Investigation of deteriorated concrete railway ties

Some prestressed concrete ties placed on railway from Nanjing to Shanghai show map and longitudinal cracking. Up date to 1995, cracking happened in 9082 ties out of 20945 on 11.9 km railway in Shanghai and more than 85% ties were damaged at Shanghai railway station. Analyses on the affected concrete ties indicate that periclase and ettringite are not involved in the expansion of concrete. The coarse aggregates were alkali-silica reactive and were attacked by alkalis. Alkali-silica reaction is a primary cause for deterioration of the railway ties.