Failure mechanisms and recycling potential of railway sleepers damaged during the 2023 Kahramanmaraş earthquakes

During the modernization of railway infrastructure, key structural components such as rails, ballast, and concrete sleepers particularly those used in heavy freight transportation often reach the end of their service life or suffer severe damage due to natural disasters. This process results in the generation of substantial amounts of construction and demolition waste along railway corridors, making effective waste management and recycling increasingly critical from both environmental sustainability and economic efficiency perspectives. The 7.7 and 7.6 magnitude earthquakes that struck Kahramanmaraş in 2023 caused extensive damage across a wide geographical region, including significant destruction to railway infrastructure. In this context, the mechanisms of damage to railway lines and the recycling potential of the resulting waste materials were systematically investigated. This study aims to assess the feasibility of recycling seismically damaged and end-of-service-life reinforced concrete railway sleepers as raw materials for the production of green high-strength concrete in the construction sector. B58 and B70 type concrete sleepers, obtained as waste from the TCDD 5th Regional Directorate railway lines in Türkiye, were processed using environmentally friendly techniques to regenerate recycled aggregates and produce sector-applicable high-strength green concrete. The findings of this study demonstrate that the recycling of earthquake-damaged railway sleepers into green concrete plays a significant role in reducing environmental impacts and contributes effectively to sustainability goals in the built environment.