates) as a consequence of rail traffic. This paper presents a simple method of periodic recording of images using time-lapse photography and total station surveying measurements to understand the ongoing deterioration of IRJs and their surroundings. Over a 500-day period, data were collected to examine the trends in narrowing of the joint gap that is attributable to plastic de...