(Press-News.org)
New research has shown that a world-first system of rubber shock absorbers made from recycled tyres can significantly protect railway tracks from damage, addressing the dual challenges of high maintenance costs and national tyre waste.
The technology was validated over a two-year period by a collaborative team from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney Trains, Transport for NSW, and industry partners EcoFlex and Bridgestone, following extensive monitoring at a live Sydney Trains freight line in Chullora.
Researchers installed track sections with the rubber underlay alongside conventional track sections for a direct comparison, monitoring vibration, track settlement, and ballast degradation under real-world conditions.
The results, detailed in the research paper “Effects of Rubber-Intermixed Ballast on Train Loading Response Through Field Monitoring in Western Sydney” and published in the Canadian Geotechnical Journal, confirmed the sections with the rubber underlay showed significantly less degradation and greater stability.
The patented technology involves placing the tyre cells in a specific layout made from recycled tyres infilled with waste materials such as spent ballast and coal wash. Recycled rubber grids cast from worn out conveyor belts from mining sites are also placed directly beneath the rail track’s primary load-bearing layer, known as ballast.
The technology addresses a long-standing engineering challenge: the high cost of maintaining conventional tracks.
“The rubber-based underlay effectively protects the ballast preventing it from being pulverised and extending the life of the entire track structure,” said UTS researcher Distinguished Professor Buddhima Indraratna, the original inventor of this technique, and Director of the UTS Transport Research Centre.
"Additionally, the underlay controls the way the train load is distributed to the deeper, softer and often wet soil beneath the track, preventing unacceptable soil settlement and weakening of the overlying track.
“This translates directly to lower maintenance costs, fewer track closures for the public, and improved network reliability.”
Dr Richard Kelly, Chief Technical Principal for Geotechnical Engineering at SMEC Australia and an advisor on the project, said: “If widely adopted by railway asset owners, this will save Australian rail industry millions of dollars annually by reducing the demand for freshly quarried rock for ballast that is very expensive and not carbon friendly.”
The project provides a powerful solution for the over 50 million end-of-life tyres Australia generates annually.
“Finding sustainable, onshore uses for this material is a national priority, and at the same time, we need to reduce our reliance on finite quarried materials,” said Professor Cholachat Rujikiatkamjorn from the UTS Transport Research Centre.
“We have proven we can turn a significant waste stream into a high-value asset that makes our critical infrastructure more resilient and advances the circular economy.”
Building on this success, the research team will now expand the work through a newly announced $740,000 Australian Research Council Linkage Project grant. This next phase will test the technology in more demanding locations, such as at bridge approaches and junctions, where abrupt changes in track stiffness create high-impact zones prone to rapid degradation.
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New research from the University of Victoria (UVic) highlights how marine heatwaves can dramatically impact marine ecosystems and offers a stark preview of how future ocean warming will reshape ocean life.
From 2014 to 2016, the Pacific coast of North America experienced the longest marine heatwave ever recorded, with temperatures reaching two to six degrees above historical averages over a prolonged period. Researchers from UVic’s Baum Lab have compiled a comprehensive overview of the heatwave’s ecological impacts, reviewing the findings from 331 primary studies and governmental reports.
“The marine heatwave resulted in unprecedented ecological disturbance across thousands ...
UNDER STRICT EMBARGO UNTIL 11.30 PM (BST) ON THURSDAY 17 JULY 2025.
Short-term digital mental health interventions reduces depression and anxiety in Ukrainian children and adolescents displaced by war
In a first of its kind randomised controlled trial, researchers found delivering a problem solving digital mental health intervention to young Ukrainian refugees significantly reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety. The findings show that a small, low-cost, scalable intervention delivered in schools through mobile devices may support the ...
New York, NY — July 17, 2025 — In a major advance for patients with Crohn’s disease, a new study led by researchers at Mount Sinai Health System found that guselkumab, a medication with a mechanism of action that is new to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) treatment, outperformed an established standard of care in promoting intestinal healing and symptom relief.
These findings from two pivotal phase 3 trials known as GALAXI 2 and 3, published today in The Lancet, provided the basis for the recent Food and Drug Administration approval of guselkumab (brand name Tremfya) for the treatment of moderately to severely active Crohn’s ...
As an institution, the U.S. military is the world’s single largest consumer of energy and emitter of climate-altering carbon pollution, on par with the entire nation of Venezuela.
Now for the first time, research by a University of Utah sociologist documented how military spending tracks in near lockstep with emissions. Brett Clark and his coauthors conclude that reducing those expenditures can lead to significant reductions of energy use and, thereby, carbon emissions.
Can the military play a role in climate ...
DALLAS, July 17, 2025 — In light of reports from the White House that President Donald J. Trump has been diagnosed with Chronic Venous Insufficiency (CVI), the American Heart Association is sharing important information on the condition and its association with cardiovascular risk factors, disease and increased risk of death.
According to the Association, the world’s leading nonprofit organization focused on heart and brain health for all, chronic venous insufficiency (a form of chronic venous disease) is highly prevalent - especially in older adults. ...
Gene editing technologies - such as those used in agriculture and de-extinction projects - can be repurposed to offer what an international team of scientists is calling a transformative solution for restoring genetic diversity and saving endangered species.
In a new Nature Reviews Biodiversity Perspective article published today, the authors explore the promises, challenges and ethical considerations of genome engineering, and propose an approach for its implementation into biodiversity conservation.
They argue that gene editing could recover lost genetic diversity in species at risk of extinction using historical samples, such as DNA from museum collections, biobanks ...
Research Highlights:
Scar tissue in the heart may be linked to dangerous heart rhythms in otherwise healthy athletes, according to a U.K. study.
The study, VENTOUX, named after Mont Ventoux—one of the most gruelling climbs in the world-renowned Tour de France cycling race—included about 100 male cyclists and triathletes over age 50.
Embargoed until 6:01 p.m. CT/7:01 p.m. ET, Thursday, July 17, 2025
DALLAS, July 17, 2025 — Scar tissue in the heart was associated with abnormal heart rhythms among healthy, long-time male endurance athletes age 50 or older, potentially increasing ...
When asked to think of a chemical reaction, you might picture bubbling liquids in a beaker, or maybe applying heat to a mixture until something transforms. But some of the most important reactions in nature and industry don’t need heat or solvents. Instead, they need force.
Mechanochemistry is where physical pressure or stress triggers chemical reactions. Imagine molecules being rammed together like bumper cars, or shaken up in a giant cocktail shaker. That shaking and colliding happens every day inside ...
Teeth may seem like static fixtures, but a new collaboration between engineers and clinicians is proving just how dynamic, informative and medically significant our teeth can be.
In a recent study, published in the American Chemical Society’s ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, engineers and dentists come together to uncover how teeth, as biological material, hold key information for understanding rare craniofacial disorders that develop during childhood. Kyle Vining, Assistant Professor in Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) and in Preventative and Restorative Science at Penn Dental Medicine, leads ...
Most children seeking emergency department (ED) care due to vomiting are discharged home. Although they usually feel better when they leave the ED, the vomiting recurs in nearly one-third of children.
Dr. Stephen Freedman, MD, a pediatric ED physician, led a national study to evaluate if sending children who present for care with frequent vomiting from an acute intestinal infection are better off when provided with an anti-vomiting medication to take, as needed, at home.
“When children are really sick, it’s ...
