The traditionnal november track work saw the beginning of an extensive operation to renew the section between the depot's platform and the Rail Crossing 2. Ground had to be stabilized in deep. In fact, the soil had a tendancy to sink and the reason is that it is a layer of clay !
Premier jour:
Avant de creuser, il faut commencer par enlever la voie. Ça commence par les éclisses, et à Rillé elles tiennent plutôt bien !
First day:
Before to dig out, track must be removed. It begins with getting splints off. At Rillé, they are holding pretty well !
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| Photo J. Ollivro |
So when they resist...
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| Photo J. Ollivro |
Lag screws are removed, then the rails and sleepers. The excavator is a precious aid to save on time. Here, the rail crossing1 between the water crane and the depot is gone. Traffic on the road was duly interrupted during the work.
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| Photo: P. Deslandes |
Le chantier avance ensuite entre le dépôt et le pont tournant, pour s'arrêter juste avant le PN2. Pour cette partie, la voie est enlevée par coupons entiers (rails+traverses assemblés).
Work then progressed between the depot and the turntable, to stop just before the RC2. On this part, the track was removed in complete sections (rails+sleepers still assembled).
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| Photo F. Grafin |
The whole removed portion represents around 100m of track, including two switches (depot/main line and depot/RC2bis).
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| Photo F. Grafin |
Vient ensuite le long et délicat curage de la couche d'argile et de terre pour libérer le volume des nouveaux matériaux de la plateforme. La pelleteuse a bien tourné...
Then comes the long and delicate scraping of the clay and soil layer to get free space for replacement materials. The excavator worked hard...
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| Photo J. Ollivro |
...so did the tractor ! The removed soil (ca 150sqm) has been unloaded to the end of the depot's impass, which is a little short for some manoeuvres. The stopper was removed first.
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| Photo J. Ollivro |
To be continued...
