RT&S April 2019

RAIL TRANSIT M/W Challenges:

Addressing Wheel/Rail Noise at the Source

April 2019 | www.rtands.com

Bridge Inspection

New tech and FRA 237 move industry into the future

Material handling

Market updates on efficient, safe material movement offerings

AND ALSO

AREMA News p. 30 rtands.com

February 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 1

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contents

April 2019

FEATURES

13

Addressing Wheel/ Rail Noise Transit systems everywhere must deal with noise and vibration issues. The causes are numerous and varied; the challenges, formidable.

19

19 NEWS

4

DEPARTMENTS

Industry Today Duke University Nixes DurhamOrange Light Rail; CSX, Maryland Seek Fed Funds to Expand Baltimore Tunnel and more

6

Supplier News Acquisitions, contracts and other news

7

People New hires, promotions and appointments

Edmonton Transit Service on the Capital Line. Story on p. 13 Credit: Jack Lindquist

9

TTCI TTCI conducts neural network analysis for rail flaw prediction

30

AREMA News Message from the President, highlights from Committee 9 and more

35

Calendar

36

Products

37

Ad Index

37

Sales Representatives

38

Classifieds Advertising

39

Professional Directory

Bridge maintenance and inspection Modern approaches to bridge inspection and repair, relying on new technology and safety standards brought on

by FRA 237, move the industry into the future.

25

Material handling Rail industry suppliers focus on productivity and safety when providing machinery to quickly handle materials.

Columns

3

On Track The (Blue) Devil in the Details

8

NRC Chairman’s Column Next: NRC Auction, Railroad Day, NRC scholarships and more

Follow Us On Social Media @RTSMag

rtands.com

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 1

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On Track

The (Blue) Devil in the Details Vol. Vol. 115, 115, No. No. 41 Print ISSN # 0033-9016, Digital ISSN # 2160-2514 EDITORIAL OFFICES 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, Ill. 60603 Telephone (312) 683-0130 Fax (312) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com Paul Conley Editor-in-Chief pconley@sbpub.com Kyra Senese Managing Editor ksenese@sbpub.com Bob Tuzik Consulting Editor btuzik@sbpub.com btuzik@sbpub.comCORPORATE OFFICES CORPORATE OFFICES 55 Broad St 26th Fl. 55 Broad St 26th Fl. New York, N.Y. 10004 Telephone New York,(212) N.Y.620-7200 10004 Telephone Fax (212) (212) 633-1165 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. J. and McGinnis, Jr. Arthur President Chairman President and Chairman Jonathan Chalon Chalon Publisher Jonathan Publisher Mary Conyers Production Mary Conyers Director Production Director Nicole D’Antona Art Director D’Antona Nicole Art Director Aleza Leinwand Graphic Leinwand Aleza Designer Graphic Designer Maureen Cooney Maureen CirculationCooney Director Circulation Director Michelle Zolkos Conference Michelle Zolkos Director Conference Director Customer Service: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS Service: International 800-895-4389 Corp.

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L

ight rail is all the rage these days.

It seems every city that has it, is expanding it.

And every city that doesn’t have it, wants it. Certainly this has been good for the rail construction industry. Lots of folks are making lots of money.

Perhaps that’s why I heard from so many members of the industry when Duke University nixed the plan to build a 17.7-mile light-rail line connecting Durham to Chapel Hill, N.C., by refusing to let trains cross school property (See Page 4). The folks I spoke to, just like the local supporters of the proposed GoTriangle system, were angry and perplexed.

Duke’s decision made no sense to them.

Truthfully, it makes no sense to me either. Duke raised concerns about construction hassles and noise. But similar concerns have been raised, and addressed, whenever a city builds a lightrail system.

As of presstime, Duke wasn’t budging.

Now a call is spreading among transit activists that Durham should invoke eminent domain and seize the land it needs to run trains.

Although such a move might prove beneficial to the city in the long term, and to rail contractors in the short term, I’m more than a little skittish about it.

Here’s why: There’s a little game I like to play with folks who don’t work in rail whenever the

opportunity to talk about trains arises.

I ask them “who owns the track?” The answers are illuminating.

Most folks say the track is owned by “the government.” And of course that’s essentially true when talking about transit systems. But people give the same answer about freight railroad track. Few of my friends know that track is owned by companies.

And when I tell them this is so, they almost all begin to complain.

Track, they say, should be owned by “the government.” Like highways.

Just last month in this column I suggested that a new, more aggressive era of railroad regulation is on the horizon.

I trust that most people in our industry share my concern about where that might lead.

So when I hear talk of seizing private property to help commuters, I shudder.

It seems a very small leap from taking Duke’s land for a trolly to taking CSX track to improve Amtrak service.

So I’ll register my disapproval of Duke not with a call for eminent domain, but with a call more likely to inflict pain on the Duke Blue Devils than on the rail industry: Go Tar Heels.

Paul Conley Editor-in-Chief

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April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 3

Industry today

Duke University Nixes Durham-Orange Light Rail

D

uke University won’t allow a portion of a proposed 17.7-mile light-rail line to pass through its campus. The decision effectively kills the project.

“This is a major setback for the Durham and Orange county communities and the entire Triangle region,” said officials from GoTriangle, the agency tasked with building the $3.3 billion line that would link UNC-Chapel Hill, Duke, downtown Durham and N.C. Central University. Duke’s decision means the project will miss a federal deadline, almost certainly sinking the deal.

The death of the project comes as bad news for contractors and subcontractors who were looking forward to building the line, which involved a fair amount of complex work including three miles of track spanning 16 bridge structures. In August 2017, GoTriangle chose Omaha-based HDR to lead final design and project management of the system. HDR Transit was slated to design all of the bridges and lead engineering and architecture for infrastructure along the entire alignment, which includes 18 stations, a parking garage and a maintenance facility. In addition, HDR is leading track design, traffic management, 4 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

utility relocation, site planning and roadway design. HDR also performed environmental studies and geotechnical engineering in earlier phases of this project.

