A drawbridge crossing for cane railway transport systems which cross over Queensland Rail

Railway diamond crossings are high cost structures for both construction and maintenance. Larger rail bearing arcas arc available at the load transfer sections for wheel treads where crossing angles are acute and guard railing is possible. With crossing angles more normal than 45", filler blocks are used to take load via wheel flanges. At filler block crossings, impact loading is very high and variable hecausc of varying wheel wear, and causes advcrsc effects to both track and rollingstock. Spced must be severely restricted. In Queensland there are approximatcly 85 cane railway diamond crossings over Queensland Rail tracks, 70 being on the main North Coast route. An alternative option would be to bridge over or under the main line for grade separation, but apart from cost, land is not available and it would not he acceptable to relinquish large areas of agricultural land to embankment. This paper reports on the development of a mechanical crossing which provides gradc separation near rail level as an alternative to conventional diamond crossings.