Concrete Sleeper Design, Process & Delivery Solutions
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CONCRETE SLEEPER DESIGN, PROCESS & DELIVERY SOLUTIONS 1 SAFety, QUAlity, sustAinABility, innovAtion And EMployee trAining Are THE cornerstones OF AustrAK’S SUCCESS THE COMPANY Since its establishment in 1980, Austrak We have produced more than 18 million As a wholly-owned subsidiary of major has grown to become a world leader in the sleepers for medium and heavy duty rail, international construction company design and manufacture of pre-stressed and 800,000 sleepers for light rail and Laing O’Rourke, Austrak has the concrete sleepers. tramways. Over this time, we’ve created a backing of the largest privately owned broad range of products designed to meet construction firm in the United Kingdom. During more than 30 years of business, the varying needs of the rail industry. Laing O’Rourke provides Austrak with Austrak has cemented its place as the the backing of a global, multi-billion dollar largest concrete sleeper manufacturer Austrak partners with Swedish innovator organisation with operations in Europe, the and supplier in Australia. As a dedicated Abetong Teknik – a close relationship Middle East and Australasia. sleeper technology company our focus that enables the transfer of world-leading remains on achieving the best in sleeper technology and knowledge. Working Creativity, flexibility and an aligned focus design and manufacture. closely together, we ensure any new towards joint goals encapsulate Austrak’s developments in the field are quickly added business approach. Safety, quality, sustainability, to our available designs. innovation and employee training are the cornerstones of Austrak’s capability. As well as providing these pre-existing Working in close partnership with clients lines, we can work in partnership with provides an environment for driving clients to create new products that are innovation and change. tailor-made for their specific requirements. Long before the manufacturing process Austrak is an industry leader in the begins, we work in close partnership design, construction, commissioning with our clients in an open and highly and operation of concrete sleeper consultative way. We take the time manufacturing plants, having built and and strive to get a strong understanding run 12 factories in Australia and overseas. of our clients’ needs across all key areas Some of these factories have been – everything from ballast condition to custom-built for specific projects, and maintenance schedules. Our clients capacities range from 50,000 to more have input into the sleeper design from than 1 million sleepers per year. the very beginning and are encouraged to work alongside our design and engineering team. 2 3 “QUAlity And certAinty OF scHedule Are TWO OF THE Most IMportAnt THings For us. AustrAK HAS delivered on BotH counts.” Peter Thomas Project Director Port and Rail Expansion Projects, FMG INNOVATIVE PROVEN RELIABILITY SLEEPER SOLUTIONS Austrak specialises in providing concrete While we specialise in sleeper solutions, In over 30 years of operation, we have Austrak is a dedicated sleeper company sleeper solutions. Our core focus is to our real product is the intellectual property never had an ‘in track’ failure of any with a sole purpose - to provide high service our clients with cost-effective tied up in our factory designs and operating Austrak sleeper product. This is largely due quality engineered sleeper solutions using concrete sleeper solutions. Our emphasis systems. We have proven and robust to our in-house Factory Data Management state of the art manufacturing processes. on researching and developing sleeper systems, processes and equipment. Software, which is at the heart of our Benchmarking and performance design and production technologies Our focus on research and continuous factory management system. monitoring is used extensively to ensure ensures we remain industry leaders. improvement ensures we implement the It is the result of years of development and optimum manufacturing efficiency most innovative and efficient technologies. and performance. We make sure that all of our products captures the essential elements required to meet exacting standards including fit for Our factories operate under Austrak’s ensure that we consistently deliver Reliability, repeatability, and value for purpose structural design, beam strength, own work methods and quality assurance high-quality sleepers. We record and money are the hallmarks of the Austrak materials specification and selection, standards which are third party accredited capture everything from our raw materials system which has been continually concrete durability, manufacture process, to ISO 9001. The systems also comply with test results, to our operator training improved since our inception in 1980. correct stressing, concrete compaction, the requirements of ISO 14001. records, right through to our daily dimensional integrity, aesthetics, visual production and quality results. inspection processes, and performance We also operate an integrated testing processes. management system (IMS) which has various quality control processes built in. These include: • State-of-the-art concrete testing laboratories at all factories • Trained and competent management and operators • Management system that ensures compliance to the applicable standards including AS1085 Railway Track Material Specifications. 