Floating track slab isolation for railways

Where an underground railway is in existence, it is up to the developer to take what precautions may be necessary to provide an acceptable interior environment. Many a building has been isolated on resilient bearings from the ground-borne vibrations produced by an adjacent railway with the result that the occupants are unaware of the trains running underneath the building. The technique for the resilient mounting of large structures has been well developed, and there is a B.S.I. Draft for Development in which some guidelines have been established. Where a new underground railway is to be constructed close to or under existing properties it may be more expedient to isolate the railway. Several design of a "floating track slab" have been constructed, usually with very beneficial effect. Some of these floating track slabs are described in this contribution.