Rail joints
General Information
Joints in traffic surfaces are generally carried out to be about 1 cm wide. To comply with ZTV Fug-StB 01 (Zusätzliche Technische Vertragsbedingungen und Richtlinien für Fugen in Verkehrsflächen - German Additional Technical Contractual Conditions and Directives for Joints in Traffic Surfaces) the ratio of joint width to the depth of filling for the joint in traffic surfaces should be 1 : 1.5 - 2.5. In addition, the joints should not be filled right to the upper edge. As a rule, these conditions cannot be complied with where tramway rails are concerned. Joints are formed on the inside and the outside of the "mobile" rails, intended to form an elastic link between the rails and the rigid body of the road. Depending on the width of the tram wheel tires, the joints are usually much wider than those in general road construction and on the outside edge they can be up to 6 cm wide. The wide joints are intended to ensure that the tires do not run onto asphalt and damage it when the rails become worn. If the joints are wide, the wheels, if the rails are worn, come in contact with the joint area outside the asphalt surface.
As a rule, these joints are filled with:
Hot poured compounds or with