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What is Peatland?
Peatland ecosystems are wetland ecosystems where the waterlogged ground slows the decay of dead plants, which builds up gradually to form peat soils that are carbon rich.
What is a peat Boil?
Peat boils form when a zone of peat below the railway embankment has liquified under dynamic train loading. The liquified peat is of very low strength which causes the embankment fill to fall into the zone of peat, forming a hole in which the liquified peat ejects.
What issues do they cause?
Railway tracks over peat subgrades can experience large ground deformations, increased pore-water pressures, formation of pumping holes, and pumping of fines during the passage of trains, which can lead to accelerated track deterioration and risk of derailment. Railways over peat subgrades have decreased operational efficiency, sustain high maintenance costs, and have significant environmental impacts related to the degradation of the railway tracks.
Peat Subgrade Issues
“…train lengths have also steadily increased, leading to increasingly longer periods of cyclic loading. Higher loads have put great demands on the existing infrastructure, particularly the structures built on weak foundations, such as peat. Soft track, frost heaves, bearing capacity issues, slope failures, and sinkholes are common problems of railway embankments and track built on peat.” (Reference, Rail Transportation Safety Investigation Report, R20W0102, Transportation Safety Board of Canada) https://www.tsb.gc.ca/eng/enquetes-investigations/rail/2020/r20w0102/r20w0102.html
Spring Drain Solution
The Spring Drain was developed to provide a long-term solution for railway companies to address the accelerated track degradation, and risk of derailment, that arise with existing track that run over unstable and environmentally sensitive peatlands.
The product, through a combination of dynamic shear wave dissipation, expedited porewater pressure relief, and load transference, significantly reduces ongoing maintenance costs (ditching and releveling), operational costs (peat removal and slow orders), and potential safety hazards currently being incurred by railways across North America.
The Spring Drain is a patented product owned by TBT Engineering (“TBTE”) that consists of a composite geo-synthetic installation that is mechanically installed in existing rail lines between rail cribs (ties).
In partnership with TBT Engineering (“TBTE”), through a licensing agreement Supercom holds the exclusive rights to manufacture, sell, market and install the Spring Drain. Spring Drains are constructed using a perforated pipe, which is wrapped with geotextile filters and encased in prestressed geogrid. These Spring Drains are currently being manufactured by Supercom at the Fort William First Nation facility.
The Spring Drain treatment was developed to allow treatment of problematic subgrade materials and conditions while maintaining the railbed and tracks in-place. Installation is carried out between trains and avoids costly site access issues (building an access road through swampy terrain), deep excavations, embankment reconstruction, construction staging material handling challenges and train traffic interruptions.
