The effect of climate change on service life and cost investigation of rail turnouts with various mitigation methods

Abatement of noise and vibration at rail turnouts is one of the significant areas of major interest for the rail industry to improve the life standard in vicinity of railway lines. In order to properly implement the measure, the abatement ought to be investigated by considering budget and timeframe limitations; both of which comprise the estimation of costs, setting a fixed budget, and managing and controlling the actual costs of construction and maintenance, along with inspection. In order to reveal the sufficiency of the suppressing application to noise and vibration, whether the environmental impact of the abatement meets intended purposes should be examined. In this research, a life cycle costing analysis is adopted by considering the total costs of implementing various measures with different consequences and environmental conditions. As such, the most cost-effective control method for abatement of noise and vibration is identified. More specifically, the lowest total costs over the life span of various kinds of turnout materials, which might help to suppress noise and vibration are revealed, evaluated and discussed throughout the suggested methodology based upon the different aspects of life cycle costing theory.