4 5 PRODUCT RANGE DESIGN Austrak’s versatile and comprehensive Austrak is an industry leader in the Austrak’s in-house research and range of products meets the various specialised field of manufacturing development capability ensures we can requirements and needs of our clients. pre-stressed concrete beams for turnouts, design sleepers and turnout beams for crossovers, diamonds and catchpoints. almost any type of railway requirement. We have designed sleepers to These have been developed for varying accommodate axle loads varying from nine Whether designed in-house or in axle loads and gauges as well as tonne for tram sleepers, through to conjunction with Abetong Teknik or divergance ranging from 1:6 through 30 tonne for freight railways, right up to other specialist consultants, Austrak’s to 1:25. 50 tonne axle loads for heavy haul lines. experience and network of specialists Austrak’s capabilities extend to producing ensure we deliver innovative solutions for Our product range includes: sleepers and turnout products using all new requirements. Designs can be made • Broad gauge approved fastening systems. from clients providing bending moments • Standard gauge or from basic load parameters. Our various Following an extensive research, • Narrow gauge design techniques can be used from development and testing process, Austrak • Narrow/standard dual gauge allowable stresses to limit state design. has developed timber replacement • Standard/broad gauge changeable Austrak has also developed and patented sleepers. The highly-engineered solution • Turnout bearers its own design techniques using specific for replacing ageing timber sleepers was • Level crossing panels data collected on the operating railroad. based on extensive rail track data and • Monorail analysis to ensure the sleepers are a similar Through innovation, value engineering and • Gauge widened sleepers size and match the specifications of the an unrelenting commitment to quality in • Guard rail sleepers line. The sleepers are longer-lasting, more sleeper design, manufacturing systems • Splay rail sleepers economical and lower maintenance than and processes we are striving to be the • End stop sleepers timber sleepers. world’s premier provider of concrete • Timber replacement sleepers (TRS) sleeper solutions. 6 7 TESTING PRODUCTION TECHNOLOGY Comprehensive testing is an integral Austrak has proven experience in factory Currently Austrak has factories in: part of Austrak’s design and production construction and operation. • Geelong, Victoria process. We create and refine sleeper We have proven and robust manufacturing • Rockhampton, Queensland designs to ensure they meet train speed systems, processes and equipment and • Port Hedland, Western Australia and load-bearing specifications. continual research ensures we remain a • Wagga Wagga, New South Wales Before mass producing a new design, leader in the field. • Dubai, United Arab Emirates the company carries out computer-based Our factory employees undergo rigorous modelling to prove the theoretical design. training to ensure quality, productivity and In the past we have built and operated Then exhaustive repeated-load tests on safety are of the highest standard. Our factories in: prototype sleepers are evaluated against operational and management staff bring • Mackay, Queensland the theoretical data and the client’s extensive experience to the business and • Wickham, Western Australia performance expectations. a client-focused approach to each project. • Townsville, Queensland During production we perform various • Katherine, Northern Territory Austrak builds and operates factories in tests to ensure the conformity of: • Tennant Creek, Northern Territory close proximity to large-scale projects to • South Hedland, Western Australia provide cost and time efficiencies. For • Materials utilised in the products; • Malaysia example, two factories were built in the • Prestressing; and Northern Territory to manufacture two • Concrete strengths million sleepers for the 1410 kilometre rail line from Alice Springs to Darwin, Sample sleepers are taken from each bed one of Australia’s largest infrastructure to ensure the final product meets testing