The versatility of our rail cabling containment product ARCOSYSTEM® was put to the test when it was fitted down a steep incline within the dramatic setting of the Black Forest mountain range in Germany.
The installation took place around the picturesque town of Triberg, famous for its striking waterfalls and for being home to the world’s largest cuckoo clock, at 15 feet tall. The challenging task was to safely install runs of cable troughing along trackside railings as well as down what locals refer to as ‘Kriechhang’ — large creeping slopes.
Working on such a steep valley required careful planning, paying particular attention to geotechnical factors such as sliding surface depths and slope movement rates.
The flexibility of our elevated cable management system ARCOSYSTEM® proved to be a significant advantage in such a project. Manufactured from pultruded glass fibre-reinforced polymers (GRP/FRP) for a sturdy yet lightweight construction, the troughing can be lifted and angled by on-site operatives with ease, increasing fitting options when working in tight or awkward spaces.
The composite troughing is supported by a bespoke range of laser-cut steel bracketry. In this case, a special pivot part was added to the bracket design as well as a ‘stop/break’ component to prevent the troughing from sliding down. Large outhanging brackets were also used where the troughing needed attaching to trackside railings. With this additional support, the installation was a success.
As well as railings and valley slopes, ARCOSYSTEM® can be attached to a variety of trackside features such as bridges, noise barriers, HEA beams, and rock walls. It can also be post-mounted, spanning as much as six metres between support posts.
The troughing, available in a choice of cell sizes, houses and protect all kinds of railway cables (power, signal, digital communications etc), and its composite design allows for a long life in all weathers. For further details, get in touch with our technical experts at CCS. ARCOSYSTEM® is manufactured by our Swiss partners Castioni Kabelführungssysteme GmbH, and the UK rail stockist is Scott Parnell.
This article was originally published by Complete Composite Systems.
