Course Details

Academic Year 2026/27

BNA102 course is part of 1 study plan

​ BPC-SIS / K Summer Semester 3rd year

Railway superstructure design, structural development, rails, rail production, rail joints, rail supports, track bed, rail fastening systems to sleepers. Operational loads on railway lines. Structural analysis of the railway superstructure, loads on the track structure, stresses in rails and sleepers.

Continuous welded rail, theoretical principles, installation, rail welding, maintenance.

Track structures, classification. Switches and crossings, basic concepts, geometric arrangement of the switch and the crossing. Turnout systems, marking. Turnout structure  stock rails, switch rail, crossings turnout sleepers, other track components and fastenings.

Turnout junctions and branching. Crossovers, branching to a parallel track. Shortened and unshortened ladder track.

Credits

6 credits

Language of instruction

Czech

Semester

summer

Course Guarantor

doc. Ing. Otto Plášek, Ph.D.

Institute

Institute of Railway Structures and Constructions

Forms and criteria of assessment

course-unit credit and examination

Entry Knowledge

Soil mechanics, stability analysis of slope, earth pressures, soil compaction, improvement of soil properties, stabilization.
Strength and elasticity of materials, basic principles of structural mechanics.
Railway track design and subdivision and construction of rail substructure and its construction layers.

Aims

Technical knowledge

  • An introduction to the design of the railway superstructure, its components, their properties and functions, and the structural forces acting upon them. Understanding the design of continuous welded rail, the principles and methods of its installation and maintenance. Familiarisation with switch and crossing structures, their designs and operational parameters. Familiarisation with the principles of designing simple point connections as well as more complex branching arrangements.

Professional skills

  • Students will learn to design railway superstructure in accordance with the operational requirements of a given railway line. They will be able to design the method and conditions for laying continuous welded rail and to maintain this structure. Students will learn to select suitable points and point structures for track junctions and branch lines.

Professional Competencies

  • The student will be able to design and assess railway superstructure construction and participate in management and maintenance activities related to railway superstructure.

Basic Literature

PLÁŠEK, Otto, Pavel ZVĚŘINA, Richard SVOBODA a Milan MOCKOVČIAK. Železniční stavby: Železniční spodek a svršek. Brno: Akademické nakladatelství CERM, 2004. ISBN 80-214-2621-7. (cs)

Recommended Reading

SŽ S3. Železniční svršek. Správa železniční dopravní cesty, státní organizace: Odbor traťového hospodářství Dlážděná 1003/7 110 00 Praha 1, 2019. (cs)
kolektiv autorů: Technologie prací na železničním svršku. In Technologie prací na železničním svršku. Technická knižnice autorizovaného technika a inženýra. Praha: Informační centrum ČKAIT, 2020. ISBN: 978-80-88265-17-7. (cs)
IŽVOLT, Libor a Stanislav HODÁS. Projektovanie, stavba, rekonštrukcia a modernizácia železničných tratí a staníc. Žilina: EDIS, 2020. ISBN 978-80554-1703-5. (cs)
IŽVOLT, Libor. Konštrukcie železničných tratí a staníc - železničný spodok. Vysokoškolské učebnice. V Žiline: EDIS-vydavateľstvo UNIZA, 2022. ISBN 978-80-554-1898-8. (cs)
SŽ S3/2. Bezstyková kolej. Správa železniční dopravní cesty: Odbor traťového hospodářství Dlážděná 1003/7 110 00 Praha 1, 2024.SŽ S4 Železniční spodek. Praha: Správa železnic, státní organizace, 2025. (cs)
PROFILLIDIS, V. A. Railway management and engineering. 3rd ed. Aldershot: Ashgate, c2006. ISBN 0-7546-4854-0. (en)
Esveld c. Modern Railway Track, TU Delft, 2001, ISBN 90-800324-3-3 (en)
SMUTNÝ J., PAZDERA L.: The experimental analysis of dynamic processes related to railway transport, Brno, AKADEMICKÉ NAKLADATELSTVÍ CERM, 2012, 156 s, ISBN: 978-80-7204-827-4 (en)

Prerequisites

Soil mechanics, stability analysis of slope, earth pressures, soil compaction, improvement of soil properties, stabilization.
Strength and elasticity of materials, basic principles of structural mechanics.
Railway track design and subdivision and construction of rail substructure and its construction layers.

Offered to foreign students

Not to offer

Course on BUT site

https://www.vut.cz/en/students/courses/detail/298993

Lecture

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, elective

Exercise

13 weeks, 2 hours/week, compulsory

Self-study

52 weeks, 1 hours/week

Individual preparation for an ending of the course

52 weeks, 1 hours/week