VP SLAB TRACK System

PRECOM’S VP SLAB TRACK SYSTEM IS THE FIRST SPANISH DEVELOPMENT OF PRECAST CONCRETE SLAB TRACK.

Throughout 2020, PRECON has carried out the manufacture of the precast concrete slabs of the VP SLAB TRACK system under the AFTRAV license. 1,212 slabs have been manufactured for the construction of 5,500 m of the Madrid-Galicia and Madrid-Asturias high-speed track.

The VP SLAB TRACK system is the first Spanish development of precast concrete slab track. Its design is based on the European slab track regulations and complies with the different technical specifications of ADIF. It can be adapted to be designed under different international regulations and a complete Risk Analysis of the system has been carried out. It allows the assembly of railway tracks in tunnels, embankments and viaducts, and is available for UIC or 1668 gauge, as well as three rail dual gauge.

The slabs have been designed with prestressed reinforcement in both longitudinal and cross direction, allowing their installation where greater gound movements are expected and areas with high thermal gradients. An elastomer sheet is placed in the bottom surface to obtain the desired track rigidity, and the slabs are linked to the concrete base layer by injecting a high strength mortar on site. Repairment or replacement of the slabs in case of a platform failure is faster and easier than in other solutions using in situ concrete. The fastening system has a high capacity for regulation and, since it is an indirect baseplate fastening, can be adjusted without altering the clamping force of the clip.

This solution is compatible with other ballastless track developments and, combined with the transition to ballast track and the solution for cast-in-situ switches and crossings, allows to design a complete concrete slab track section.