This is a major setback for the Durham and Orange county communities and the entire Triangle region.

Duke President Vincent Price, Duke Executive Vice President Tallman Trask III and Duke University Health System President and CEO A. Eugene Washington notified

GoTriangle of Duke’s decision in a letter sent Wednesday (Feb. 27), according to local media reports. “Notwithstanding these many good-faith efforts, it has unfortunately not been possible to complete the extensive and detailed due diligence, by the deadlines imposed by the federal and state governments, that is required to satisfy Duke University’s, legal, ethical and fiduciary responsibilities to ensure the safety of patients, the integrity of research, and continuity of our operations and activities,” the letter said.

Duke’s decision came just days after GoTriangle and local transit activists warned that Duke had clearly soured on the light-rail plan. Key university executives had begun to miss meetings and express “bizarre contradictions, complications, and a general dissatisfaction” with the plan.

Elsewhere in North Carolina, transit advocates won a victory. Charlotte’s Metropolitan Transit Commission approved a plan to build the Silver Line, a light-rail like that would run from Park Street and Highway 75 in the town of Belmont to the Central Piedmont Community College Levine campus in Matthews, N.C. rtands.com

Industry today

CSX, Maryland Seek Fed Funds to Expand Baltimore Tunnel CSX and the state of Maryland are asking for federal money to expand the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore to fit double-stack trains.

The project, long backed by the city of Baltimore, calls for increasing the height of the tunnel and 22 bridges between the city and Philadelphia. Such an extensive plan would prove a boon to contractors and suppliers with experience in railroad tunnel and bridge work.

“Reconstructing the Howard Street Tunnel will create thousands of jobs, open up new trade lanes for the Port, and improve overall freight rail service across our nation,” Marylad Gov. Larry Hogan said in a written statement.

CSX and Maryland put the cost of the project at $466 million. That’s a dramatic drop from the billions estimated previously. CSX has agreed to contribute $91 million to the project. Maryland will kick in $147 million. The railroad and state are

asking federal officials to make up the $228 million difference.

In November 2017, several months after Hunter Harrison became CEO of CSX, the railroad walked away from an earlier proposal to raise the height of the Howard Street Tunnel. Harrison died on Dec. 16, 2017. By September 2018, the Class 1 was again suggesting it was open

to the project.

Raising the height of the 121-year-old Howard Street Tunnel is a crucial step in a larger plan by CSX to eventually operate a double-stack corridor between New York and Florida. Short-term, expanding the tunnel would allow the port of Baltimore to handle an additional 80,000 shipping containers per year.

Office of Governor Larry Hogan/Anthony DePanise

CalSTA Awards $13.1M of SRA Funds for 9 California Projects The California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA) has awarded $13.1 million of Senate Bill 1 State Rail Assistance (SRA) funding to advance nine projects throughout California, the agency announced on March 6.

The funds are in addition to the $64.2 million approved in 2018, bringing the total SRA award funding for such projects to $77.3 million, officials said.

The recipient projects aim to expand intercity rail service throughout the state, minimize air pollution and reduce traffic congestion.

SRA funding is intended to provide reliable, supplemental revenue to enhance rail service and provide opportunities to California’s local commuter and intercity rail agencies.

The funds apply to the following functions: • Operations funding for expanded service; • Increased customer amenities, such as discounted tickets; • Capital investments, such as new and cleaner-emissions rolling stock to increase capacity and reduce emissions; • Track and station investments that can reduce travel times, delays, improve accessibility and enhance the customer experience. rtands.com

• Officials say about $27.6 million of additional program capacity remains between now and June 30, 2020.

• Applicants may propose additional investments on an ongoing basis to supply the remaining funds.

The newly awarded projects include the following: • Funding for the Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority to bolster the construction of new siding near the Santa Clara-Great America station. The funds aim to reduce delays for regular rail service.

• Funding for the Coast Rail Coordinating Council and its member agencies, via the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments, to complete a Coast Rail Corridor Service Implementation Plan and to complete preconstruction work required to build a new intercity rail station in King City, Calif.

• Funding for the Riverside County Transportation Commission to build the Coachella Festival special event train platform in Indio, Calif., to enable regular special events service.

• Four Caltrans projects intended to progress the expansion of statewide fleet and maintenance facilities and pilot new

services to fill gaps in the rail system in Northern California.

Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) is described officially as “the landmark transportation infrastructure bill” that was signed in April 2017. The bill is expected to provide $7.6 billion in new transit funding throughout the next decade.

Last April, CalSTA awarded $2.6 billion in Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program grants to 28 recipients and provided additional funding for seven projects through multi-year funding agreements, bringing the total awarded for such projects at the time to more than $4.3 billion.

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 5

Industry today

Supplier News F O C USE D T E C HNOLOGY SOLUTIONS won four contracts for its battery-operated spike puller, the “SpikeEase.”

GANNE T T F LE M ING, a g l o b a l infrastructure and engineering firm, expanded its presence in North Carolina, opening a new office in Asheville, N.C. GENESSEE & WYOMING’s Rail Link subsidiary will provide rail service at the Port of Caddo-Bossier in Shreveport, La., as the company e x p a n d s o p e ra t i o n s i n G u l f Coast ports.

The GREENBRIER COMPANIES said it had received orders for 3,800 new railcars with an aggregate value of nearly $450 million during its fiscal second quarter.

The Capital Metropolitan Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n A u t h o r i t y ’ s Board of Directors, located in A u s ti n , Texa s , s e l e c te d H D R ENGINEERING to help manage a m u lti-ye a r i m p l e m e nta ti o n process for its Project Connect, a project aimed at rethinking transportation.

