Morocco rail project uses recycled plastic sleepers

Axion International, which claims to produce the world’s strongest recycled composite plastic industrial building products and railroad crossties (sleepers), has announced the successful completion of its first project with ONCF, the national railway of Morocco. The project provided Axion’s patented recycled plastic composite sleepers for the North African nation.
May 21, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
5658 Axion International, which claims to produce the world’s strongest recycled composite plastic industrial building products and railroad crossties (sleepers), has announced the successful completion of its first project with 5659 ONCF, the national railway of Morocco. The project provided Axion’s patented recycled plastic composite sleepers for the North African nation.

ONCF, which budgets around 160kms of track to be replaced annually, operates more than 1,900 kilometres of track throughout Morocco  and carried over 29 million passengers last year. The crossties were produced at Axion’s manufacturing facility in Portland, PA and measure 9 inches x 5.5 inches (0.229m x 0.14m) and up to 14.4 feet (4.40m) in length.

Developed in conjunction with Rutgers University’s Materials Sciences and Engineering Department, Axion’s Recycled Structural Composite (RSC) material is inert and contains no toxic materials. It is impenetrable to insect infestation, it is made from virtually 100% recycled plastics and it does not warp, rust or corrode. Because it is lighter than traditional materials, transporting RSC is less expensive and reduces energy costs. In addition, RSC is recyclable at the end of its functional life.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Rail operator deploys Siemens technology for newly opened light rail line
    September 22, 2015
    TriMet's new MAX Orange Line, a light rail project between Portland and Milwaukie in the US incorporates Siemens’ advanced rail technologies, including its S70 light rail vehicles, rail signalling and communication systems and the company's first Sitras SES energy storage unit in the US that uses regenerative braking to sustainably power the line. The 12 kilometre line is the region's sixth construction project of the development project Metropolitan Area Express (MAX) to expand the city's transport net
    Read More
  • Completely new concept for inflating airbags
    March 22, 2012
    Autoliv has announced it has developed a completely new concept for inflating airbags that is more environmentally friendly and more cost efficient than traditional inflator technologies. In addition, it reduces the inflator’s weight by 20 per cent compared to most inflators for the intended application.
    Read More
  • Rethink required to reduce road transport’s environmental impact
    March 15, 2016
    Against a background of a renewed focus on limiting the rise in average temperatures, Colin Sowman looks at a project that is taking a holistic approach to the environmental impact and safety of road transport. At the COP21 meeting in Paris last December, almost 200 nations agreed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in an effort to keep the rise in global temperatures to 2°C) compared with pre-industrial levels. The transportation sector is a major contributor to the production of CO2, one of the main green
    Read More
  • Nagoya University to develop driverless cars
    June 16, 2015
    Nagoya University has opened a research centre, bringing together academia, industry and government, with the aim of developing automated driving technologies as one of its first key projects. At the Nagoya University National Innovation Complex, researchers from the university’s schools of engineering, medicine, environmental studies and information science will work closely with their counterparts from six private companies, including Toyota Motor Corporation, Panasonic and Fujitsu.
    Read More

Highlighted Content