#5 Those Stones
I am sure that you must've noticed randomly crushed stones in abundance on the side of railway tracks. On the first glance, these stones does not really look important.
But all of us know that they are placed there due to a purpose. A purpose that is only known to the engineers.
#4 The Ingenious Solution
Almost two centuries ago, engineers encountered the problem of laying down the railway tracks. That is when a smart brain came up with an ingenious solution which is being used nearly as such since then!
The solution was these crushed stones. Why exactly the crushed stones?
Keep reading ahead to know that.
#3 The Procedure
So these crushed stones, called ballast, are used to hold the wooden cross ties that in turn keep the rails in place. You need to understand the entire process here.
To start things, a foundation is built to raise the railway track high enough to avoid flooding. Ballast is deposited atop this foundation. After this, row of 8.5-feet-long, 9-inches-wide, and 7-inches thick wooden beams is laid above the layer of crushed stones.
#2 The Wooden Beams
Almost 3250 wooden beams are laid per mile. The ballast is dumped all around the beams. The wooden beams are kept locked in place by the sharp-edged stones. The entire process of building a railway track isn't easy you see!
#1 The Final Step
Next, the hot-rolled steel rail tracks are laid atop the cross ties, and their ends are welded together via fishplates. The modern railways may forgo the fishplates and weld the tracks continuously. Now we know the importance of those crushed stones.