JAY- REESE C ON T RA C T ORS won a $3 6.8 m illion contrac t from the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to build a new light-rail station in downtown Austin, Texas.

RAILWORKS CORP. announced it would split its rail construction and maintenance business into two divisions – Large Projects and Track Maintenance and Services Group.

Trinity Metro’s new commuter rail line, TEXRAIL, is the recipient of an honor from the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA).

RHCA has selected TEXRail as its 2018 Project of the Year.

6 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

CTA Invests Nearly $4M in Addison Red Line Track Improvements The Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) is investing nearly $4 million in railroad track improvements at its Addison Red Line station, the authority announced.

The project is expected to provide a smoother ride on the CTA’s busiest rail line in addition to eliminating a slow zone and track conditions that could lead to future slow zones.

The planned track upgrades will ensure reliable service on the CTA’s Red and Purple lines during future construction work for the Red and Purple Modernization (RPM) Phase One Project.

The RPM project is set to begin later this year, CTA explained.

The upcoming work began March 8 and was expected to be completed early in April.

The CTA is expected to continue to provide Red and Purple Line service during the project work. CTA said it aims to reduce the impact to customers, however, the transit authority suggests that commuters plan ahead and allow extra travel time for their travel during the work period.

“The Red Line is a critical transportation route for our customers, providing 75 million rides a year, which is why we continue to invest in it and modernize for the future,” said CTA President Dorval R. Carter, Jr. “The investments we are making will offer long-term benefits as well as improve the

experience for commuters. We thank our customers in advance for their patience during this work.”

Throughout the work on the project, crews will carry out track renewal work on the two Western-most tracks that carry southbound Red and Purple Line Express service, CTA said in a statement.

The project is set to replace worn track components that are necessary for reliable train service, including concrete plinths, plates and fasteners, contact rail chairs and mounting blocks.

The planned modernization work will also eliminate a 25 mph slow zone on the southbound Red Line track and reduce the chance of future slow zones developing in the area, CTA said.

Red and Purple Line service will continue throughout the work period with occasional delays occurring due to Red and Purple Line northbound and southbound trains being required to share tracks.

In May of 2018, the CTA issued a Final Request for Proposals to three contractors for Phase One of the Red and Purple Modernization Program.

The $2.1 billion RPM is the largest project in CTA’s history and the transit authority says it will significantly modernize, improve and increase rail service in Chicago for decades to come.

West Lake Corridor, KC Streetcar Extensions Get Green Lights from FTA Two rail extension projects in the Midwest picked up “medium-high” ratings from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) — a designation that makes it likely the federal government will provide funding for construction work.

The Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District (NICTD) announced that the FTA gave the favorable rating to its West Lake Corridor Project, which would extend its South Shore Line commuter service to Lake County, Indiana.

NICTD said it will soon select a firm to design the project. NICTD anticipates awarding a construction contract in the spring of 2020, with the start of construction later that year.

The FTA gave the same rating to the Kansas City Streetcar Authority’s proposed Main Street extension, which would connect the campus of the University of MissouriKansas City to the light-rail system. The Authority has begun soliciting bids for preliminary engineering work.

The deadline to submit proposals is April 25, 2019 at 2:00 p.m.

The KC streetcar began service in late 2016 and has been credited with helping revitalize the city’s downtown.

In order to receive funding from the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA’s) Capital Investment Grant Program, a project must receive a rating of Medium, or higher. rtands.com

Industry today

People Four-decade transit industry veteran J o e C a l a b r e s e j o i n e d F OCU S ED TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS, a division of The Marmon/Berkshire Hathaway Company, as Senior Advisor. His new appointment went into effect April 1.

Daniel Loftus, PE, is a new leader in HNTB’s Chicago office, where he now serves as senior transit project manager.

M ACRO, a d i v i s i o n o f R o s s & Baruzzini, an advanced mobility and communications systems engineering c o n s u l ta n c y f i r m , h a s a p p o i n te d Sean Kennedy as its new director of business development.

T h e N A T I O N A L RA I L ROAD CO N S T RUC T I O N & M A I N T E N A N CE ASSOCIATION added Kevin Hicks, PE, vice president at TranSystems Corp., to the association’s Board of Directors.

OmniTRAX, Inc., elected Cameron Scott and David Garin to its Board of Directors.

Th e c it y of PH OE N IX, A riz., h a s selected Markus Coleman as its new light rail administrator. Coleman brings experience in public transit, planning and development departments and the City Manager’s office.

Clarelle DeGraffe is the new director of rail transit and general manager of PORT AUTH OR IT Y TRANS - H UDSO N CORP. effective March 25, following a promotion from officials at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.

The REGIONAL TRANSPORTATION AU T H OR I T Y a p p o i n te d A l exa n d ra Holt as its newest board member, representing the city of Chicago.

The SOUTHWEST CHIEF AND FRONT RANGE PASSENGER RAIL COMMISSION has chosen Randy Grauberger to serve as its first project director.

STRATEGIC RAIL FINANCE named rail industry veteran Carl Belke as Executive Consultant in the firm’s Freight Rail

Business Advisory practice.

John Brestin, P.E., S.E., an engineer and practice leader who has spearheaded the design of significant b r i d g e i n i t i a t i ve s t h ro u g h o u t t h e U n i te d Sta te s, h a s j o i n e d S T V a s vice president and head of the firm’s b ri d g e p ra c ti ce. J o h n Po nzi o wa s a l so p ro m ote d to se r ve a s se n i o r v i c e p re s i d e n t o f S T V ’s N a t i o n a l Systems Group.

Douglas Campbell is TNW COR P ORAT I O N ’s n e w d i re c to r o f Infrastructure and Strategic Initiatives.

He reports to Jeff Davis, TNW’s chief operating officer.

TRA N S P OR TATI O N TEC H N O LO GY CENTER, INC. named Karalyn Moreira as its Executive Director of Business Development.

