GB2317909A

GB2317909A - Cattle guard

Info

Publication number: GB2317909A
Application number: GB9620384A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Daniel Michael Cyril Kenny
Original assignee: WILDLIFE TRACK TECHN Ltd
Current assignee: WILDLIFE TRACK TECHN Ltd
Priority date: 1996-09-30
Filing date: 1996-09-30
Publication date: 1998-04-08
Also published as: GB9620384D0; IE970699A1

Abstract

A cattle guard to be laid alongside and between the rails (2) of a railway line at the point where a road or track crosses the line, for the purpose of preventing cattle or other animals from straying onto the railway line, comprises an elongated profiled panel (1) having a plurality of ribs (5) extending along the length thereof, each rib (5) being defined by an upright face (6) and a sloping face (7) connected to form a crest (8), there being a flat floor (9) between adjacent ribs (5), the profiled panel being made of a non-conductive plastics material. When the guard is installed, cattle and other animals are unwilling to walk on it, because the sloping face (7) of the panel (1) does not present a firm foothold for the animal.

Description

CATTLE GUARD This invention relates to a cattle guard to be laid alongside and between the rails of a railway line at the point where a road or track crosses the line, for the purpose of preventing cattle or other animals from straying onto the railway line.

According to the present invention, there is provided a cattle guard to be laid alongside and between the rails of a railway line at the point where a road or track crosses the line, for the purpose of preventing cattle or other animals from straying onto the railway line, the cattle guard comprising an elongated profiled panel having a plurality of ribs extending along the length thereof, each rib being defined by an upright face and a sloping face connected to form a crest, there being a flat floor between adjacent ribs, the profiled panel being made of a nonconductive plastics material.

When the guard is installed, cattle and other animals are unwilling to walk on it, because the sloping face of the panel does not present a firm foothold for the animal.

Preferably, the panel is made of a phenolic or polyester resin which may be reinforced with, for example, glass fibre.

Preferably, when the cattle guard is in position, the upright face is at an angle of 900 + 50 relative to horizontal and the sloping face is an angle of 450 j 50 relative to horizontal.

The panel is normally made in one piece, by pressing a liquid setable resin, containing a reinforcing material if desired, in a mould and letting the resin set.

The panel rests on the sleepers of the railway line, and can be held in place by being fixed to transverse cross-members that extend across the railway line, beneath the rails. Thus, it is not necessary to fix it to the sleepers.

Preferably, the ribs at the end of the panel away from the crossing are each closed by a tapered face.

This reduces the tendency of air to be forced under the ribs when a train passes over the panel and hence reduces the tendency of the panel to be lifted by a train passing over it.

As noted above, the cattle guard is preferably made of glass fibre reinforced polyester. This is lightweight, strong and tough. Its impact resistance properties are good, and it does not chip or fracture when hit by flying ballast.

Because glass fibre reinforced polyester can be moulded into intricate shapes, the panel can be constructed in one piece, and no costly welding is required.

The tapered profile of concrete sleepers will dictate the profile of the base of the panel, which means that the panel will sit firmly on the sleeper over its entire width. This lightweight construction with no spacers needed, means that smaller fixings may be used.

The material is electrically non-conductive, and there can be no possibility of signal "tripping out" due to the presence of the cattle guard. It can be used on any third rail electrified track.

The material is maintenance free. No paint finish is needed, since the colour is integral to the material. Should a panel need to be replaced due to serious damage i.e. an accident on the level crossing or vandalism, then individual panels can be replaced from stock in a simple manner, i.e. by holding a stock of "oversize" panels, replacement could be effected by cutting the panels to size using a disk type cutter, and by fixing holes being drilled as required.

The costs associated with this design are considerably less than fabricated steel alternatives.

A preferred material for making the panel is Crystics 1355PA manufactured by Scott Bader Co. Ltd..

This is a pre-accelerated filled white opaque fire retardant unsaturated polyester resin for use in contact moulding applications. It has been specially formulated to meet the increasing demand for an inexpensive filled resin system with fire retardant properties. It has a low viscosity for rapid wettingout of the reinforcement and has sufficient thixotropy to prevent drainage when used with chopped strand glass mat on vertical or inclined surfaces. It is supplied pre-accelerated and needs only the addition of catalyst to start the curing reaction.

Reference will now be made, by way of example, to the drawings in which: Figures 1A and 1B are sectional and plan views of a level crossing at which a cattle guard of the invention is installed; Figure 2 is a perspective view of a cattle guard of the invention; Figure 3A is a sectional view of the cattle guard of Figure 2; Figure 3B is a plan view of the cattle guard of Figure 2; Figure 3C is another sectional view of the cattle guard of Figure 2; Figure 3D is a sectional view of one of the ribs of the cattle guard of Figure 2; and Figures 4A and 4B illustrate the method of fixing the cattle guard of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawings, the cattle guard consists of a profiled panel 1 which is fixed between the rails 2 of a railway track by means of transverse upper and lower cross members 3 and 4, the latter of which extend under the rails 2, and by means of bolts extending through the panel 1 and the cross members 3 and 4.

The panel has a plurality of longitudinal ribs 5 each defined by an upright face 6 (i.e. a face at 900 + 5 to the horizontal) and a sloping face 7 (i.e. a face at 450 + 5 to the horizontal) that are joined at a crest 8. The upright face 6 and the sloping face 7 of each adjacent pair of ribs 5 are joined by a flat horizontal floor 9.

