Fasteners meet railway needs
An
Alcoa Fastening Systems product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Nov 19, 2007
Installing a Huck bolt takes a matter of seconds and provides a guaranteed clamp force.
KGJ Price (Railway Contractors) has improved the working environment for its workforce, reduced its manufacturing costs and produced track requiring less maintenance after installation.
Alcoa Fastening Systems (AFS) produces fastening systems serving applications in the truck, trailer, commercial vehicle body builder, auto and railcar markets.
KGJ Price nows recommend the use of Huck products, where appropriate, to all of their potential customers seeking on advice on the most effective fastening solution.
Steve Thomas, Production Manager at the KGJ Price production facility explains: "Although some of our engineers had prior knowledge of Huck products whilst at previous employers and were keen to start using them immediately, the benefits appeared marginal against the tooling investment costs".
"However, Doug Smith from Permalok was persuasive and combined with the engineers' insistence and machinery secured at a good price we seized the opportunity and haven't looked back since".
"We had used threaded fasteners, where two cast spacers are placed inside and outside the rail's web, to prevent the square head of the bolt from turning whilst being tightened up".
"The parts included a nut, bolt, two spacers and a washer, which is a cumbersome and more expensive operation, whereas now we simply use Huck's C50LO bolt and accompanying collar".
"It is easy to install and requires no maintenance once the completed crossing or switch has been laid".
"In fact track will wear out and require replacement before the fasteners do".
The use of impact wrenches to tighten nuts and bolts has also created some health and safety issues.
Steve Thomas continues: "If the air pressure is low, tightening a nut and bolt with an impact wrench will take longer and the bolt may also require additional tightening by hand to ensure effectiveness, whereas installing a Huck bolt takes a matter of seconds and provides a guaranteed clamp force".
Doug Smith, rail Account Manager at Permalok said: "It is critical that all rail fastenings remain tight".
"For example, crossing splices require partially stripping down to re-tighten or replace when fitted with conventional nuts and bolts that may work loose".
"However, a Huck-bolted crossing is maintenance-free and ultimately enables trains to run on an uninterrupted network".
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Contact Alcoa Fastening Systems
Tel +44 1952 290011
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