Welder World Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Maintenance’

Most of us have travelled by train but not many of us have considered where our trains and railway systems come from.

In fact, many of the various components needed to run railways services are manufactured in the UK by highly skilled engineers.

It is engineers that help develop our railways, helping them run more efficiently and giving us the freedom to travel quickly and safely around the country.

Railways are made up of several components which include train carriages, tracks, signal lighting and electrical systems, amongst other things.

One of the main companies that manufacture parts for railways is based in Stourbridge in the West Midlands. They make the Zwicky range of obstructionless hydraulic track jacks.

In addition they also manufacture track tools, sleeper beams, rail beams, rail thimbles and bespoke equipment.

Many of the track tools they make are specially insulated so they can be used on electric systems like the London underground. Standard tools include spanners, manual handling tools, bars, shovels, forks and fast clip tools. Their insulated range includes forks, keying hammers and pick handles.

Sleeper beams include fixed sleeper lifting beams, fixed sleeper laying beams, adjustable sleeper beams and dropper chains.

Rail beams include manual rail handling beams and hydraulic rail handling beams. They are manufactured to lift heavy beams quickly and efficiently. Thimbles are used with road rail machines and long welded rail trains.

All these tools represent just a tiny element of what is required to run and maintain railways and illustrates what difficult and dangerous job railway maintenance can be.

Many of us take for granted the running of our train services without realising the amount of work that goes into maintaining the service. Railway engineers are always working somewhere on the railway system and need to check for various things on a daily basis.

Although railway engineering is sometimes carried out during the day and at weekends most of it takes place overnight meaning that there is less disruption to services.

During this time railway engineers check electrics, railway beams, railway tracks, signalling and a host of other elements. If a beam or rail is showing signs of fatigue then it must be replaced which is where some of the aforementioned equipment comes into play.

The UK rail network is one of the safest in the world and that is down to the people who look after it. Railway maintenance involves a great deal of hard work and technical ability to carry out safely.

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Learn how to care for and maintain arc welding electrodes from an arc welding expert in this free DIY video. Expert: Malcolm MacDonald Bio: Malcolm MacDonald graduated from Connestoga College in 1968 taking the Fitter Welding Program. Filmmaker: Melissa Schenk

Learn how to care for and maintain arc welding electrodes from an arc welding expert in this free DIY video. Expert: Malcolm MacDonald Bio: Malcolm MacDonald graduated from Connestoga College in 1968 taking the Fitter Welding Program. Filmmaker: Melissa Schenk

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Regular asphalt maintenance will extend the life of your asphalt with simple repairs using polyurethane asphalt repair materials.

DON’T - Place sharp or pointed objects (high heels, bicycle kickstands, ladders, chairs, etc.) on asphalt or indentations will result. This is especially true for the first year of its life and on a hot summer days when the temperature reaches 100F or above.
DO – Repair minor damage with Roklin’s Concrete Welder in cartridge format. Minor asphalt repair can be done quickly and safely with a simple squeeze of a cartridge.
DON’T – Drive or park near or over the edges of your driveway. Doing so can fracture the asphalt and crack the whole edge.
DO – Repair cracks with FloMix asphalt repair material.
DON’T - Turn the car wheels sharply on pavement. Also, don’t turn the wheels while standing still or power steering gouges can result. These are bruises or lacerations to the surface, caused by the kneading, grinding action of the tires moving on the bias against the asphalt.
DO – Fix potholes using FloMix asphalt repair material.
DON’T – Park the vehicles in the same spot all the time or “wheel dishes” may result, if care is not exercised.
DO –  Move vehicles around slightly. Don’t give all or most of the wear to one small area. Distribute the usage evenly. If asphalt becomes uneven, use FloMix to smooth out the area.
DO use FloMix and Concrete Welder. With FloMix and Concrete Welder, crack repair, and asphalt repair can be done with no dig-out. Repairs can be done whenever needed, ideally when traffic is at its lowest. Doing repairs quickly and with minimal manpower means less traffic exposure to employees or if it’s a do-it-yourself project, it can be handled in your free time. Simply sweep or blow out the damaged area, mix your materials and apply to create a simple asphalt pavement repair.

Asphalt Cracks

Equipment: Concrete Welder cartridge, broom, scraper
Sealing asphalt cracks can be done simply using Concrete Welder, available in a cartridge format. Make sure the crack is clean and free of moisture. Use a broom or blower to clean out any loose materials. Open cartridge and squeeze Concrete Welder directly into the crack. Use a scraper or straight-edge to smooth the material out. Wipe up any excess material and allow to dry for 30 minutes. Now the crack is filled and ready for use.

Large Asphalt Cracks or Potholes Equipment: FloMix kit, broom or blower, drill, paddle-mixer, trowel For larger asphalt repair, use FloMix to stabilize and fill any voids. The polymer-based repair works in areas where the cracks are deeper and wider, the material flowing down to fill the entire space. With no saw-cut or demolition required, the preparation is quick and easy.

Make sure that the damaged area is clean and dry, with no loose debris. Place the aggregate provided in the FloMix package to fill in the deeper area of the crack, without going above the surface of the damaged area. Using FloMix bottle “a”, carefully pour contents into provided 5-gallon bucket then add special sand. Next, shake bottle “b” thoroughly and pour into sand mixture. Mix with a paddle-mixer, using a drill. When mixture is completely wet, pour FloMix onto cracks and use a trowel or lute to smooth material into cracks. When cracks are smoothed out, toss topping sand by hand over repaired area to create a smooth surface.  In colder months or when there is little time for the repair, catalyst can be supplied as an additive to speed the reaction. The newly-filled cracks can be ready in less than an hour.

FloMix is available for purchase through the Roklin web site at www.roklinsystems.com or call 1-888-FlexSet. Other concrete and asphalt repair materials are also available.