Overview
The Swiss railway-network has actually lots of private sidings. A great number of these sidings shall be renewed and adapted in a near future. It is already to expect that with the construction of new industrial installations and distribution centrums, new private sidings will be necessary.
The actual guidelines are not yet satisfying since they are partially out of date and not enough respected for the mixed superficies rail/road. In the context of a research-work the actual practice and the existing guidelines shall be analyzed and completed, and examined to their concordance with the railway prescriptions (EBV and RTE) and the road-norms (VSS).
The elements have to be examined with the newest theoretic calculation-models and the results compared to practical experience. The existing railway guidelines and planning-recommendations shall be transferred into a VSS norm.
The aim of the project is working out the basics for standards for planning, projecting, constructing and maintaining private sidings. Principles for planning, construction and maintenance shall be defined under consideration of life cycle optimization as well as of railway and road standards. The existing railway guidelines and recommendations of the SGL shall be transferred into a VSS standard.
The project contents following activities:
- Baseline survey / research
- Collating siding types / discussions with shippers
- Operational concept for siding types
- Design "rules, planning and construction basics siding"
- Workshop with rail and road experts
- Development of the regulatory framework "planning and construction" basis
- Trade order rules
- Graphic Design Option
Funding
Results
Swiss road asset management practice currently conducts condition assessment for objects in thematic fields (for instance: concrete and bitumen paving, civil engineering structures). However, abundant other assets within the influence of roads and streets exist. These are presently neither included in any condition assessment directive nor in condition assessment practice and lack recommendations for condition assessment.
In absence of such condition assessment, recommendations for structural measures and budget plans may possibly be incomplete. Hence the key research questions are: What exactly are ‘subordinate road assets’? Which ‘subordinate road assets’ require condition assessment in order to provide additional information in the context of holistic asset management? For which ‘subordinate road assets’ is the associated extra effort uneconomical and would only overstrain the responsible road network operators?
In the framework of the project a world-wide literature retrieval was conducted for ‘subordinate road assets’, which resulted in about 700 road assets. After reassessment and after suggesting a conceptual definition, 43 ‘subordinate road assets’ remain for the Swiss context. Since the occurrence of these assets varies according to the hierarchy and function of the road, a classification of roads was suggested. Each road class is represented by a typical section and profile. ‘Subordinate road assets’ were associated to each of them.
The main task in order to answer the second research question evolved to be the development of a selection scheme for an appropriate management strategy per ‘subordinate road asset’. In order to select an appropriate management strategy for each subordinate road asset, a concept was drawn on the basis of reliability centered maintenance. Constituted after this concept, functions of the subordinate road assets and their components were first determined. Subsequently, failure modes and effects, not only on the subordinate road assets, but also on the road as guidance system were explored. Subsequently, by means of a selection scheme, those subordinate road assets were selected, for which condition assessment is effective and efficient.
The selection bases on following selection criteria:
- Severity of failure effects (on the account of road network operators and road users, on traffic safety and for the environment)
- Expected u
Other results
The existing railway guidelines and planning-recommendations shall be transferred into a VSS norm.