Robert Tuttle, PE, is the new office m a n a g e r o f UR B A N E N G I N EER S ’ Warrendale, Pa., location.

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April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 7

NRC Chairman’s Column

Next: NRC Auction, Railroad Day, NRC scholarships and more

W

“

The NRC looks forward to working with all of our railroad industry partners to support, and pass, an infrastructure package by the end of this calendar year.”

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 410 1st Street, S.E. Suite 200 Washington D. C. 20003 Tel: 202-715-2920 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org 8 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

ith a successful January conference behind us, we turn our focus to the annual NRC Railroad Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction, Railroad Day on Capitol Hill, the NRC Education Grant and NRC scholarship programs and our association’s efforts in Washington, D.C. The 2019 NRC Railroad Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction is nearly here! The auction will be held April 24 at Blackmon Auctions, 425 Blackmon Road, Lonoke, Ark. If you have surplus equipment to sell, it is recommended you sign up and list the equipment now. You can sign up at www. nrcma.org/auction or by contacting auctioneer Thomas Blackmon Jr. directly at 501-6644526 or thomas@blackmonauctions.com.

During the night before the auction, April 23 from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m., all are encouraged to attend an industry social event at the Courtyard by Marriott in Downtown Little Rock. The NRC staff in Washington, D.C. has been working with the 116th Congress, organizing grassroots events, supporting our labor brothers and sisters, and co-sponsoring the 2019 Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.

As Senators and Congressional leaders solidify their priorities, one appears consistent — saving our crumbling infrastructure.

The NRC supports bipartisan efforts by Congressman Pete DeFazio (D-OR-4) and Congressman Sam Graves (R-MO-6) in their efforts to pass an infrastructure bill this year.

The NRC looks forward to working with all of our railroad industry partners to support, and pass, an infrastructure package by the end of this calendar year.

The NRC had its first grassroots events in Duluth, Minn., last month at NRC member company IPS Cranes with newly elected Congressman Pete Stauber (MN-8), who serves on the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. At the grassroots events, the NRC highlights to members of Congress the railroad infrastructure projects, contractor and supplier facilities and wellpaying jobs our member companies provide.

The grassroots events provide members of Congress firsthand knowledge of the rail industry and demonstrate how rail contractors and suppliers are positively affecting the industry. If your company is interested in hosting your Member of Congress, please

reach out to Matt Bell at mbell@nrcma.org.

The NRC stands by our labor brothers and sisters of AFL-CIO, LiUNA!, United Steelworkers, Ironworkers, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the North American’s Building Trades Union, in expressing our concerns with the federal Green New Deal resolution and the effects it would have on our current infrastructure network and related jobs throughout the U.S. The 2019 Railroad Day on Capitol Hill is also coming up on May 8. The NRC is proud to co-sponsor this day with the ASLRRA, AAR, REMSA, RSI and the RTA. Our efforts supporting legislation e.g. the shortline tax credit and ensuring no increase in federal weight and length limits on trucks, benefits the NRC member companies and the Short Line and Class One Railroad customers.

Sign up for the 2019 Capitol Hill Railroad Day at www.aslrra.org.

In closing this month’s column, I would be remiss if I did not mention safety. All member companies will, if not already, soon be in peak construction season. This construction season will be a very active season. RFPs are hitting the streets daily; company quotes and proposal teams are working long hours. As the construction season gathers steam, please place safety at the forefront of everything you do.

Take advantage of the NRC safety programs that are available at no cost to all our member companies. We all know it must be “Safety First” every second, every minute and every hour for personnel and equipment. It is critical that each employee goes home at the end of the day in the same physical condition that they started the day in and that equipment is operational, well maintained, and in safe working order.

Finally, I wish everyone a successful month. And don’t forget to save the date for the next NRC Conference, Jan. 5 – 8, 2020, in sunny San Diego, Calif. This is a conference you will want to attend. So mark your calendar today.

Mike Choat NRC Chairman rtands.com

TTCI r&d

TTCI conducts neural network analysis for rail flaw prediction One such model can predict rail flaw types by relating input variables to flaw type output.

by Abe Meddah, principal investigator, and Matt Witte, scientist Transportation Technology Center, Inc.

T

ransportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI) investigated an application of the neural network (NN) technique to predict bolt hole crack (BHC), vertical split head (VSH), and crushed head (CH) rail flaws in 136 RE rail. The proposed analysis for rail flaw prediction demonstrated that the NN model accurately can predict rail flaw types by relating a combination of input variables to the flaw type output.

The NN model was developed to capture the existing non-linear relationships between a set of 10 input variables pertaining to rail flaw development and rail defect type outputs. Input variables were selected based on availability and the potential underlying physical relationship they have with the rail defect outputs.

The NN rail defect data As with an earlier NN analysis applied to

investigate the causes of vertical split rim (VSR) wheel failure,1 NN techniques also could be applied to predict rail defect types given a combination of data input variables with solid underlying physical relationship to the rail defects. The data sets used to develop the NN model were obtained from a Class I railroad database for track defects collected between 1997 and 2015. The data input variables contain information such as seasonality, defect length, track type, annual and accumulated annual gross tonnage (million gross tons or MGT), production date, and track classes.

In this preliminary investigation, TTCI engineers developed NN models to predict the bolt hole crack (BHC), the vertical split head (VSH), and crushed head (CH) rail flaws. Figure 1, from top to bottom, shows typical BHC, VSH and CH rail defects.

The model training and validation data A separate model was developed for each defect type, namely, BHC, VSH and CH. For instance, the model developed for BHC was trained to identify the BHC defects when it is deployed on validation data containing a combination of BHC, VSH and CH defect types. The same was repeated with VSH and CH defects. Training and validation data were federated into three distinct groups: fall-spring combined, summer, and winter.

