Patent ID: 7861439

Claim:
A method for the continuous renewal of a ballast bed of an excavation region comprising a substrate on which old ballast forming an old ballast bed is disposed and a track from which rails and sleepers have been removed, using (1) an excavating machine that comprises a removal device, a first conveying device operationally coupled to the removal device, a second conveying device and running gear, and (2) a plurality of transport carriages, said method comprising: moving the excavating machine so that the removal device travels in a working direction (x), continuously excavating material, by said removal device picking up at least the old ballast of the old ballast bed, conveying away the material that is excavated from the excavation region, possibly for ballast cleaning, and at the same time, continuously depositing, using said second conveying device, one of a cleaned and a new ballast in the working direction (x) on the substrate from which the old ballast has been removed, to form a new ballast bed, wherein the removal device, as part of an excavating machine traveling in the working direction (x) on the old ballast bed, is arranged downstream of the running gear of the excavating machine, wherein the old ballast, which is excavated by the removal device from the old ballast bed, is conveyed by said first conveying device as excavated material in the working direction (x) into a first transport carriage, which is provided upstream of the excavating machine and can travel on the old ballast bed, wherein at least one of cleaned ballast or new ballast is conveyed from the first transport carriage counter to the working direction (x) to a location downstream of the removal device and is deposited onto the substrate from which the old ballast has been removed, and wherein at least one of said plurality of transport carriages is a rail running carriage positioned on a rails ending at the old ballast bed to be removed and is provided for the supply and removal of materials and at least another of said plurality of transport carriages is a shuttle carriage that shuttles between said excavating machine or another transport carriage and said rail running carriage.