scope:

Introduction

This Track Work Instruction covers how to clean a ballast shoulder.

Ballast shoulder cleaning is a useful way of making local improvements to the drainage of the track because poor top can often be traced back to a problem with water trapped within the ballast. If you can get rid of the water, the maintenance of top will become easier.

Installing drains is a major job. It is therefore worth trying to improve matters by lowering the cess and cleaning the shoulder ballast. This will allow any water trapped in the ballast to drain away from the track bed and in to the cess.

Remember! If the water is not getting away after you have lowered a cess you have wasted your time.

See also separate instructions:

TWI 2B004 How to regulate ballast by hand

TWI 2B007 How to dig out contaminated ballast

TWI 3B001 How to remove (& dispose of) contaminated ballast

TWI 3G101 How to carry out a CAT scan