Models were developed for each defect type and group.

Training and validation subsets contained data pertaining to all three defect types. The NN models were trained to recognize

patterns pertaining to each defect type. For each defect type, about 50 percent of the data records were randomly selected for training the model. For evaluating the model performance, the other 50 percent of data, independent of the training data, was used to validate the model. A total of 2,000 data records were used for training and validating the NN models.

Ten input variables to NN model were used: • Month in which data was collected (season) • Track type • Left and right track sides • Defect length • Rail weight • Manufacturing date • Annual million gross tons (MGT) • Accumulated MGT • Route class • Track class Output target to be predicted: • Defect type (i.e., BHC, VSH, and CH) Figure 2 shows a simplified representation of neural network architecture consisting of an input layer comprising the input variables to the model, two hidden layers and an output layer for one predicted rail defect type.

Model performance results Table 1 shows a summary of NN model performance for each defect on fresh datasets used solely for validation. The BHC model performed satisfactorily for all the seasons with greater than 90 percent confidence. The VSH model performance was greater than 80 percent confidence for fallspring and summer seasons, and 78 percent

Figure 1: Defect types analyzed from top to bottom: bolt hole crack (BHC), vertical split head (VSH) and crushed head (CH)2

rtands.com

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 9

TTCI r&D

Figure 2: Neural network simplified architecture

for the winter model. The CH summer model performed best with 82 percent confidence. The CH winter model, in comparison, presented a poor predictive performance on the validation data with just 22.9 percent confidence. The CH winter model was incapable of adequately predicting the unseen validation data. It is possible that this is the result of poor data quality in the winter season datasets. It is also a possibility is that the CH winter model input variables not adequately representative of the defect population. The BHC model consistently performed better than the VSH and CH models.

Relative effects of model input variables All the input variables available in the database appeared, to varying degrees, to have underlying physical relationship with the rail defect types and how each defect developed. To assess the predictive 10 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

NN pattern recognition capabilities can be deployed successfully for rail flaw prediction information of each input variable to the model, each was investigated for the relative effects that each input variable has on

the model performance.

Each input variable was removed, in turn, from the training data for the fallspring NN model then retrained without it, and, once developed, redeployed on the same validation dataset initially used. If there is no change in the prediction accuracy when a variable is removed, then the variable is not significant. Figure 3 shows a summary of the NN model performance after individual input variables were removed in turn.

The results indicate that the physicallymeasured defect length input variable carries the most predictive information for all three defect types. Without the defect length variable in the training datasets, the NN model prediction accuracy was the worst for every defect type. This mainly is because a defect’s size is a strong indicator of the defect type relative to its location and orientation within the rail section. After removing the defect length variable, the rtands.com

TTCI r&d

Table 1. NN Result Summary

Fall-Spring Model Accuracy

Summer Model Accuracy

Winter Model Accuracy

Bolt hole crack (BHC)

95.9

92.3

94.9

Vertical split head (VSH)

83.7

84.2

78

Crushed head (CH)

59.1

82

22.9

fall-spring model predictive performance was as follows: • BHC: Confidence dropped from 95.9 to 82.5 percent • VSH: 83.7 to 48.3 percent • CH: 59.1 to 50.4 percent The input variable with the least useful predictive information was calendar month.

The model performance improved for the

VSH and remained nearly unchanged for BHC when the calendar month variable was removed. For CH defect, the NN model performance drastically improved when the variable month was removed. The model accuracy went from 59.1 percent confidence up to 85 percent. It is possible that variable month may be redundant with seasonality and its presence in the training

RTS_Apr_HalfPage_Herzog_RailTesting.pdf 1 3/27/2019 11:40:37 AM

data was patternless noise that did not contribute to learning.

Neither rail MGT nor annual MGT variables were significant to the model performance. Significance was about the same as for manufactures date or track type.

Variable rail weight did not contribute at all since the investigation was solely conducted for rail type 136 RE. The individual effects of

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significant as the variable defect length.

Moving forward As this investigation shows, NN pattern recognition capabilities can be deployed successfully for rail flaw prediction. For better understanding of rail flaw presence and formation, other pertinent rail flaw-related condition data, such as fastening systems, crosstie types and track geometry, also should be explored for rail flaw predictions. Using such historic condition data with the NN technique could prove useful in identifying beforehand rail flaw types that are likely to develop so diagnosis warning can be aptly provided.

Figure 3: Input variable relative effects

the variables month, track type, track sides, rail weight, manufacturing date, MGT,

accumulated MGT, route class and track class, when removed in turn, were not as

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Noise

Rail Transit: Addressing Wheel/Rail Noise at the Source Transit systems everywhere must deal with noise and vibration issues. The causes are numerous and varied; the challenges, formidable.

Jack Lindquist

N

oise is a persistent issue on urban rail transit systems. Vehicle and track design, wheel and rail conditions, the age and design of the infrastructure may all play a role in how noise and vibration radiate and how they are perceived by the public.

When it comes to dealing with traingenerated noise (and vibration), rail transit systems differ significantly from freight railroads. Rail transit systems carry thousands—in some cities, tens of thousands—of passengers on the system per day. Every one of these riders gets a daily dose of exposure to the noise generated on the system. Add to that the residents, often in densely populated urban areas in proximity to the line, who bear the auditory brunt of every train that passes during every waking (and non-waking) hour of every day. For them, transit noise becomes a “quality of life” issue.

In the transit arena, every passenger or resident represents a potential vote on bond measures that affect monies and maintenance activities on the system. On top

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By Bob Tuzik, consulting editor

of that, every one of those riders and residents is a phone call away from City Hall, the offices of the transit agency, or in some cases an agency’s board member to register a complaint about excessive noise and a demand that something be done about it.

