Using the lightweight falling deflectometer for monitoring trial railway sections with under-ballast geocomposites

The article deals with measurements carried out in three trial sections of railway lines in the Czech Republic, where different types of geocomposites were inserted under ballast during the period of 2008 to 2012. In these sections, the longterm monitoring of the durability of geometric characteristics of the track, as well as the degradation of embedded geosynthetic products and the homogeneity of the loadbearing capacity on the top surface of the ballast and at the sleeper-ballast interface level is in progress using the lightweight falling deflectometer. In each trial section, both measurements on the ballast bed with embedded under-ballast geocomposites and without them were performed. The monitored trail sections, used methodology of the measurement and evaluation of obtained data are described in the article. The benefits of the applied monitoring method are appreciated and conclusions from the operational monitoring of trial sections completed to-date made.