An innovative longitudinal railway sleeper, which is named ladder sleeper was tested under heavy axle loads at the Transportation Technology Center, Inc. in the U.S.A. A tangent test zone of ballasted ladder track was subjected to 150 million gross tons of traffic under 35-tonne axle loads. A curve test zone was subjected to 100 million gross tons. There were no cracks or damages observed at ladder sleepers which prove its design appropriateness under heavy axle loads. The growth of track irregularity was very little in the ladder sleeper section when compared to that in the adjacent concrete crosstie track. no tamping required for the ladder track throughout the test.

Copyright (c) 2002 Railway Technical Research Institute