At the end away from the road of the level crossing, each rib 5 of the panel 1 has a tapered face 10 that closes the end of the rib. This reduces the flow of air under the panel when a train passes over the crossing, thereby reducing the tendency of the panel to be lifted.

Key to the Drawings Fig. 1A: A: CROSS SECTION THRO TYPICAL LEVEL CROSSING SHOWING BOTH CONCRETE AND TIMBER SLEEPERS B: SUPPORT - SUPPORT WILL VARY IN SIZE AND PROFILE ACCORDING TO THE TERRAIN - MATERIAL:- POLYESTER GLASS FIBRE GRP C: BOUNDARY FENCE D: NOT TO EXCEED 200 E: 75 MIN/200 MAX F: CONCRETE SLEEPER G: TIMBER SLEEPER Fig. 1B H: PLAN VIEW OF TYPICAL 2-WAY TRACK CROSSING I: BARRIER J: ROAD K: TABLE OF PANEL WEIGHTS

PANEL PANEL DIMENSIONS WEIGHT (Kg) 1371 X 2600 (4") 35 1640 X 2600 (69) 41 1500 1500 X 2600 (TYP) 38 L: NOTES CATTLE GUARD PANELS COMPRISING A ONE-PIECE PROFILED GRP TO BE BONDED TO 3 CROSS-MEMBERS (50x40x3 HOLLOW SECTION PULSTRUSION FABRICATION) TO FORM PANEL ASSEMBLY.

MATERIAL PROPERTIES MATERIAL 1- POLYESTER GLASS FIBRE DENSITY 1.45 Mg/m3 TENSILE STRENGTH 100 MPa ELONGATION 1.8X YOUNGS MODULUS 7.5 GPa POISSIONS RATIO 0.32 SHEAR MODULUS -3 GPa Fig. 2 M: CATTLE GUARD PANEL ASSEMBLY COMPRISES:- lx GRP PANEL 3x GRP RECTANGULAR HOLLOW SECTIONS N: UNDER-RAIL SUPPORT SECTION COMPRISES:- 1 x GRP RECTANGULAR HOLLOW SECTION 2 x M12 THREAD INSERTS O: SLEEPER Fir. 3B P: MATERIAL GENERAL THICKNESS 4mm, WITH FLANGES INCREASED LOCALLY TO A CONTROLLED THICKNESS OF 7.0/6.5mm Q: 225 R: 2655 S: 1371 FiQ. 3C T: BOX SECTION 60 x 40 x 3 Fis. 3D U: 112 V: 38 W: 112 X: 7 Fis. 4A Y: VIEW ON C Z: RECTANGULAR HOLLOW SECTION 60 x 60 x 3 Al: RECTANGULAR HOLLOW SECTION 50 x 40 x 3 (BONDED TO PANEL) A2: SPECIAL WASHER A3: M10 FIXINGS A4: RAIL A5: MILD STEEL SHEET CHANNEL Fig. 4B A6: ENLARGED CROSS-SECTION OF 4' GAUGE CUT AWAY AT MOUNTING POSITION TO SHOW FIXINGS SCALE 1:5 A7: 8 PITCHES OF - 1200 A8: 9 x M10 PER PANEL A9: 150 A10: 115 All: 75 A12: 110 A13: 7/6.5 A14: M10 NUT WELDED TO REINFORCING CHANNEL A15: METHOD OF FIXING AND LOCATION 1. 60 x 60 HOLLOW SECTIONS (WITH STEEL REINFORCING & M10 NUTS) POSITIONED UNDER RAIL, BETWEEN SLEEPERS 2. LOCATE PANEL ASSEMBLY ONTO HOLLOW SECTIONS AND TIGHTEN BOLTS FINGER TIGHT.

3. POSITION PANEL AND TIGHTEN UNTIL PANEL LOCATES ONTO SLEEPERS AND HOLLOW SECTIONS ARE FIRMLY LOCATED UNDER THE RAILS.

Claims

1. A cattle guard to be laid alongside and between the rails of a railway line at the point where a road or track crosses the line, for the purpose of preventing cattle or other animals from straying onto the railway line, the cattle guard comprising an elongated profiled panel having a plurality of ribs extending along the length thereof, each rib being defined by an upright face and a sloping face connected to form a crest, there being a flat floor between adjacent ribs, the profiled panel being made of a nonconductive plastics material.

2. A cattle guard according to claim 1, wherein the panel is made of a phenolic or polyester resin.

3. A cattle guard according to claim 2, wherein the panel is made of a phenolic or polyester resin which is reinforced with, for example, glass fibre.

4. A cattle guard according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein, when the cattle guard is in position, the upright face is at an angle of 90 + 5 relative to horizontal and the sloping face is an angle of 450 + 50 relative to horizontal.

5. A cattle guard according to any of claims 1 to 4, the panel having been made in one piece, by pressing a liquid setable resin, containing a reinforcing material if desired, in a mould and letting the resin set.

6. A cattle guard according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein, in use, the panel rests on the sleepers of the railway line, and is held in place by being fixed to transverse cross-members that extend across the railway line, beneath the rails.

7. A cattle guard according to any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the ribs at the end of the panel away from the crossing are each closed by a tapered face.

8. A cattle guard substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to, and as shown in, the drawings.