A Review on Cost Effective Railway Sleeper

Railways form the backbone of all economies, transporting goods, and passengers alike. Sleepers play a pivotal role in track performance and safety in rail transport. Coal based thermal power plants utilize large quantity of coal for production of electricity. As a result, the fly ash is generated which is considered a by product of thermal power plant and solid waste in nature. Fly ash utilization and its proper disposal are major environmental issues which attracts secondary utilization of fly ash. Still there is tremendous quantity of unused fly ash available every year which calls for its further utilization. Indian railways experimenting with cost effective sleepers for railway tracks. This paper highlights partial replacement of fly ash in sleeper manufacturing without compromising with strength characteristics as per Research Designs and Standards Organization (RDSO) lab studies encouraging its use for sleeper manufacturing which is cost effective.