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Rail CRC Project 86 Leader Dr Don Cameron with Rail CRC PhD student
Mr Henry Mancini.
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Vegetation has long been seen as the enemy of the railways, however
Rail CRC’s Project 86 ‘
The feasibility of improving rail infrastructure by introducing
native vegetation on clay soil sites’
has worked and is continuing to develop evidence to prove that
identified and managed vegetation can be beneficial to railway
infrastructure. The overall goal of the project was to develop a
balanced ecological-engineering approach to minimise maintenance
associated with settlement of clay soils along rail corridors,
keeping in mind the need for weed management and reduction of fire
risk. Problems to be addressed included:
- excessive and continuous ballast maintenance
- ballast pocket formation
- poor drainage on track
- expansive clay soils in the subgrade formation
- softening of clay soils
- lack of vegetation in the corridor in terms of greenhouse benefits
- identification of appropriate species in the corridor, and
- weed growth and over-excessive use of herbicides.
The project, and subsequent planting and growth of native
vegetation on rail corridors, has the potential to reduce the
annual cost of ballast work undertaken by the rail industry, which
is estimated to be more than $10 million per annum. In addition,
other benefits include few delays due to speed restrictions, fewer
interruptions to trains due to track closure and the reduced need
for heavy machinery work seasonally to utilise rail corridors as
fire breaks, as a cold burn in winter would suffice with planted
native vegetation.
Significant planning must occur to ensure the long-term success of
revegetation of rail corridors, including plant survey, site
assessment and soils analysis, site preparation, the selection of
plants specific to the conditions and ongoing management,
maintenance and monitoring to ensure the chosen vegetation is
meeting its established criteria. Rail CRC researchers have
identified a number of grasses, shrubs and trees which could be
used to improve the rail infrastructure. While the project is still
ongoing, information is available to Rail CRC participants for
consideration of the benefits of using native vegetation to improve
rail infrastructure.
The project was independently assessed by STEM Partnerships in
2006, with the risk-free-value of the research estimated to be in
the order of $42.6 million over 30 years. Taking into account the
risks associated with the research, the expected value is $12.2
million.
