Manufacture of railway sleepers ofprestressed concrete using optimisedcompaction methods

Normal railway sleepers – in Germany for example the type “B 70“ – and also crossing sleepers, are produced as prestressed and prefabricated concrete parts. The concrete which is poured into the sleeper moulds must be greatly compacted in order on the one hand to achieve the required strength and on the other to perfectly surround the reinforcement, which is in the form of pre-tensioned steel wires. Fig. 1 shows a new production process which was first used in Spain and which is supremely able to fulfil the high requirements as regards compaction.

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