It’s no wonder then that noise- (and to some extent, vibration-) related issues have the ear of transit management. To the rider or resident, noise is noise; vibration is vibration. To the transit or acoustics professional, they are nuanced engineering, maintenance, acoustic and political problems.

The causes—and cures—are numerous and varied; the challenges, formidable.

While noise and vibration are often considered together, they are typically addressed in different ways, and at different times. Vibration is typically addressed during the design phase. Measures to reduce vibration can be much more expensive than measures to mitigate noise.

“There have been situations where the cost for the required vibration mitigation affected the feasibility of the project,” said Hugh Saurenman, president of ATS Consulting.

Noise is typically addressed after trains begin operating. There are situations in which ground-borne vibration is an issue, but those are rare, said Bill Moorhead, Principal of TRAMMCO, LLC. Typically, airborne vibration, noise—often a result of corrugation—is the primary culprit.

Depending on the severity, there can be up to 20 dBA difference between smooth and corrugated rail.

The Federal Transit Administration has developed guidelines for assessing and developing remedial actions for N&V (See sidebar “FTA Criteria for Noise and Vibration”). Individual transit systems have also introduced innovative approaches to identifying and mitigating noise, in particular, at the source.

There are multiple types of transit noise.

Switch impact noise, noise radiated from the guideway structure, in-car noise, curve noise, squeal, flanging noise, traction noise and wheel/rail rolling noise, for example.

“Any system that has a steel wheel and a steel rail will have rolling noise,” Briony Croft, principal engineer at Acoustics, SLR April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 13

Noise

Consulting (Canada) Ltd., told members of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) Track and Noise & Vibration Technical Forum earlier this year.

While related, each type of railway noise has its own source and migration path.

“To understand how to mitigate noise, you have to understand the root causes,” Croft said. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to address them, but reducing wheel/rail roughness will always provide the biggest bang for the buck.

The combined roughness of the wheels and rails directly affects the overall noise level. Higher roughness increases the noise from both vehicles and track. The other factor is speed. “Rolling noise is proportional to speed,” Croft said, “The faster you go, the more noise you get.”

From an acoustics perspective, there are three options for noise mitigation: mitigation at the source (i.e., the wheel/rail interface); mitigation at the propagation path, which often requires the use of noise barriers, which on transit systems is typically not an effective or feasible solution; and mitigation at the receiver (a residence, for example), which is not within the control of the transit system.

In most cases, transit agencies focus maintenance efforts on addressing rolling noise at the source—the wheel/rail interface. Along with wheel and rail roughness, track components have an effect on noise.

Slab track, for example, is typically noisier than ballasted track; softer rail pads are noisier than stiffer rail pads. And while soft fasteners (140 kips/in. or less) may be adequate in tangent track, they allow the rail to roll and gauge to widen in curves, which can exacerbate noise-related issues, Bill Moorhead said.

Wheel shape and size is also a factor.

Smaller wheels tend to be quieter than

designs, lubrication / top-of-rail friction management, which is used to reduce wheel squeal and slow the onset of corrugation, and, ultimately, rail grinding (or milling), the standard remedial approach to removing corrugation once it occurs.

“Smooth rail. Controlling the surface finish on the rail is the real key to having quiet track,” Moorhead said.

Rail dampers typically attach to the rail between the existing fasteners to reduce the length of rail that vibrates under a train, thereby reducing the rail’s contribution to overall noise.

larger wheels. Speed, of course, is always a factor.

While not commonly used in North America, rail dampers are used in Europe to mitigate noise that is radiated from the rail. These types of damping systems are typically attached to the rail between the existing fasteners to reduce the length of rail that vibrates under a train, thereby reducing the rail’s contribution to overall noise. Rail dampers are most effective in slab track and applications with soft rail pads or baseplate fasteners, on systems with relatively small wheels in which rolling noise is the dominant issue, Croft said. They are least effective in embedded track and applications with stiff rail pads, in addressing squeal and flanging noise, and on systems with larger, noisy wheel shapes.

“Rail dampers have no effect wherever wheel noise is the dominant noise source,” she said.

Some systems, again, primarily in Europe, mount custom dampers to the wheel to reduce wheel-generated noise.

In North America, where corrugation is the dominant cause of rolling noise, transit systems rely on the use of premium rail steels, better matched wheel/rail profile

A Tale of Two Cities BART The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system began using acoustic data to identify locations that generate excessive noise, several years ago. Acoustic data is collected by microphones on the trailing ends of revenue trains and imported into CorrTracker®, a proprietary software utilized by ATS Consulting, BART’s acoustics consultant, to identify maintenance priorities based on decibel levels.

The onboard acoustic system measures noise levels, tri-axial vibration, and speed (using a radar gun). The location information system identifies and syncs to RFID tags that are located at the ends of station platforms.

The analysis software cleans up dropouts or faulty readings in the speed data and calculates the frequency spectrum of the noise and the vibration at 250-msec (1/8second) intervals, and integrates the speed data to associate the vibration from each 250-msec interval with a specific mile post.

“This approach worked well at BART in part because there were many locations on the system where rail corrugation resulted in noise levels that were 15 to 20 decibels higher than normal,” said ATS’s Hugh Saurenman.

ATS developed easy-to-read threedimensional displays of the noise data based on the sound level amplitudes

FTA Criteria for Noise and Vibration The Federal Transit Administration (F TA) “Transit Noise and Vibration Impact Assessment Manual” provides guidelines on predicting future noise and vibration from a new rail transit system, and criteria for acceptable noise and vibration levels in different types of communities. Three levels of impact are defined: Severe Impact, Moderate Impact, and No Impact. For

14 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

environmental assessments, FTA requires that all Severe and Moderate impacts be identified, and that options to mitigate or eliminate the predicted impacts be evaluated.

For moderate impacts, the transit agency has leeway to evaluate whether to implement a mitigation measure based on factors such as the cost, the number of benefited receivers,

the amount that the predicted levels exceed the impact threshold, and similar factors.

