Engineering, Passenger Rail, Rail Supply, Technology and IT

Remote-control machines to install elevated track in Melbourne’s south-east

Custom-built “high-tech” machines never previously used in Australia are being employed to lay the track on the new elevated rail line for the $1.2 billion Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project.

Two of these machines have been tested at a facility at Clayton South and will soon begin installing long segments of steel rail at Noble Park in Melbourne’s south-east, where one of four new elevated stations are to be built along a 2.7-kilometre section of elevated rail.

The machines are operated by remote control, and remove the need for track to be installed manually by crews working on the elevated beams.

“They’re built for efficiency and precision, to get the job done faster,” construction director Simon Barnes said.

All the elevated beams are now in place – installed by massive wheeled carrier – and bundles of steel lengths have begun to be delivered to the site via a Spotswood welding facility.

The machines will first down pre-cast concrete plinths – being used as an alternative to traditional sleepers – which will then be filled with concrete. The lengths of steel rail will then be transported along the line by the machine, which will set them down upon the plinths. Workers will then clamp the rails in position and weld the steel pieces end-to-end to form a continuous track.

The new machines will install a type of track featuring built-in nose barriers and rubber insulators under every piece of track, specially designed to reduce the noise and vibration emitted by passing trains.

Fifteen workers are being trained to operate the machines, which are operated by hand-held remote devices at speeds reaching 5 kilometres per hour.

“This is the first time this kind of machine has been used in Australia and our track team have done a fantastic job both designing it and getting through the initial learning curve so everything is ready to go,” Barnes said.