Bridges

[tomikawaTT]

I was wondering if it's common practice to ballast the track that goes over bridges such as plate girders or truss.Thanks 

Ballasted decks are very common on:

• Plate girder bridges, both deck and through.
• Stone and concrete arch viaducts - think Starucca or Tunkhannock.
• Modern concrete beam structures.
• Deck trusses with either wider-than-gauge or multitruss understructure.

They are less common on through trusses, but not entirely unknown.

The engineering department actually prefers ballasted decks, which use standard ties (rather than heavier 'bridge' ties required with open decks) and standard tracklaying procedures (no need for bolting.)  It's a lot easier to keep the rails in horizontal and vertical alignment as the bridge abutments settle - which they will, unless they are set on solid bedrock.

Chuck (whose prototype didn't use ballasted decks - darn it)

[perisher]

I was wondering if it's common practice to ballast the track that goes over bridges such as plate girders or truss.Thanks