CONTRACK technology with funding from the NCBR

Thanks to an agreement with the National Center for Research and Development (NCBR), a consortium of KZN Bieżanów Group companies will significantly accelerate the development of CONTRACK technology. Prefabrication of key components that integrate track and road pavements, reducing installation time and extending durability, is the first thing cities with tram networks are waiting for.

The CONTRACK project, a joint effort of KZN Rail and KZN Bieżanów, was originally conceived as prefabricated tram turnout technology, integrating a steel track structure with dedicated reinforced concrete slabs, using materials for continuous flexible rail fixing. Its use shortens the time required for turnout installation or replacement in road-integrated tracks, reducing it from several or even more than a dozen weeks (the time required for construction and installation works, including especially so-called curing of concrete slab layers cast-in-place at the installation site) to merely a few dozen hours. This results in reducing the costs associated with organizing detours, alternate transportation and long-term congestions for city users. Production processes carried out under strictly controlled and repetitive workshop conditions ensure that CONTRACK prefabricates deliver higher initial quality, which translates into longer and less problematic operation. Importantly, the technology covers the entire product life cycle from design, production, logistics and installation to maintenance processes, including the efficient and safe replacement of worn-out structural components.

It should be recalled that the originators of the technology had to demonstrate exceptional determination and faith in the project to eventually obtain funding in the Quick Path program. Due to procedural discrepancies and varying interpretations of the terms and conditions, only a series of administrative court rulings prompted the intermediary institution to fund the project.

“The result is the most important. The funds obtained from the agreement signed with NCRD will allow us to refinance the investments already undertaken, such as the purchase of a specialized vibrating table, allowing for faster and more precise structure densification of prefabricated components, or a wheeled overhead travelling crane, which accelerates production logistics of concrete turnout slabs,” says Grzegorz Leszczyński, Vice President of KZN Bieżanów Group. “The agreement with NCRD will also drive momentum for further research and development works related to manufacturing prefabricates for the most complex junctions, as well as crossings and track systems with strictly dedicated shapes, e.g. for track curves. Tram network managers have keen interest in this project, expecting to reduce construction time, as well as inconvenience and the need for repairs of tracks located at key city intersections,” adds Leszczyński.

The funds raised provide an opportunity to intensify the research and development stages for CONTRACK technology. NCRD’s support for the innovative project will enable faster implementation and further evolution of the product in the tram segment, but will also provide the opportunity to develop the product in other areas where rail transport meets road transport – such as railway sidings at seaports or container terminals, where heavy rail and vehicular traffic is involved.