Analysis of Waterjet Treatment for Herbicide-free Vegetation Management on Railway Tracks

Vegetation management is essential for the functionality and operational safety of railway tracks. Because the approval of the herbicide glyphosate on railway tracks will expire by the end of 2022 in Europe, there is an urgent need for alternative vegetation management strategies. An eco-compatible alternative could be the use of pressurized water, possibly supplemented with abrasives, to substitute current herbicides. This study examines two different approaches of waterjet methods to remove plants from railway tracks, either by cutting or defibering the aerial parts of plants. Here, a range of plant species and infrastructure components (e.g., cable insulation) were processed at varying process parameters. Furthermore, the benefit of using garnet abrasive for enhanced plant damage was examined. The experiments revealed that, with an appropriate parameterization of the waterjet process, plants could be effectively damaged without affecting the surrounding infrastructure.