Qualität und Lebenszykluskosten des Gleisschotters.

The ballast quality influences the opposing behavior of renewal and maintenance costs, the sum of which makes up an important part of the life cycle costs of the railway superstructure. The optimal ballast quality results from the minimum of costs. Finding them requires the clarification of three basic questions: First, how is the quality of the ballast defined? Second: What influence does the ballast quality have on maintenance? Third, what is the relationship to life cycle costs? The present paper contains a method for answering these three questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]