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

  • Lancashire road and rail improvements announced
    September 20, 2013
    Plans for projects to update the road and rail networks in Lancashire have been announced by Transport for Lancashire, a new body comprising Lancashire County Council, Blackburn with Darwen Council and Blackpool Borough Council. The projects will develop, approve and fund major transport infrastructure work with a US$152 million budget from the (DfT) Department for Transport the City Deal for the Preston area, and developer contributions.
    Read More
  • Volvo Trucks develops I-See to save fuel
    June 28, 2012
    Volvo Trucks has announced it has developed I-See, which operates like an autopilot and takes over gear-changing and utilises gradients to save fuel. The system, which will be available on the market next year, is linked to the transmission’s tilt sensor and obtains information about the topography digitally. The fact that the system is not dependent on maps makes it more dependable since it always obtains the very latest information. I-See can recall about 4,000 gradients, corresponding to a distance of 5,
    Read More
  • Civil engineers find fuel savings where the rubber meets the road
    May 23, 2012
    A new study by civil engineers at MIT shows that using stiffer pavements on America’s roads could reduce vehicle fuel consumption by as much as three per cent, that could add up to 273 million barrels of crude oil per year, or US$15.6 billion at today’s oil prices. This would result in an accompanying annual decrease in CO2 emissions of 46.5 million metric tons.
    Read More
  • Dubai metro - the world's longest automated rail system
    July 31, 2012
    David Crawford reviews the recent opening of Dubai's Red Line. The US$7.6bn Dubai Metro, the Phase I Red Line of which started partial operation in September 2009, will be the world's longest driverless rail system on its planned completion in 2011. With a total length of some 75km, it will then overtake the 68.7km Vancouver SkyTrain and be able to carry over 1.2 million passengers on a typical day.
    Read More

Highlighted Content