Case Study
Berlin to Cottbus Line (DE)

Eficient vibration protection foradjacent buildings with an increasein train speeds

Specially developed polyurethane
sleeper pad with effective acousticdamping

World’s largest railway project using
sleeper pads for vibration protection

Berlin-Cottbus

Description of the project The Getzner Solution
Development of the Berlin-Cottbus
railway line

Padded railway sleepers as protection against vibrations

Product development in close
cooperation

n 2010 Deutsche Bahn (DB) upgraded the heavily used railway line
between Berlin and Cottbus, whichlies in the county of Brandenburg.
Following the southerly section of
the Berlin-Cottbus line, the middle
section of the route was also upgraded to allow trains to run on it at
higher speeds. The entire railway track
structures were replaced along a 60
km long section between the spring
and autumn of 2010. The challenge
facing us in this project was to provide
buildings in close proximity to thetrack with eficient protection against
vibrations, despite the faster train
travel which had been planned.

Getzner worked closely with DB todevelop a special polyurethane sleeper pad with effective acoustic damping for the Berlin-Cottbus line. The
pad was designed within the scope ofthe research project “Quiet train on
real track” (LZarG) which was aimed
at developing new technologies forlower-noise railway trafic. The PURmats dampen the vibrations of trainsas they pass through built-up areas.

Getzner developed the new sleeper
pad which was designed to suit theBerlin-Cottbus line in close cooperation with DB‘s Technology and Acoustics Department in the course of theLZarG research project. The solution
reached production stage and ultimately received approval by DBTechnology.

I

What is more, in order to keep thisextensive project on budget and onschedule, the complete track structure
could not be removed. Since the completion of the construction work, thetrack which was previously designed
to accommodate a top speed of
120 km/h can now be used by trains
travelling at speeds of up to 160 km/h
and at greater frequency, withoutcausing additional structural stressdue to vibrations or noise.

The new pad has been specially tailored to meet the requirements ofthese projects. “DB already had goodexperience of working with us before
we embarked upon this major project.
Faith in our expertise and in our ability
to deliver the right product were key
to securing the order. So far, BerlinCottbus has been the biggest railway
project of its kind in the world involving the use of sleeper pads toprotect against vibrations. All in all,some 52,000 sleepers and 17 points
were itted with pads made from ourmaterial,” pointed out Christian
Dullinger, project manager of the Rail
Division at Getzner‘s plant in Grünwald
near Munich, emphasising the significance of this major project. By using
sleeper pads, specialists were able tointegrate the vibration protection
without completely removing thetrack structure.

While the R&D work was in process,Getzner had the product tested at theTechnical University of Munich. Those
tests have conirmed the high qualityand durability of the product. “We
conducted a rigorous series of tests ina very short time. We now have a wellengineered, highly resilient product inuse. In addition, compared toFeedbackconventional solutions, the sleeper
pads also boast longevity on accountof the improved way in which they areconnected,” said Christian Dullinger,
summing up the special features ofthe major order.
Just-in-time logistics
Dullinger described how “this orderpresented a big challenge for project
management, quality management,
production and logistics – around 30
people worked on its successful
implementation.” Finally he statedthat “Volumes of this great magnitude
create high demands: Not only did
we manage to coordinate the internal
processes excellently, we were alsoable to coordinate the timing of the
manufacturing of the sleepers andpads with our customers on site
to great effect. By virtue of its sheer

scale, this project provided us withvaluable experience, which will beneit our clients in future projects.”
Given the high production capacity
utilisation, the new elastic layer forthe sleepers was produced at theGetzner plant in Bürs under great timepressure and under the most stringent
quality controls. Liaising closely withthe company that manufactures
the sleepers, Getzner delivered over
50,000 pads to Frankfurt and to
Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz between
June and September 2011. They werethen afixed to the sleepers at Rail.
One‘s two plants. As this then meantthat sleepers could be delivered tothe track with the pads already inplace, which made installation quickand straightforward.

Germany

What does the sleeper manufacturer
have to say about the project?
“The cooperation with the Getzner
team was exemplary. The quality ofthe pads for the sleepers was consistently high and enabled us to afix
them to our concrete sleepers without any trouble. Deliveries wereexcellently coordinated: they arrived
on time and in the agreed volume.”

Gundolf Spitzner,
Head of European Sales,
RAIL.ONE GmbH

PolandGetzner created pads for
50,000 sleepers along a section of over 60 km between
Königs Wusterhausen andLübbenau.

BerlinBrandenburg
Königs
Wusterhausen

Lübbenau
CottbusLeipzig
Dresden

50 km

Czech republic

Facts and igures at a glance
Berlin-Cottbus line
Long upgrade section between Königs Wusterhausen and Lübbenau:
Target speed:

around 60 km
up to 160 km/h

Order details

Data and facts regarding Getzner Werkstoffe GmbHRail references (Extract)

Foundation:— Brynsbacken (NO)— Metro Seoul (KR)— Metro Amsterdam, Eastern Line (NL)
— Bruchsal Tunnel (DE)— Matstetten-Rothrist (CH)— Umegaoka-Odakyu Electric Railway (JP)— Britomart Station (NZ)
— Northern approach line to the Brenner
Base Tunnel (AT)1969 (as a subsidiary of Getzner,Mutter & Cie)
Chief Executive Oficer: Ing. Jürgen Rainalter
Employees:
340
2015 turnover:EUR 77.9 million
Business areas:
Railway, construction, industry
Headquarter:
Bürs (AT)
Locations:
Berlin (DE), Munich (DE), Stuttgart (DE),
Lyon (FR), Amman (JO), Tokyo (JP),Pune (IN), Beijing (CN), Kunshan (CN),Charlotte (US)
Ratio of exports:
85 %AUSTRIA — Bürs GERMANY — Berlin — Munich — Stuttgart FRANCE — Lyon
JAPAN — Tokyo INDIA — Pune CHINA — Beijing USA — Charlotte

JORDAN — Amman
www.getzner.com

CS BC en © Copyright by Getzner Werkstoffe GmbH | 07-2016

Scope of the order:
Pads for around 50,000 sleepers and 17 points
Client:Deutsche Bahn AG
Project manager:
Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirtsch.Ing. Christian Dullinger
Completion:
Autumn 2011
Sleeper manufacturer: RAIL.ONE GmbH
Construction company: Eiffage Rail GmbH