Parmali Wallace to make sleepers for rly bridges

Bhopal-based Parmali Wallace Ltd will manufacture fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) sleepers for railway girder bridges.

The railways, reportedly, have plans to replace wooden and steel sleepers of its 22,000 girder bridges with the composite material or FRP sleepers.

The company, which is also manufacturing gear-cases for electric and diesel locomotives, will invest around Rs 2 crore in the venture and take another year to start commercial production.

FRP sleepers have been developed by the company in collaboration with the Technology Information Forecasting and Assessment Council (TIFAC), department of science and technology, Research Standards and Design Organisations (RDSO), Lucknow and R&D Pune as an alternative to wood and steel sleepers for girder bridges on the track.

The product has cleared all tests by R&D engineers, ministry of defence. The product, which has been tested on two bridges by RDSO, has given excellent performance. RDSO has now recommended the product for wider use by railways, said a company spokesperson.

"These sleepers, each weighing 64 kg, are easy to transport and handle. These are weatherproof and remain unaffected by ultraviolet rays. The insulated material is suitable for track-circulated areas," said Subhas Vithaldas, promoter of the company, adding, "FRP sleepers are readily available and last five times more than wooden and steel sleepers."

FRP sleepers are costlier than wooden sleepers but lighter in weight "" a wooden or steel sleeper weighs 134 kg while an FRP sleeper weighs only 55 kg. FRP sleepers are corrosion-free and flexible.

"An FRP sleeper costs Rs 17,000 while a wooden sleeper is priced between Rs 6000-7000. However, there are other properties that give it a life span of 40-50 years, thereby making it most cost effective," said Subhash Vithaldas, promoter of the company.

Although another Hyderabad-based firm is also in the fray, Parmali Wallace will have a fair share of business since there are 1,15,000 railway bridges, and of them 15,900 are steel girder bridges.

Similarly, field trials for FRP gear cases for diesel and electric locomotives have successfully been conducted by RDSO in the last seven years.

The use of FRP gear cases is on the anvil.

"Each locomotive needs six gear cases and we are expecting to replace gear cases in 2000-3000 cases, with each FRP gear case casting Rs 16,000-17,000. A gear case can reduce the weight of a locomotive by 500 kg, thereby enhancing fuel-efficiency."

The weight of one FRP gear case (55 kg) is half the weight of a steel case (134 kg). Its non-corrosive and impact resistance quality make it maintenance-free.