Rail heads are regularly exposed to heavy loads from long train consists as well as localized stress associated with both acceleration and breaking. These stresses deform the surface of the rails resulting in head and side wear.

While rail head wear typically requires a separate dedicated inspection system, Pavemetrics^® LRAIL™ is able to perform this task simultaneous with other important tasks such as clip and spike inspection, ballast inspection and cross tie inspection for example.

The LRAIL algorithms analyze 3D data in order to measure top, side and corner rail wear. Rail wear measurements can be made for both standard rail profile as well as grooved (metro) rail.

Additionally, through the LRAIL’s Change Detection algorithms, changes in wear can be automatically detected and reported pointing track maintenance crews to the portions of the network that are most in need of attention.

Standard

49 CFR § 213.233 – Track inspections

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