LIFE CYCLE COST ANALYSIS FOR REINFORCED GEOGRID RAILWAY TRACK

Abstract

The development of railway transportation is facing many challenges, and one of the main challenges is the reduction of track costs. The total cost of railway transportation is derived from construction, maintenance and operation of infrastructure, manufacturing and maintenance of vehicles, as well as fuel production. Since maintenance, costs for the conventional ballasted railway track could be significantly reduced if the developed settlement under loading decreased. The reduction of railway track costs is critical for the competitiveness of railway operators since other competing modes of transportation (e.g. automotive, aviation) have seen a tremendous decrease in life cycle cost in the previous years. In contrast, the prices of railway maintenance have not decreased significantly at the same time. The objective of this study is mainly to focus on the reduction in the railway track cost due to the use of geogrid reinforcement. The results showed a decrease of railway track cost for the sub-ballast reinforced model (4.1%), the ballast reinforced model was (6.5%), and the double reinforced model was (3.73%) as compared to the unreinforced track.