## 7 Conclusions  
1. Under different load types, the geotextile and elastic cushion laid on the ballastless track on the long-span cable-stayed bridge have little influence on the longitudinal mechanical characteristics of the seamless line. Deformation in the track is within allowable limits; it can be considered a priority to use geotextiles when laying ballastless tracks.
2. When an elastic layer is laid, the total stress of the seamless track rail is 281.4 MPa. When geotextile is laid, the total stress of the seamless track rail is 281.3 MPa. The material used for laying has a minimal impact on the strength calculation of the rail, and it is within the safety range.
3. Under different load types, when the geotextile is laid on the ballastless track on the long-span cable-stayed bridge, the longitudinal stress of the track structure does not exceed the allowable strength of concrete. Under vertical load, braking load, and temperature load, laying elastic cushion, the stress peak value of the plate can be reduced by 0.13 MPa, 0.025 MPa, and 0.06 MPa, respectively.
4. The elastic cushion laid on the ballastless track of the long-span cable-stayed bridge can reduce the seam height of the track slab and the base plate near the cable tower or restrain the generation of seam under vertical load; under the braking load and temperature load, laying elastic cushion or geotextile has no obvious effect on inhibiting the separation of track structure, but the separation height is less than 0.4 mm.
5. Compared with laying geotextile, laying elastic cushion on a ballastless track on a long-span cable-stayed bridge has advantages in statics; when the geotextile is laid on the ballastless track on the bridge, although some indexes are greater than the elastic cushion, they do not exceed the standard, which indicates that it is feasible to lay the geotextile on the ballastless track on the long-span cable-stayed bridge. To reduce engineering costs or the complexity of future maintenance, geotextile isolation layers can be considered.  
Figure 36: State of the plates’ seam under temperature load near the cable tower: (**a**) geotextile; (**b**) elastic cushion.  
(6) This paper only analyzes the difference between geotextile and elastic cushions from the perspective of statics. In the future, it will be necessary to analyze the difference between geotextile and elastic cushions from the perspective of dynamics and give a more comprehensive analysis compared with other codes of practice like AASHTO and conclusion, which is also the next work goal and direction. Areas such as how to replace the elastic cushion after it is damaged and the law of force change are also good directions of study.  
Methodology and formal analysis, [PERSON] ([PERSON]), [PERSON] ([PERSON]), and [PERSON]; software, [PERSON]; formal analysis, [PERSON]; writing--review and editing, [PERSON] All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This research was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, grant number 2021 YFB2601000, Hebei Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China, grant numbers E2020210092 and E2021210142, A Hundred Excellent Innovative Talents Support Project in Colleges and Universities in Hebei, grant number SLRC2019036, and the Funded Project for Innovative Graduates in Hebei, grant number CXZZBS2023135.  
Not applicable.  
The data presented in this study are available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not publicly available due to privacy.  
The authors declare that no conflict of interest.