Sleepers

Sleepers:

• Sleepers are the members generally laid

transverse to the rails on which rails are supported
and fixed.
 Functions of sleepers:
• To hold rails to correct gauge and alignment.

• To act as an elastic medium in between ballast

and rails to absorb blows and vibrations of moving
loads.

• To transfer load to wider area of ballast or girder.

• Sleepers also add to longitudinal and lateral
stability of permanent track on whole.

• They also provide means to rectify track

geometry during service life.
 Requirement of sleepers:
• The sleepers should be economical i.e. they should
have minimum initial and maintenance cost.

• Sleepers should have moderate weight and easy to

handle.

• The bearing area of sleepers should be enough to

resist crushing of ballast.

• The design of sleepers should be such that gauge,

alignment of track and levels of rails can be easily adjusted
and maintained.
• The fitting of sleepers should be easily adjusted
during lifting , packing , removal.

• The sleepers should be capable of resisting shocks

and vibrations.

• An ideal sleeper should also have an anti-

sabotage and anti-theft qualities.
Classification of sleepers:

Sleepers are classified

according to materials used in their construction
as follow:
1. Wooden Sleepers
2. Steel Trough Sleepers
3. Cast Iron Sleepers
4. Concrete Sleepers
1. Wooden Sleepers:

• These are older version of sleepers.

• The wood used for manufacturing wooden

sleepers is hard wood such as sal and teak.

• Wooden sleepers should be made of thoroughly

sound and seasoned wood such that moisture
content in sleepers should not be more than 25 %.

• Service life of wooden sleepers is 15-20 years.

Advantages of wooden sleepers:

• As timber is easily available it is cheap.

• Wooden sleepers have good dampening effect.

• Wooden sleepers are easy to manufacture, lay, relay

and handle.

• Correction to alignment is easy.

• Wooden sleepers are suitable for all types of ballast.

Disadvantages of wooden sleepers:

• These sleepers have shorter life as they are subjected

wear, decay, attack by white ants etc.

• It is difficult to maintain gauge in case of wooden

sleepers.

• They are susceptible to fire hazard.

• Scrap value is negligible.

• These sleepers have got minimum service life as

compared to other types of sleepers..
Composite sleeper index (C.S.I):

This is an index to determine suitability of a

particular timber for use as a sleeper from point of
view of mechanical strength. The C.S.I is calculated
from relation :

C.S.I=(S+10H)/20
where,
S= strength index at 12 % moisture content
H= hardness index at 12 % moisture content.
 Minimum value of C.S.I prescribed on Indian
Railways is as follows:

i. Track sleeper – 783

ii. Crossing sleeper – 1352
iii. Bridge sleeper - 1455
Size of Timber sleeper:

The standard dimension for a normal track sleeper

and their bearing areas are:
Gauge Length Width Depth Bearing area
(cm) (cm) (cm) per sleeper
(sq.m)
B.G 275 25 12.5 0.465
M.G 180 20 11.5 0.31

N.G 150 18 11.5 0.21

 2.Steel Trough Sleepers:

• It consist of rolled steel plate of 12 mm thick.

• It is pressed to suitable trough shape and rail seat
is canted to 1 in 20.
• The ends of these sleeper are flattened out to
retain ballast.
• There are two types of such sleeper:
a. ST sleeper with pressed out legs
b. ST sleeper with loose jaws
Advantages of Steel Trough Sleeper:

• Longer life.

• Better lateral stability.

• Free from decay and fire hazard.

• Lesser damage and handling during transportation.

• Good scrap value.

• Less maintenance problem.

Disadvantages of Steel Trough Sleeper:

• Liable to corrosion.

• Unsuitable to track circuiting.

• Becomes center bound due to sloping ends.

• These are rail specific.

• Develops cracks at rail seat.

3. Cast Iron Sleeper:

Cast iron sleeper have been extensively used in

India and on a small scale in South America. They
are of following types:
I. Pot or bowl sleeper
II. Plate sleeper
III. C.S.T-9 sleeper
1. Pot or bowl sleeper:

• They consist of two bowls or pots placed

inverted
on the ballast.
• An effective bearing area of 0.232 sq.m is
provided under each rail support.
• The section of tie bar is rectangle with 5 cm
depth
and 2 cm width.
• Fitting are hidden and therefore maintenance of
this sleeper is difficult.
• The weight of sleeper is 114 kg.
• These cannot be used on curves sharper than 4’
on B.G.
• On top of pot, rail seat or chair is provided to
hold F.F rail or B.H rail respectively.
2. Plate sleeper:

• This sleeper consist of rectangular plates about

86.5 cm X 30.5 cm in size with 30.5 cm side
parallel to rails and of projecting ribs under
plates for lateral stability.

• The plates are held in position with tie bars.

• It provides effective bearing area of 0.464 sq.m

per sleeper on B.G.
• The various types of cast iron plate sleeper are
being used such as:
a. Denham and olphert sleeper
b. Laisly sleeper
c. C.S.T-4
d. C.S.T-9
3. C.S.T- 9 sleeper:

• This sleeper was standardized by Track

Standard Committee.

• Used from last thirty year in India.

• It is combination of pot, plate and box sleeper.

• It has triangular inverted pot on either side of

rail seat, a plate with projecting rib and box on
top of plate.
• C.S.T -9 sleeper for B.G weighs 103 kg.

• Bearing area is approximately equal to

effective bearing area of wooden sleeper.

• Loosening of ballast due to transmission of

shocks directly.

• Causes early wearing of rail seat.

Advantages of C.I.Sleeper:

• Lesser corrosion.

• Lesser liable to crack at rail seat.

• High scrap value.

• Easy to manufacture.
Disadvantages of C.I.Sleeper:

• Gauge maintenance is difficult.

• Lesser lateral stability.

• Unsuitable for track circuiting, mechanical

maintenance.

• Susceptible to breakage.
4. Concrete Sleeper:

Experiments have been conducted in

India and abroad on concrete sleepers and it has
been prove that concrete is an ideal material for the
sleepers because :
1. They are made of a strong homogeneous
material, impervious to effects of moisture and is
unaffected by chemical attack of atmospheric gases.

2. It is moulded easily to size and shape required.

Advantages of Concrete Sleeper:
• Being heavy gives strength and stability to track.

• These sleepers are free from natural decay and

attacks by vermin, insects, corrosion , fire hazard
etc.

• They have maximum life i.e.40 to 50 years.

• There is no difficulty in track circuiting , required

for electrifying track.
• Suitable for LWR due to resistance due to
buckling.

• Better mechanical maintenance.

• Use of local resources possible.

Disadvantages of Concrete Sleeper:

• Handling and laying difficult.

• Heavy damages during derailment.

• No scrap value.

• Not suitable for beater packing.

• Cost increase due to use of mechanical handling

procedure.
 Sleeper Density:

• Sleeper density is number of sleepers per

rail length.
• It is specified as M+x, where M is length
of rail meters and x is number between 4 to7.
• The factors governing the sleeper density are:
a. Axle load and speed
b. Type of rail
c. Type of ballast
d. Type of sleeper
e. Nature of foundation
 Sleeper Spacing:
Spacing of sleeper on Fish plate track:
Spacing of sleeper c/c distance in
cm
Between joint sleeper 30-45

Between joint sleeper and first 61

shoulder sleeper

Between first shoulder sleeper and 70 -72

second shoulder sleeper
 Sleeper Spacing:
Spacing of sleeper on welded track:

No. of sleeper per c/c Spacing between

km sleeper in cm

1660 60

1540 65

1310 78