Austrak - Pre-Stressed Concrete Railway Sleepers / Ties and Turnout Bearers

Since its establishment in 1980, Austrak has grown to become a leader in the design and manufacture of pre-stressed concrete railway sleepers (ties), turnout bearers and the associated factories. During this time, the company has produced more than 11 million sleepers for light, medium and heavy rail and tramways.

Austrak also introduced pre-stressed concrete bearers for turnouts, and crossings to Australia and has manufactured over 2,200 sets. The company is well-positioned to offer its clients a diverse range of track upgrade, maintenance sleeper and rail product solutions.

REPLACE EXISTING TIMBER TIES WITH LOW-PROFILE CONCRETE SLEEPERS

Austrak is committed to ongoing research and development, and has patented a railway sleeper design system to replace existing timber railway ties with low-profile concrete sleepers. The design methodology takes into account the measured dynamic loads on the sleepers for the specific rail track structure and traffic characteristics.

Austrak developed the in-track measurement technology in-house. Low-profile concrete sleepers have been manufactured and have successfully performed under traffic in significant numbers since 2005. So far 500,000 in track and counting.

CONCRETE RAILWAY SLEEPERS

Our concrete sleepers are suitable for many applications including (axle loads from 9t to 50t):

• Heavy haul mineral
• Inter-modal freight
• Inter-urban passenger
• Urban passenger
• Light rail and tramways

Gauge:

• Narrow (1,067mm)
• Standard (1,435mm)
• Broad (1,600mm)
• 2ft gauge (sugar cane industry)
• Narrow / standard dual gauge
• Standard / broad dual and gauge changeable

Special applications for the concrete railway ties include monorail, guard rail, splay rail, gauge widened and transition.

TURNOUT BEARERS

Applications for turnout bearers include:

• Heavy haul mineral
• Inter-modal freight
• Inter-urban passenger
• Urban passenger

Austrak's turnout bearers are available in narrow gauge, standard gauge and broad gauge. Special applications include diamonds and crossovers.

RAILWAY SLEEPER AND RAIL PRODUCT MANUFACTURING

Austrak's commitment to working in partnership with its clients underpins its ability to remain at the forefront of sleeper and rail product manufacturing, guaranteeing enhanced value and service.

We work with our clients in a variety of ways including:

• Designing, building and operating factory facilities
• Joint ventures with the manufacturer or end railway purchaser
• Open-book alliance partnerships
• Manufacturing and selling the machinery

We can also undertake the measurement of the actual dynamic track and sleeper loadings of our customers' rail networks. We offer advice on the design, construction, commissioning and operation of production machinery in addition to building factories. Our technical services offer designs to suit specific customer rail network traffic requirements, while providing cost-efficient applications of concrete sleepers and turnout bearer solutions.

RAPID RAILWAY SLEEPER FACTORY DEPLOYMENT CAPABILITY

Austrak is a vertically integrated company with the in-house expertise to design, construct, commission and operate railway sleeper production plants. It specialises in the rapid deployment of factories, and has a proven track record of doing so in remote and inhospitable areas.

For the new 1,400km line from Alice Springs to Darwin, Austrak produced 2,000,000 sleepers in 16 months from two specially-built factories in Tennant Creek and Katherine.

RAILWAY SLEEPER FACTORY LOCATIONS

Austrak has designed, built, commissioned and operated ten railway sleeper manufacturing factories. Current operating factories in Australia are located at:

• Rockhampton, Queensland – opened in 1993 and now with a capacity of over 460,000 sleepers and over 500 turnout bearer sets a year
• Geelong, Victoria – opened 1994 with a capacity of over 460,000 sleepers a year
• Wedgefield, Port Hedland, Western Australia – opened in 2000 with a capacity of 460,000 sleepers and over 150 turnout bearer sets a year

Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, opened in 2007 and will be producing 500,000 new pre-stressed concrete sleepers for the ARTC track upgrades in a $50m contract.