Concrete tie lifespan

I had noticed a pile of broken and spalled concrete ties at Hunterspoint that has been getting bigger lately.

Weren't those ties supposed to last 50+ years? That's what the LIRR said in their Keeping Track a few years back.

Good point. Perhaps the elements (exposure to cold and water condensation) makes the concrete crack faster than it would split wood? A possibility.

why arent there any new ties in St James. They dont seem to have any going east untill you get into brookhaven

50 years out west where it sees two freights a day. Over here? Less.

Concrete really doesn't like to bend. I'm guessing what you're seeing is the result of:

* A few bad ties that got installed. This is normal.
* The daily pounding of a few hundred fairly heavy trains going decently fast over them.
* Random other failures.

I'll also go out on a limb now and predict that you'll see tie failures increase as more M-1s go into the dumpster. Actually, I'm guessing the LIRR will ultimately find that concrete ties won't last much longer than wood, despite the hype.

Concrete ties work great overseas where there's lots of light passenger trains going over them. It remains to be seen if they'll work over here well with our heavier passenger trains. I remember hearing the NEC had these problems when concrete went in initially years ago.

Seeing failures isn't bad, it's when a lot of failures start popping up and no real explianation for WHY they're happening - that's bad.

I noticed a handful of ties still in place on the mainline with green X's painted on them.

It looks like vibration killed most of the ones piled at Hunterspoint. The ends were the face plate was are all frayed and Re-bar is showing.

Yodanas, They would not install concrete ties for 3 frieght trains a day, not cost effective. The first place I saw them install themm was Tehachpi (50 - 100 car long, up to 10 engines, counting helpers) and the El Cajon Pass. You have not heard wheel screeching till you've heard the loop!

well, another rumor that I have heard is that the concrete ties were not truly built or designed to hold up the third rail. Maybe the combination of the running rails along with the third rail on the concrete ties causes excess vibration. It was only a rumor that I overheard but I'm not sure if thats the real cause. Amtrak and other railroads have had problems with defective concrete ties in the past. Maybe the LIRR will try the new plastic ties that are currently being tested, I believe it was on CSX but I'm not sure.