voestalpine Railway Systems rounds off its long-standing system approach to the track, from the wheel flange to the substructure, with its own production of prestressed concrete sleepers for turnouts for high-speed, metro, tram, long-distance, and heavy-haul traffic.
The customer benefits from all the advantages of a system supplier, from interface optimization to the lowest possible life cycle costs, while maintaining high safety standards. The production of sleepers at the turnout plant offers the customer clear advantages through transport optimization and pre-segmentation, combined with just-in-time delivery to the construction site.
The Plant
The turnout sleeper plant is located on the premises of voestalpine Turnout Technology Germany in Butzbach, in the immediate vicinity of turnout production and assembly. Covering an area of approximately 3,700 square meters and initially equipped with 2 double-stressing moulds, we continue to focus on innovation in the field of concrete sleepers.
The fully automated concrete mixing plant and the test laboratory are equipped with the latest technology and managed by experienced staff. The Q1 certification awarded by the German DB AG as well as the successful ISO 9001:2000 audit for all locations and product areas are proof of our high-quality standards. The production process and end products are subject to continuous internal and external monitoring.
Range of products
Our philosophy for the design of sleepers is to find the best solution for the customer under the given conditions. We therefore offer adapted sleeper shapes for mainline, metro, tram, and high-speed slab track applications. In addition, our production process offers the possibility of different concrete technologies and different arrangements of sleeper reinforcement, as well as the possibility of integrating the most common fastening devices for KS or W superstructure and for E and fast clip or Halfen rails.
The main benefit for the customer thus lies in our mastery of all the interfaces with the track and our ability to integrate all these components into a comprehensive, needs-based system and to adapt it to individual requirements.
The focus of our future development will therefore be on the pioneering pre-segmentation of turnouts and the associated optimization of the installation process. Experience gained in the design process as well as the operational experience of our customers will be incorporated into this project.
We, the voestalpine Railway Systems Group, are not the only ones who want to continuously improve our production processes and products in terms of CO2 emissions and make our contribution to a cleaner environment. Our customers are also increasingly demanding this from us in their invitations to tender.
The Scandinavian market is leading the way. But other countries are also increasingly demanding proof of sustainable behaviour from their suppliers, or more sustainable products (e.g. Holland already requires 80% use of CEM III concrete sleepers), and their continuous development.