Bantalan Slab

Slab track, System "Rheda 2000", sebelum dicor dengan beton.

Adalah bantalan yang langsung menjadi satu dengan badan jalan yang dicor dalam bentuk slab.
Pengerjaan harus sangat teliti untuk mendapatkan kualitas penggunaan yang nyaman.
Investasi untuk pembangunan lintasan dengan bantalan slab lebih besar dari bantalan beton atau
baja tetapi biaya perawatannya jauh lebih rendah.
Digunakan untuk membangun lintasan kereta api cepat, lintasan yang arus lalu lintas kereta apinya
tinggi.

Why Build Slab Track?
Slab track, also called ballastless track, is a modern form of track construction which has been used
successfully throughout the world for high speed lines, heavy rail, light rail and tram systems.
Slab track technology offers proven higher performance in service and a longer life than traditional
ballasted track.
Traditional ballasted track
On traditional ballasted track, the rail is mounted onto a wooden or concrete sleeper. The sleeper
sits on a bed of ballast (crushed rock) which distributes the loading to the subgrade. Top ballast is
placed between the sleepers and on the shoulders to provide longitudinal and lateral stability.
Traditional ballasted track has been used since the earliest days of the Victorian railways and has
changed little in concept since that time.
Ballasted track is relatively quick to lay, and readily maintained by a fleet of specialist track
maintenance equipment. However, the nature of ballasted track means that the track can and will
move under load; routine maintenance is always required to restore line and level, and clean or
replace ballast regularly.
Concrete Slab Track
With concrete track slab systems, the ballast is replaced by a rigid concrete track slab which
transfers the load and provides track stability. Resilience is introduced into the track system by
means of elastomeric components. These may be pads, bearings or springs depending on the type of
slab track system.
There are broadly five types of generic slab track system:
Embedded rail
Booted sleepers
Direct fixing and resilient baseplates
Cast-in sleepers
Floating slab
Within each generic group there are a large number of variants and proprietary systems available.
Slab track can be designed and optimised to suit the required application.
Benefits of slab track
Slab track offers the following advantages over traditional ballasted track:
Very low maintenance requirements
Shallow construction depth
Reduced dead load
Reduced structure gauge
Higher speed operation
Engineered noise and vibration performance
Long design life
Increased reliability
Increased availability
Low whole-life cost
A sustainable solution
Very low maintenance requirements
Slab track systems require little routine maintenance. An inspection regime is, of course, necessary,
but because the track is fixed in position there is no requirement for regular realignment of the rails.
The very low maintenance requirement also means that track workers spend less time trackside,
improving worker safety.
There are examples of slab track installations where little or no maintenance (including rails and
pads) has been carried out for over 25 years.
Shallow Construction depth
Many slab track systems require less construction depth than the equivalent ballasted system.
Embedded rail systems and resilient baseplate track types require the least depth. This is an
advantage in tunnels where headroom and gauge clearances are particularly important.
Reduced dead load
On structures, the reduced construction depth means reduced dead load.
Reduced structure gauge
Because slab track is fixed in position and will not move out of line or level under load, a reduced
structure gauge can be used. This means that tunnel bore dimensions can be reduced, or higher
running speeds can be achieved.
Higher speed operation
Concrete slab track offers a greater degree of trackbed stability than ballasted track. Therefore
higher running speeds are achievable.
Experience with use of ballast at high speed (350 kph) has shown that fine particles can be sucked
out of the track by the passing train. These particles are deposited on the rail surface and cause
damage when run over by the wheels. In some areas this has required use of glued ballast to
stabilise the track bed.
Engineered noise and vibration performance
Slab track can be designed to meet the required performance criteria in terms of noise and
vibration. The slab track system can be selected to suit particular requirements e.g. booted sleepers
or floating slab will perform well for locations sensitive to ground-borne vibration. Within each
generic system, the resilient components can be selected to optimise the balance between acoustic
performance and rail stability.
Long design life
An estimate of design life for traditional ballasted track is around 15 years, (see Britpave's Life Cycle
Study) After which, the track requires renewal.
A concrete track slab is typically constructed with a design life of at least 60 years.
Increased reliability & availability
Slab track systems are more reliable than ballasted track, requiring little routine maintenance.
Consequently fewer possessions of the track are required for maintenance, increasing the
availability of the track for running trains.
Low whole life cost
Although the capital cost of slab track systems is usually higher than the equivalent ballasted track,
the long design life and minimal maintenance requirement for slab track systems means that overall
their whole life cost is lower than that of traditional ballasted track.
In the past, slab track systems were seen as expensive. While this is still true for the most
sophisticated systems e.g. floating mass-sprung slab, for many systems the ongoing innovation and
optimisation of slab track design is now reducing the capital cost to a level equivalent to ballasted
track, without compromising performance.
A sustainable solution
In 2007, Britpave, together with NTEC carried out a comparative study into the sustainability of
concrete slab track and traditional ballasted track. The study looked at an environmental life-cycle
analysis through the whole life of the track including source of materials, manufacturing,
construction, maintenance, decommissioning and recycling.
The study found that due to the long design life and low maintenance requirements of concrete slab
track, it was the more sustainable option over a 60 year and 120 year lifecycle.