For severe impacts, FTA guidance is th at a l l seve re i m p a c ts s h o u l d be red uced to at least m oderate impacts, unless there are extenuating factors that make implementation of mitigation infeasible.

—Hugh Saurenman, ATS Consulting

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Noise

Definition of decibels Sound is measured using a decibel scale (dB), which is a logarithmic scale. An additional factor is that environmental sound is frequently a d j u s te d , u s i n g A-w e i g h t i n g , to mimic the response of human ears.

A-weighted decibels are abbreviated dBA. On this scale, the minimum sound a human can hear is about 0 dBA and the maximum is about 140 dBA. Sound levels of 0 dBA have been recorded in remote areas of the Grand Canyon and the sound level could be as high at 140

and frequencies.

BART encounters roaring corrugation, the biggest noise-related issues on the system, at frequencies between 400 and 600 Hertz, said Greg Shivy, BART’s principal track engineer – maintenance and engineering. Noise levels, along with complaints from passengers and nearby residents, increase in tunnels and aerial structures, and at speeds above 50 mph.

Noise from corrugation is such that BART’s rail grinding program has been devoted to chasing it.

As a result of its grinding program (and the recently completed migration from a cylindrical wheel shape to a conical BT3 wheel profile across the fleet), BART saw a 73 percent reduction in customer noise complaints, last year, Shivy said.

While dominant, corrugation isn’t the only noise-related issue on BART. Battered joints, broken welds, or damaged frogs can also generate noise complaints.

Residents along the right of way get accustomed to the rolling noise the trains make. A change can be a red flag. “If we get a complaint about noise in an area in which there were no previous complaints, we know that something has changed, and we need to look into it,” Shivy said.

Using CorrTracker®, BART can go to the location identified in a complaint and play back the audio from the most recent run.

(BART recently increased the number of acoustic runs from two to four per year.)

By listening to the run, Shivy can discern whether the noise is related to corrugation or batter from a damaged joint, weld, or frog, or other track condition.

In an odd turn of events, noise complaints from residents along the BART lines have rtands.com

dBA right behind a jet engine. Other rules of thumb are that the minimum adjustment of a TV is about 1 dB and an adjustment of 3 dB is noticeable.

A general rule of thumb is that a 10 decibel change in the sound level is perceived by humans to be a doubling of the loudness. This is based on research of human response to noise in laboratory settings. The sound level in quiet residential neighborhoods is typically 30 to 35 dBA at night and 50 to 55 dBA during the daytime. Residential

helped BART engineers zero in potential problems, Shivy said. In a sense, noise complaints represent another set of ears to the ground.

“They’ve helped us in some ways,” he said, “I don’t take them lightly.”

CorrTracker also provides the ability to compare past and current acoustic measurement data, and the speeds at which they were recorded. Since there’s a difference in noise levels between data recorded at 40 mph versus data recorded at 75 mph, speed data, collected by a radar gun in the cab, is an essential component of the data.

BART has also begun using pre- and postgrind acoustic data in areas that are prone to corrugation to measure the effectiveness of its grinding program (see “Refining Approaches to Corrective and Preventive Rail Grinding,” RT&S February 2019, p.14).

Sound Transit Wheel/rail noise and vibration was a known potential issue at Sound Transit during the design stage. To address noise- and vibration-related concerns, the track design incorporated a direct fixation system, using e-clips on Cologne egg-shaped fasteners, which provide up to a 10-dB reduction in noise and vibration.

While the system provided the expected attenuation, e-clips began breaking at a rate of about a dozen per month within six months of opening the University Link section of the line, an extremely noise- and vibration-sensitive portion of the system because of its proximity to the University of Washington research facilities.

“We could understand one or two clips failing per month, but 12 to 13 was concerning,” said Shankar Rajaram, Noise and Vibration Program Manager at Sound

neighborhoods near major noise sources such as freeways will range from 60 to 75 dBA during the daytime.

The noise levels in busy restaurants are often 75 to 85 dBA. Freight train horns are required by FRA to have a sound level of 96 to 110 dBA at a distance of 100 ft from the horn. This makes freight train horns one of the loudest events in any neighborhood that is near a grade crossing where freight trains are required to sound the horn.

—Hugh Saurenman, ATS Consulting

Transit in 2018.

One of the early explanations for the premature fatigue failure was that the clips might have been weakened from overdriving during the installation, thus initiating a weak spot for crack initiation.

This and other potential causes were examined to explain the premature clip breaks.

It was apparent that the failure was due to fatigue, but it wasn’t clear what was causing it, especially since the clip failures were concentrated in a few areas, while there were no clip failures in other areas with similar track design and operating conditions.

Aware of the noise-related assessment that was being done at BART, Sound Transit decided to take a close look at noise and vibration conditions. An onboard noise database that contained periodic noise data collected proactively on Sound Transit tracks showed unusually high noise levels (in the 800 Hz frequency range) in the clip failure areas. Led by this information, consultants instrumented the clips and fasteners and were able to determine that the noise on the system was coming from the track at a frequency of 890 Hz, which corresponded to the natural frequency of the e-clips.

“It appeared that resonance of the track system was likely subjecting the clips to strains that exceed their design limit,” Rajaram said.

Working with Pandrol and acoustic consultants, Sound Transit switched to a larger clip that shifted the frequency to above 900 Hertz and out of the track resonance. There were no failures within a 3,000-foot section over nine months. That was good news, Rajaram said, but it did not address the root cause.

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Noise

To further the investigation, Sound Transit strain gauged the track to determine whether track geometry or poorperforming trucks generated a coincidence effect that might contribute energy into the system and the 800- to 900-Hz resonance that appeared to cause the e-clip failure.

