Grade crossings: from concrete and wood to rubber, steel and composite, manufacturers continue to look for new materials and new products to make crossings better

Railway Track and Structures, June, 2004 by Mischa Wanek

HiRAIL has developed a new system for installing its full-depth rubber on concrete ties. The new system uses steel rods with plates at the end, which are placed through channels in the gauge and field pads. The rods are threaded together as the crossing is installed to create a continuous solid crossing surface to prevent any pad separation.

The company lists the following among its product's advantages: Rubber is resistant to a wide variety of chemicals, including road salt; the tongue-and-groove design provides a watertight seal, ensures uniform mating of pads and keeps debris out of the roadbed; no lag screws through the rubber lessens crosstie degradation. Rubber dampens the forces of vehicles over the crossing; 100-percent rubber composition helps eliminate false shunting of track circuits; only light equipment, such as a backhoe, is required for installation and HiRAIL crossings can be recycled at the end of their useful life.

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Performance Polymers Inc. designs and manufactures a wide range of standard and custom rubber profiles designed for highway-crossing surfaces and rail track isolation. Standard Railseal profiles are available for all rail sizes and fastening configurations. Railseal profiles are installed using a proprietary and patented clamping system.

OMNI Products produces a variety of virgin-rubber crossing systems, including Heavy Duty, Steel Reinforced and RailGuard, a full-depth, flangeway filler designed to protect the track by absorbing traffic impact loads. Each of these 100-percent virgin-rubber products is compression molded to produce a homogenous material in which the surface and interior materials are one.

Rail-Way, Inc., also manufactures full-depth rubber grade crossings. The crossings are manufactured in 39-inch lengths and are available for wood or concrete ties. The panels are available for tangent crossings, as well as curves of up to 22 degrees. The panels can be installed with a crew of three and a backhoe and no shims, cables or filler blocks are required for installation. The company notes that the square-grid, molded-rubber surface aids in water channeling, as well as providing protection from oils and chemicals.

Steel

Steel Crossings, Inc., has manufactured steel surface crossings the company says won't crack, chip or breakup for more than 20 years.

The STEELPLANK modules are made of heavy-gauge steel plates with a diamond plate and epoxy/abrasive finish that permits normal traffic speeds without jolting or skidding. The company also makes special sidewalk modules that provide a safe crossing surface for pedestrians and bicycles.

Walter Reineman, Sr., president of Steel Crossings, believes the products' expected life gives them an edge. "Longevity is our motto--place them and forget them. Very rarely do they need to be replaced."

Wood

Burke-Parsons-Bowlby Corp. manufactures flangeway timber for timber-and-asphalt crossings and full-panel solid timber crossings. All of its crossings can be manufactured to all rail heights and tie spacing. Both the Flangeway and the Solid Timber Rail Crossing are manufactured with a flangeway clearance notch to prevent the crushing of the field panel edge.