Detection of high-speed railway subsidence and geometry irregularity using terrestrial laser scanning

Liu, Chun; Li, Nan; Wu, Hangbin; Meng, Xiaolin

Abstract

Subsidence and geometry deformation monitoring are essential for safe transportation on a high-speed railway. Terrestrial laser scanning (TLS) is able to collect dense three-dimensional point data from the survey scene and achieve highly accurate measurements; therefore, it is considered to be one of the most promising surveying techniques for railway track geometry deformation monitoring. This paper proposes a new approach that uses TLS to detect subsidence and irregularities in a track by fitting boundaries of the cross section of the track. In addition, for a section of local railway, an outdoor experiment was performed to ascertain the feasibility and accuracy of this method. The deformations detected with TLS were compared with the field measurements gathered with other methods such as those from a track inspection car. The results indicate that the subsidence difference between TLS and precise leveling is 2–3 mm, and the difference in the geometric parameters of the tracks is 1–2 mm. Finally, the possible causes of error involved with TLS are discussed.

Citation

Liu, C., Li, N., Wu, H., & Meng, X. (2014). Detection of high-speed railway subsidence and geometry irregularity using terrestrial laser scanning. Journal of Surveying Engineering, 140(3), Article 04014009. https://doi.org/10.1061/%28ASCE%29SU.1943-5428.0000131

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 10, 2013
• Publication Date: Dec 12, 2014
• Deposit Date: Jul 25, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 25, 2016
• Journal: Journal of Surveying Engineering
• Print ISSN: 0733-9453
• Electronic ISSN: 1943-5428
• Publisher: American Society of Civil Engineers
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 140
• Issue: 3
• Article Number: 04014009
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/%28ASCE%29SU.1943-5428.0000131
• Keywords: Terrestrial laser scanning; High-speed railway; Safety; Deformation; Monitoring; Fitting boundary
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/740991
• Publisher URL: http://ascelibrary.org/doi/10.1061/%28ASCE%29SU.1943-5428.0000131
• Contract Date: Jul 25, 2016