SIR Wea - ta sare Government of India-Ministry of Railways SRAM aaa afte arr ato Research Designs & Standards Organisation ARTS - 226 011 Lucknow - 226 011 é EPBX (0522) 2451200 DID (0522) 2450115 = Fax (0522) 2458500 DID (0522) 2465310, No. RS/G/108/Heavy Axle Load Dated 05.10.2015 Executive Director/ Civil Engineering (P) peel. Railway Board 0. New Detter 0001 ee Sub: Review of Blanket Layer * tte Ref.: This office letter of even no, dated 24.09.2015 ' 1.0 The subject matter has been reviewed comprehensively after deliberations at Railway Board ‘on 29,09,2015 & 01.10.2015, a 2.0 The Blanket layer is considered necessary to be provided between the subgrade and the ballast to perform following funetions:- (}) Distribution of Load to keep the stresses at various levels within permissible limits i) To prevent the percolation of water from top to subgarde (iii) To prevent fines from subgrade to migrate to top and thus to avoid contamination of 2.1 Requirement for distribution of Load for stresses at various level: works out as under: @) For 100 Kmph speed: 2.038 Kg/Cm? (i) For 75 kmph speed : 1.813 Kg/Cm? 2.2 To prevent the Water from top to percolate from top to subgarde:24 3.0 4.0 {his can also be achieved either by providing the prepared subgarde of good quality soil duly compacted or with blanket layer: In light of above, itis considered that by using prepared subgrade with 00d quality soil, the Tequirement of blanket can be considerably reduced. construction projects, (BrS8MK mar) Executive Director/Gdotech. Engg,2.0 Soil Exploration for formation design: 2.1 As formation design will primarily depend upon the type of soil being used in 2.2 The soil classification shall be done as per IS: 1498. To formulate the thicknesses of formation layers, various soil groups have been combines together to simplify the classification based on %age fines, in Table-1 below: [_ Hable — 1 Description of soil quality class Soil | Soil Sub | Description wart, “age Fines | Equivalent soil group as per Group | Group _ (size < 75 micron) IS classification A ~ | Soil containing fines < 12% GW, SW. GW-GM. SWS BI Soil containing fines < 12% GP, SP, GW-GC, GP-GM, GP-GC, SP-SM, SP-SC, SW- sc B B2 | Soil containing fines from 13% | GM, GC, SM, SC. GM-GC, to 50%. [| SM-sc c = Soil containing fines > 50%] CL, ME, CL-MiL, CL MT 3.0 Requirement of Blanket Layer: 31 The provision of blanket layer shall not be needed when formation’ earth fill embankment have : @ Rocky beds except those, which are very susceptible to weathering e.g. rocks consisting of shales and other soft rocks, which become muddy after coming into contact with water. i) Soil of GW, SW, GW-GM, SW-SM type — Soils conforming to specifications given in Para 4 below.32 33 33.1 3.3.2 545 34 4.0 41 Embankment | Prepared Subgrade Thickness of Fill Soil = Blanket ayer da Type oF Soil group | Thickness (mm) om) F [A Not Required NIL NIL. B ‘Ace 500 NIL (B12) BI (Fines< 12%) 350. 150. Cc [A 500 Nil BI (Fines< 12%) 500 150 For other conditions, the system of layered construction of embankment consisting of Prepared subgrade shall normally be followed. The Prepared sub-erade should normally consist of good quality soils with fines less than 12% (A or B1), Thickness of Prepared subgrade and Blanket Layer: The level of compaction of various layers of formation shall be ensured as defined in guidelines issued by RDSO, In case good quality soils with fines less than 12% (A or BI), are not available for preparation of subgrade economically, soils having fines between 12% to 50% (B2) can the used over embankment fill of soil group C. In such eases, the thickness of blockey layer over prepared subgrade of 500 mm thickness shall be kept as 250mm, The thieknese of blanket layer can be reduced to 150mm by use of Geotextile in consultation nity RDSO. mn case, the prepared subgrade is not considered on economic considerations and use of other types of soil not covered by above clauses is required, Railways may approach RDSO for getting guidance on deciding blanket thickness depth, Use of Geosynthetics (Geo textile/ Geo grids) shall be considered at places where it is economical to use it in combination with blanket as it reduces the requirement of thickness of blanket. Use and selection of Geosynthetics should be done in consultation with RDSO. Selection of top layers for design of formation as well as for blanket material as given in above Paras and further deviations from these provisions can be finally decided on techno-economic considerations by CAQ(Con) after recording the reasons. Specification of Blanket Material : The material for blanket layer over prepared sub-grade should be well graded granular material . The following specifications shall be ensured at the time of laying: i) Cu>7 and Ce between 1 and 3Fines (passing 75 microns): 3% to 10%. Minimum required Soaked CBR value 25 of the blanket material compacted at 100% of MDD.