LAUSR

Abstract Railway ballasted tracks at transition zones from embankment sections to bridge sections (or the reverse) suffer not only from seismic motions, but also from differential settlements during seismic motions. Therefore, an attempt is made in this study to evaluate the combined effects of hanging sleepers and seismic inertia force on the lateral resistance of ballast in the tracks at transition zones. A series of laboratory tests was conducted on 1/5 scale models to evaluate the lateral resistance characteristics under situations of hanging sleepers or under pseudostatic conditions. The results of the pullout tests revealed that the rail-buckling potential can be underestimated without the consideration of combined effects of hanging sleepers and the seismic inertia force on the lateral resistance. Based on the model test results, the combination of anti-buckling plates and ballast retaining walls is proposed as a new earthquake countermeasure.