Nonwovens in railway foundation to provide extra protection, stabilization and seperation
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Summary:
Eastern Russia - Baikal - Amur Mainline (BAM) - Russian Federation
DuPont de Nemours (Luxembourg) S.àr.l.
DuPont™ Typar® SF chosen and installed in railway foundation to provide extra protection and stabilization by separating installed aggregate layer from permafrost soil in severe terrain.
The challenge of difficult soil conditions and the importance of this railway line required a strong supportive geotextile for this renovation project. Due to the durability of DuPont ™ Typar® SF and its high initial modulus, DuPont™ Typar® SF was chosen to provide additional protection and safety for this strategic railroad under permafrost conditions. Thanks to its high initial modulus, DuPont™ Typar® SF stabilizes the structure of the railway embankment when it is exposed to heavy railway traffic.
It has also been possible to reduce the amount of cubic meters of aggregates required and reduce the cost of aggregates, their transportation, installation and the environmental impact. In addition to the excellent separation and filtration performance, the high energy absorption potential of DuPont™ Typar® SF geotextile offered the necessary resistance during the installation process.
The Baikal–Amur Mainline (BAM) is an important railway line in Russia. It is connected to the Trans-Siberian Railway in the east Siberian city Tayshet and ends in Sowetskaja Gawan at the Pacific Ocean. It is traversing Eastern Siberia and the Russian Far East over a distance of 4,324 km. The initial construction of this railway line started already in the 1970s and was finished in 1991. With the increasing cargo transport from China to Europe and the high demand, a renovation was started in 2019 with a federal budget of more than 8 billion Euros.
The increase in load and traffic required a strong and stabilized basement of the BAM structure on permafrost soil. More than 500,000 of square meters of DuPont™ Typar® SF were installed in the foundations of the BAM railway. The amount of aggregates transported to the installation locations is more than 400,000 m³. The separation between aggregates and the prepared platform was crucial for stabilizing the entire structure of the railway. Resistance to damage during installation was also important as it required heavy construction equipment to move the materials if they were dropped from the railcar.