The City of Winnipeg
Bid Opportunity No. 539-2013
Template Version: C420130321 - RW
APPENDIX ‘D’
CN CRUSHED ROCK BALLAST
MATERIAL SPECIFICATION
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS SPECIFICATION 12-20C
12-20C Superseding
(July 2003) Specification
12-20B
CRUSHED ROCK BALLAST
1 SCOPE: This specification covers two classes of crushed rock ballast and one class of trowelling
stone.
Class 1 - Crushed rock ballast for use primarily on main line track.
Class 2 - Crushed rock ballast for use only on other than main line track.
Trowelling stone shall be supplied in one class only.
GENERAL REQUIREMENTS
2 Material
2.1 The ballast and trowelling stone shall be composed of hard, strong and durable particles,
clean and free from clay and shale and from an excess of dust or elongated pieces.
2.2 Before crushed rock ballast is accepted from any new pit, or from a new seam, bed or
formation in any existing pit that in the judgement of the Inspector is substantially different
from material previously inspected and approved, the material shall be inspected by a
qualified petrologist and approved by the Senior Geotechnical Engineer of the Railway.
2.3 The word "Inspector" occurring in this specification shall mean the duly authorized
representative of the Railways' Chief Engineer.
DETAILED REQUIREMENTS
3 Methods of Test
All tests shall be carried out according to the latest revision of the standard test methods referred to
in this specification.
4 Fractured Faces
The crushed rock ballast or trowelling stone shall have at least 75% of the particles by mass with two
or more fractured faces and at least 98% of the particles by mass with one fractured face. The above
percentages will be required within each sieve size coarser than 3/4-inch (19 mm).
5 Flat Pieces
The crushed rock ballast or trowelling stone shall contain less than 30% by mass of flat pieces. In
cases of dispute the test method "Determination of Flakiness Index" contained in British Standard
812 shall be used.
6 Absorption
The absorption of the ballast or trowelling stone shall be less than 0.5%. ASTM C 127
Note: Vertical bar on left margin indicates location of latest revision.
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CN SPECIFICATION 12-20C
CRUSHED ROCK BALLAST
7 Soundness and Resistance to Abrasion
Tested in Accordance Testing
Property Requirement
with ASTM Method Remarks
Class 1
Ballast & Class 2
Trowelling Ballast Coarse aggregate
Stone only, magnesium
Soundness C 88
sulphate
Less than Less than solution.
7.0% at 10.0% at
5 cycles. 5 cycles.
Abrasion Less than Less than
C 535 ASTM Grading "2".
Loss 20%. 30%.
8 Grading
The ballast and trowelling stone shall conform to the grading requirements shown below.
% Passing by Mass
Sieve Size Class 1 & 2 Ballast Trowelling Stone
2-1/2" (63 mm) 100 -
2" (50 mm) 70-90 -
1-1/2" (37.5 mm) 40-70 -
1" (25 mm) 0-25 100
3/4" (19 mm) 0-3 90-100
1/2" (12.5 mm) - 15-55
No. 4 (4.75 mm) - 0-5
No. 200) (0.75 mm 0-1 0-1
ASTM C 136
ASTM C 117 (for material passing the No. 200 sieve).
9 Ballast Resistivity
9.1 When tested as described in Appendix A, ballast resistivity shall not be less than 3000
ohm-meters.
10 Frequency of Testing
10.1 At the start of production the Producer shall carry out all tests described in Sections 4 to 9
inclusive to establish compliance with this specification.
10.2 During production the Producer shall carry out the grading test twice per day, the abrasion
loss test once on each 10,000 metric tonnes of production, and all other tests once on
each 30,000 metric tonnes of production thereafter. The ballast or trowelling stone shall be
tested more frequently if there is any indication of a change in quality.
11 Handling and Loading
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CN SPECIFICATION 12-20C
CRUSHED ROCK BALLAST
11.1 Ballast and trowelling stone shall be handled, stockpiled and/or loaded into cars in such a
manner as to minimize the abrasion of particles and the segregation of sizes.
11.2 Under no circumstances shall rubber tired or crawler type vehicles be allowed to operate
or traverse repeatedly over the stockpile of crushed material.
11.3 The handling and loading procedures shall have the prior approval of the Senior
Geotechnical Engineer of the Railway.
12 Weighing
12.1 All ballast and trowelling stone delivered to the Railway shall be weighed by the Producer
at his expense and proof of such weight shall be supplied to the Inspector.
12.2 All measurement shall be by actual weight in net tonnes (1000 kg).
12.3 The weighing device or method used must be approved by the Railway in writing. The
Producer shall arrange for and obtain certification by the Weights and Measures Division
of the Federal Department of Consumer and Corporate Affairs of any weighing device
before it goes into service and thereafter as required by the Inspector. In no case shall
calibration be done less than once after each 100,000 tonnes of production.
12.4 The accuracy of any weighing device may be checked by the Inspector at any time and
should any discrepancies be found in the reading adjustments to the production quantities
will be made by the Inspector.
QUALITY ASSURANCE
13 Application
Material ordered to this specification is subject to inspection by the Railway with respect to all the
requirements of this specification.
14 Plant Access
The Inspector shall have, during working hours, free entry to all parts of the producer's plant and
laboratory facilities used in the production or testing of material ordered to this specification.
15 Quality Assurance Provisions
It is the producer's responsibility to satisfy the Inspector that the ballast and trowelling stone
conforms to this specification. This may be accomplished either by performing the tests (preferably
on-site) prescribed in this specification or by demonstrating to the Inspector that the production,
handling and stockpiling are so controlled that conformity to this specification is assured.
The Railway reserves the right to perform any of the tests set forth in the specification where such
tests are deemed necessary to assure conformity to the prescribed requirements.
16 Test Samples
The incidence of sampling and the location at which samples are selected for testing by the Railway
shall be at the discretion of the Inspector. The samples shall be taken in such a manner as to ensure
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CN SPECIFICATION 12-20C
CRUSHED ROCK BALLAST
that they truly represent the material being produced. The sample size for complete testing shall be
not less than 50 kg.
17 Defective Material
Material which has been or is being produced which does not comply with this specification shall be
rejected by the Inspector. The Producer shall stop further production until the fault has been
corrected and shall dispose of all rejected material without cost to the Railway.
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CN SPECIFICATION 12-20C
CRUSHED ROCK BALLAST
APPENDIX A
Ballast Resistivity Testing
1. Load ballast into the covered plexiglass resistivity box (see Diagram A below – minimum
dimensions h=0.15m and L=0.2m). Ensure that the box is filled level. If necessary, shake
the box to settle material.
2. Measure and record the resistance of the material as produced / received.
3. Record ambient temperature.
4. Using an atomizer, add de-ionized water 50 ml at a time waiting 3 minutes between
applications until bottom of sample is wet. Water may not be allowed to accumulate at the
base of the box. Record volume of water added and cover sample.
5. The resistivity of the material will decreases as water disperses through the sample. Record
resistivity every hour for the first 6 hours and then take a minimum of three additional
measurements over the next 36 hours.
6. Minimum resistivity will be calculated by multiplying the lowest recorded resistivity by the
ballast box factor (h2/L where h and L are the ballast box dimensions shown in Diagram A)
7. Replace sample and repeat test a minimum of 4 times. Ballast resistivity shall be the
average of the minimum resistivity of all valid tests.
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