Method for waterproofing railway bridges and waterproofing material for carrying out said method

A method for waterproofing of a section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic on a plurality of tracks (6), including a ballast (M) that includes gravel or crushed stone (2) upon which at least one track (6) extends, with waterproofing (10) placed between the ballast (M) and a support surface of the section of railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic, the method comprising:

• removing the at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of the railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic;
• removing a layer (S) of gravel or crushed stone (2) forming the ballast (M), up to a greater depth with respect to a depth normally achieved by periodic mixing of said gravel or crushed stone (2), during maintenance operations of the plurality of tracks (6), leaving in place any remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2);
• laying at least one sheet (10) of cured rubber on the remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2) of the ballast (M), said sheet (10) having such a thickness as to be sufficiently resistant to perforation by the gravel or crushed stone (2) situated below, as well as by that which is subsequently placed on top to complete the ballast;
• and
• repositioning the previously removed gravel or crushed stone (2) on the at least one sheet of cured rubber (10) and the previously removed at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic, wherein several sheets (10,101,102) are laid out and adjacent sheets of the several sheets (10,101,102) are joined by a bond of mechanical type, obtained by a positive locking fit and wherein the positive locking fit, comprises a male-female type, and includes an edge of one of the adjacent sheets of the several sheets (10,101,102) being provided with a shaped extension (12) situated along a midline of a junction side (11), and an edge of an adjacent sheet (10,101,102) having a receiving seat (13), matching with the shaped extension (12), the receiving seat (13) configured to receive the shaped extension (12) to obtain said positive locking fit.

A method for waterproofing of a section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic on a plurality of tracks (6), including a ballast (M) that includes gravel or crushed stone (2) upon which at least one track (6) extends, with waterproofing (10) placed between the ballast (M) and a support surface of the section of railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic, the method comprising:

• removing the at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of the railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic;
• removing a layer (S) of gravel or crushed stone (2) forming the ballast (M), up to a greater depth with respect to a depth normally achieved by periodic mixing of said gravel or crushed stone (2), during maintenance operations of the plurality of tracks (6), leaving in place any remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2);
• laying at least one sheet (10) of cured rubber on the remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2) of the ballast (M), said sheet (10) having such a thickness as to be sufficiently resistant to perforation by the gravel or crushed stone (2) situated below, as well as by that which is subsequently placed on top to complete the ballast;
• and
• repositioning the previously removed gravel or crushed stone (2) on the at least one sheet of cured rubber (10) and the previously removed at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic, wherein several sheets (10,101,102) are laid out and adjacent sheets of the several sheets (10,101,102) are joined by a bond of mechanical type, obtained by a positive locking fit and wherein the adjacent sheets (10,101,102) are joined by a chemical bond, obtained by providing a recess (15) along edges of the sheets (10,101,102) to be joined, by raising upper borders (16) which delimit a recess (15) along each of the adjacent sheets (10,101,102), when said two sheets (10,101,102) are being joined and laying a strip (18) of the same or different material onto a lower border (17) of each recess (15), which are juxtaposed or almost juxtaposed, and by releasing said upper borders (16) so as to obtain said positive locking fit.

A method for waterproofing of a section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic on a plurality of tracks (6), including a ballast (M) that includes gravel or crushed stone (2) upon which at least one track (6) extends, with waterproofing (10) placed between the ballast (M) and a support surface of the section of railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic, the method comprising:

• removing the at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of the railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic;
• removing a layer (S) of gravel or crushed stone (2) forming the ballast (M), up to a greater depth with respect to a depth normally achieved by periodic mixing of said gravel or crushed stone (2), during maintenance operations of the plurality of tracks (6), leaving in place any remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2);
• laying at least one sheet (10) of cured rubber on the remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2) of the ballast (M), said sheet (10) having such a thickness as to be sufficiently resistant to perforation by the gravel or crushed stone (2) situated below, as well as by that which is subsequently placed on top to complete the ballast;
• and
• repositioning the previously removed gravel or crushed stone (2) on the at least one sheet of cured rubber (10) and the previously removed at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic, wherein several sheets (10,101,102) are laid out and adjacent sheets of the several sheets (10,101,102) are joined by a bond of mechanical type, obtained by a positive locking fit and wherein the adjacent sheets of the several sheets (10,101,102) are joined in complementary reduced thickness areas along borders of the adjacent sheets of the several sheets (10,101,102) by superimposing the reduced thickness areas when joining, with interposition of an adhesive substance (23), so as to obtain said positive locking fit.

A method for waterproofing of a section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic on a plurality of tracks (6), including a ballast (M) that includes gravel or crushed stone (2) upon which at least one track (6) extends, with waterproofing (10) placed between the ballast (M) and a support surface of the section of railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic, the method comprising:

• removing the at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of the railway line or railway bridge (1) or structure that supports rail traffic;
• removing a layer (S) of gravel or crushed stone (2) forming the ballast (M), up to a greater depth with respect to a depth normally achieved by periodic mixing of said gravel or crushed stone (2), during maintenance operations of the plurality of tracks (6), leaving in place any remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2);
• laying at least one sheet (10) of cured rubber on the remaining portion of gravel or crushed stone (2) of the ballast (M), said sheet (10) having such a thickness as to be sufficiently resistant to perforation by the gravel or crushed stone (2) situated below, as well as by that which is subsequently placed on top to complete the ballast;
• and
• repositioning the previously removed gravel or crushed stone (2) on the at least one sheet of cured rubber (10) and the previously removed at least one track of the plurality of tracks (6) of the section of railway line or railway bridge or structure that supports rail traffic, wherein
• external parts of a surface covered by said at least one sheet of rubber (10,101,102) extend from side to side and beyond a limit defined by containment walls (3), (4) of the ballast (M), and in vertical or sloping extension also over the containment walls (3), (4), to define a containment basin, said method further comprising
• fastening a border (24) of the at least one sheet to a containment wall of the containment walls (3), (4) by means of screws or nails (26) driven into the sides of the containment wall, and providing flashing (25) on the containment wall, in such a way as to rise above edges of the border (24) to prevent passage of water below the border (24).