KHEERAN Corporation provides expert railway ballast investigation in the USA using multi-frequency Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR). Our hi-rail vehicles capture the track centre and both shoulders in one pass, at normal hi-rail speeds. Consequently, American railroads receive continuous substructure data with minimal possession time.

railway ballast investigation USA — KHEERAN GPR hi-rail survey truck

Railway Ballast Investigation in the USA: Why It Matters

US freight corridors carry some of the heaviest axle loads in the world. Coal, aggregate and intermodal traffic drive ballast fouling, while deferred drainage problems accelerate geometry loss. As a result, maintenance budgets stretch thin. A systematic railway ballast investigation in the USA pinpoints where fouling starts, how thick the clean ballast is, and where water is trapped. Therefore, undercutting and shoulder-cleaning dollars go exactly where they matter most.

Survey Methods Proven in Independent FRA Evaluations

KHEERAN deploys 2 GHz horn antennas for fouling detection and 400 MHz antennas for deep substructure layering. In addition, GPS positioning and video mapping reference every foot of data to your milepost system. These are the survey methods proven in independent Federal Railroad Administration evaluations. Furthermore, fouling classifications are cross-checked against calibration samples with sieve analysis, so results reflect your actual ballast.

What Your Railway Ballast Investigation Delivers

Every survey produces outputs your maintenance planners can act on:

  • Fouling categories from clean to highly fouled, by milepost, for centre and shoulders.
  • Clean-ballast thickness profiles along the full survey length.
  • Trapped-water and ballast-pocket flags for drainage remediation.
  • GIS condition mapping and prioritized recommendations.

First-pass results arrive within 24 hours. Meanwhile, our AI-assisted analysis turns gigabytes of radar data into clear maintenance priorities.

Coverage from Class I Main Lines to Short Lines

KHEERAN serves Class I railroads, short lines, transit agencies and port railways across the United States. Moreover, our ballast investigation service combines seamlessly with track geometry and LiDAR asset scanning. Planning a railway ballast investigation in the USA? Contact KHEERAN for a survey scope and quote today.