BallastGuard

BASE STABILIZATION

Ballast fouling is one of the costliest maintenance repairs experienced on commercial and industrial railway projects worldwide. Ballast fouling can be experienced when extreme loads travel over rail sections built over saturated soil sub-grades retaining water like a sponge. When a heavy load travels over problematic areas like this, the result is “mud pumping”, which forces fine silt and soil particles up into expensive sub-ballast and ballast stone in the trackbed.

BaseLok® BallastGuard™ is the combination of a proprietary geotextile laminated to our high strength BaseLok® BL 6 Geogrid,forming a Super Geocomposite. BaseLok® BallastGuard™ keeps the mud from migrating up into the ballast section, while reinforcing the ballast stone above. BaseLok® BallastGuard™ has been proven to prevent ballast fouling and reinforce the sub-ballast and ballast stone, resulting in a vast reduction in maintenance and failures.

Applications

  • Protects costly sub-ballast and ballast stone from fine sub-grade contamination or “mud pumping”.
  • High Strength BaseLok® Geogrid confines and enhances the performance of sub-ballast and ballast stone in trackbed.
  • Overall reduction in maintenance. Undercutting, subgrade repairs, and ballast tamping are all significantly reduced!

Rolling Out BallastGuard

Snowshoe Effect

Based on distribution of force, BallastGuard creates a matrix of geogrid and aggregate to distribute heavy loads over softer subgrades.

BallastGuard Evenly Distributes Downward Force

How It Works

An aggregate layer by itself or alone can move around when under force. When BallastGuard is installed beneath an aggregate layer, the open aperture structure allows fill material to interlock, proving tensile properties to the aggregate, increasing the stiffness of the section and improving performance. The result is a reduction in rutting and a large cost savings by reducing the required aggregate thickness.

  • Multi-Purpose

    Allows aggregate separation and stabilization

  • Cost-Effective

    Save time and money with optimal structural thickness

  • Environmentally Friendly

    Safe and permanent alternative to chemical stabilization agents

  • Efficient and Easy

    Installation is simple and quick with our variety of roll sizes

Downloads

BallastGuard BrochurePDF Download
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