Railway monitoring brochure - Strainstall UK

Sensing and monitoring solutions for the rail industrywww.strainstall.comexpertiseMonitoring Services for the Rail IndustrySince the 1960's, Strainstall has been developing products, systems and services for the rail industry. Fromthe supply of a load pin for railway points monitoring to a complete assessment of stresses on railway track,Strainstall is focussed on providing realistic and reliable solutions for enhancing safety and performance.Working with Network Rail, LondonUnderground, consultants andcontractors, Strainstall provides acomprehensive and tailored serviceto the rail industry. Key to oursuccess in this sector is the abilityto carry out our installation workwithin the rail possession regimeand to use novel accessarrangements wheneverappropriate. Typical projectsinclude:Condition Monitoring SystemsStatic & Dynamic Live Load TestingWheel Impact Load Detection(WILD)Vertical and Lateral Wheel ImpactMonitoringPoints Operating Force MonitoringBrake Force TestingResidual Stress MeasurementStrain Gauge Installation ServicesSleeper DisplacementCrack MonitoringBridge Condition MonitoringRailway bridge condition monitoringis an asset management tool thatreduces the need for costly (andpotentially hazardous) inspectionregimes and verifies theperformanceof the bridge. Measurements areobtained remotely from varioussensors to provide information thatenables the most suitablemanagement of any maintenanceoperations, and can also be usedas evidence when life extensionschemes are being considered.Data is accessible via the internetand real-time alarms generated ifpre-set limits are exceeded.Railway Points Force MonitoringStrainstall holds the patent for thewidely used points pin, whichreplaces a component withinrailway points to monitor the forcerequired for operation. The pointsare generally monitored using twokey parameters to detect aprobable failure - an increase in thetiming of operation and the actualforce needed to switch the rails.The load pin provides an electricaloutput proportional to the forceexerted to the drive rods.Evaluation in a researchprogramme at Sheffield Universityconcluded that, of the availableparameters, only the directoperating force measured by theload pin gave sufficient variationbetween faults.This data can be used bymaintenance staff to targetresources effectively and avoidmajor and costly breakdowns.Bridge Strike MonitoringMany bridge strikes go unreportedwith potentially seriousconsequences. Conversely, manyreported bridge strikes are sominor that line closure and thesubsequent train delays areunnecessary. Strainstall’s BridgeStrikeAlert system provides thebridge owner with immediatelyaccessible information on theseverity of a bridge strike via asignal box display to the localsignaller and infrastructuremaintainers. The informationprovided by the system can beused in the decision makingprocess to decide whether thebridge needs to be closed, trainscautioned or if some lines canremain open to traffic.