Success for the DSI Business Unit Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

Success for the DSI Business Unit Prestressed Concrete Sleepers

Once more, the DSI Business Unit Prestressed Concrete Sleepers, located in Lohhof near Munich, succeeded against their European competitors, using their know-how in realizing a plant for the Rail Trak Paleofarsala-Kalabakas project.

This project continues DYWIDAG's long and successful tradition as pioneer for the development of concrete railway sleepers:

1906 DYWIDAG supplied conventionally reinforced concrete sleepers for the railway between Nuernberg and Bamberg
1949 The DYWIDAG-KARIG permanent prestressed concrete sleeper was first introduced and marked true innovation in rail ties
1953 Opening of the first DYWIDAG sleeper manufacturing plant in Linz/Austria
1953-2000 Several licensee plants open to spread sleeper technology around the globe.

In 1999 a joint venture of three Greek construction companies and DSI as technology leader was awarded the contract to build the first plant to manufacture prestressed concrete sleepers in Greece.
The plant layout consisted of two concrete casting lines and one shared prestressing line.
The plant meets the following specifications:

  • capacity of 1,000 sleepers per day with double shift operation
  • sleeper type: B70
  • option to manufacture different types of sleepers
  • rail fastening system VOSSLOH SKL 14
  • flexibility with regards to other fastening systems
  • plant shall be fully operational within 5 months.
Construction of the plant began in May 1999 and pilot production commenced in July 1999. The superior quality of the sleepers and the short construction period demonstrated DSI's competence and capability to the plants owner and operator.