The technological processes to remove uncontrolled vegetation by various means of mechanization

The problem of removing uncontrolled vegetation from railroad precincts of general and nongeneral use is urgent for the Russian railroad network maintenance. To ensure secure and delay-free transportation process it is necessary to prevent growth of high trees and shrubs and to disroot the existing ones. The mechanical method used today in more than 50% cases in railways cleaning process provides two main directions for trees and shrubs removal: separate removal of aboveground plant parts and roots and removal of vegetation growing along with the roots. The paper discusses the existing and proposed perspective technological schemes and processes of work to remove uncontrolled trees and shrubs in railroad precincts. The author identifies strengths and weaknesses of vegetation removal with a forestry crusher and brush cutters, as well as with machines with a manipulator fitted with a cutting head. A specific engineering process to remove unwanted vegetation is described which involves a multifunctional machine with an articulated telescopic arm on combined (road and rail) course. The possibility of using existing and prospective technological processes taking into account current regulatory documents of JSC «Russian Railways» is studied. The author makes a conclusion that it is necessary to develop a system of machines that allows improving the quality of the work / services in the railroad precincts on operational infra-structure facilities of JSC «Russian Railways» and to reduce costs due to a more complete and efficient use of machines and mechanisms.