Modern Technology: The USP 4000 SWS Ballast Plough
The new ballast plough is here. We are pleased to have this addition to our track construction machine fleet, as modern technology is one of the foundations of our work. Since autumn 2017, the USP 4000 SWS ballast spreading and profiling machine and a Unimat 09-4×4/4S tamping machine have been added to our track construction machine fleet in our SPITZKE technical park.
In May 2021, Ingo Wiermann, control manager of assembly line projects at SPITZKE SE, officially received the ballast plough from the manufacturer at the International Exhibition for Track Technology (IAF) in Münster. However, our colleagues were only able to collect the machines – after approval by the Federal Railway Authority – at the end of September.
The USP 4000 SWS ballast plough is the second prototype from Plasser & Theurer that we are the first company in Germany to use, after the Unimat 09-4×4/4S universal tamping machine, which has been in use in our construction projects since 2014. We are proud to be able to test the machine for the entire railway industry, providing feedback to the manufacturer.
Special features of the new USP 4000 SWS ballast plough
The USP 4000 SWS ballast plough is one of the first machines to meet the requirements of the Technical Specification for Interoperability relating to the subsystem “rolling stock – noise”, or TSI Noise 2015 for short. The TSI Noise 2015 sets uniform limits for new rail vehicles throughout Europe. Even though the ban on night work still applies to the ballast plough, the machine will be able to work much more quietly. With the new machine, we are continuing to focus on the development of new technologies for the targeted reduction of emissions of all kinds.
The “one-pass process” is also designed to allow the ballast’s spreading and profiling to be done in a single operation. The new configuration of the units allows the swept-up ballast to be discharged directly in front of the working units, or through the four openings of the bottom conveyor belt at any desired location in the area of the tamping zones.
Browse through the picture gallery of our new machines at work here.
Here you can find out more information about our track-laying machines and our special technology in the SPITZKE technology park.
The USP 4000 SWS ballast spreading and profiling machine in numbers
– Machine mass: 62 tonnes
– Height above the top of the rail: 4,280 millimetres
– Length over buffers: 19,140 millimetres
– Number of axles: 4
– Driver/operator cabins: 2
– Silo capacity: approximately 5 cubic metres
– Engine power: approximately 470 kilowatts
– Vehicle speed: self-propelled/trailed – 100 km/h; in gear – 12 km/h
– Working radius: 150 metres
– Driving radius: 120 metres