Along with this effort, Sound Transit was proactively working to improve the finish quality of its grinding program. Corrugation data that ATS Consulting had collected at BART and Sound Transit showed a typical 30-mm (1.18-inch) peak in the rail roughness wavelength that was related to noise issues.

Research done in Australia indicated that this 30-mm peak was related to the typical 3600 rpm speed of the grinding motors on rail grinders. A visual inspection of the track at Sound Transit led to an “aha!” moment, when inspectors identified unusually deep grinding marks at 1.1- to 1.2-inch intervals wherever a clip failure had occurred.

While not completely proven, it appears that under train traffic, the deeper grinding marks at 30-mm intervals can input enough energy into the system to push the e-clip beyond its design limit, Rajaram said.

As a result of its efforts, Sound Transit has developed a rail grinding specification to fix the root cause of the problem.

The new grinding specification is less stringent than the ISO 3095: 2005 grinding specification but has substantially more stringent requirements for the final surface finish than the EN 13231-3:2012 specification, which North American grinders typically use.

Sound Transit’s new rail grinding specification breaks down grinding into two distinct steps; (1) the grinding step that would involve heavy metal removal to shape the rail profile and/or remove surface

defects, and (2) the polishing step to ensure a smooth rail finish.

Advanced Rail Management performed the rail grinding in the clip failure area during the winter of 2018. The two grinding steps were accomplished using custom grinding stones, grinding pressures and speeds for the two different steps, following the guidance in Sound Transit’s specification. This allowed reducing periodic rail roughness peaks by more than 15 decibels compared to the roughness peaks seen in

“

A general rule of thumb is that a 10 decibel change in the sound level is perceived by humans to be a doubling of the loudness.”

the areas of clip breaks before the new grinding program. There is already favorable empirical data in the form of a trend toward a reduced number of broken clips following the most recent grind, Rajaram said.

In the coming months, Sound Transit plans to further evaluate the effectiveness of grinding in relation to reducing clip breaks.

The testing plan includes instrumenting the clip/fastener with vibration transducers and repeating the train measurements at locations that were tested before grinding.

The testing will collect data for the larger clips and later for e-clips with the goal of

THE

verifying whether the new rail grinding finish has helped to reduce the clip strains to levels within the design limit during fully loaded train passbys.

Sound Transit also plans to monitor the performance of the clips over a period of 8 to 10 months and use the data to inform the selection of appropriate rail clips for future projects.

The APTA Track and Noise/Vibration Technical Forum represents rail industry members in the technical review of track, system noise and vibration issues and concerns, to collect, evaluate and publish current practices and to recommend research and best practice guidelines.

The member forum is comprised of agency representatives, rail product manufactures and Noise and Vibration Engineering consultants.

The forum meets biannually (spring and fall) to tour rail transit agencies and review their ongoing noise and vibration mitigation efforts. Meetings are usually two days in length. They include a tour of the operations and noise/vibration issue areas, a presentation by the host agency outlining the noise and vibration issues, mitigation measures and results.

Additional presentations from industry experts on new projects, products and services that are relevant to the Noise and Vibration forum members are also included.

For information on the APTA Noise & Vibration Technical Forum, see: https:// www.apta.com /about /governance / committees/Pages/Track-and-NoiseVibration-Technical-Forum-.aspx

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BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

Flood waters near St. Joseph, Missouri, left a railroad bridge fouled with debris.

BRIDGES TO THE

FUTURE:

Modern approaches to inspection and repair

By Paul Conley, Editor in Chief

SENSR

E

verything changed in 2010.

That’s when the the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) published its long-awaited safety standards for railroad bridges in a document known as FRA 237.

“It really brought the industry forward into the 20th century,” said Kevin Halpin, the former manager of bridges and structures for CN, and now the owner of KRH Engineering LLC. Given that so many of North American railroad bridges were built in the 19th century, it was probably wise for the industry to join the 20th century. To do so, FRA 237 stated the obvious: lots of railroad

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bridges were old. And given that, the FRA required railroads that owned bridges do four things: 1. Inspect all bridges (at least once a year and with no more than 540 days between inspections); 2. have a bridge management plan in place and share it with the FRA; 3. know the capacity of all bridges and include it in the plan; 4. and use experts (bridge engineers, bridge inspectors and bridge supervisors) for the above.

The result has been a surge in bridge work.

“There’s a lot of work out there,” said Mike Tweet, vice president of Koppers

Railroad Structures. “More than there is funding. But that is pretty typical.”

Inspections Driving much of this work are the inspections mandated by FRA 237.

“Once a railroad has a bridge management plan in place and submitted to the FRA, it’s held accountable to that plan,” said Dave Peterson, marketing and program director at the University of WisconsinMadison ‘s program for engineering professional development. For example, the Union Pacific says that 95 percent of its bridges are inspected a minimum of twice annually by one of 29 specially-trained April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 19

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

20 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

Boosting capacity Contractors are also finding work as a result of FRA 237’s mandate that railroads know and report bridge capacity.

Koppers‘ Tweet says that railroads increasingly opt to increase capacity of steel bridges across their systems. “A riveted girder built a 100 years ago, was perfectly fine for the trains of that era, but now with heavier cars and locomotives, the bridges don’t have the needed capacity.”

Railroads see that they can “repair and strengthen and that it is much more economical than replacement,” Tweet said.

Such work isn’t complex for many bridges. “It’s as simple as adding more steel,” Tweet said. But in other cases, notably truss bridges, it can be “much more technically challenging to understand what components need to be strengthened and how to strengthen them.”

Complicating matters is that it often “all has to be done while the bridge is being used,” he said.

Future tech It’s unlikely that you could find anyone today who views FRA 237 as a bad idea. Moving the industry into the 20th century made a lot of sense as trains got bigger and heavier.

But now, less than a decade after the publication of FRA 237, the people who inspect, maintain and repair railroad bridges are using new forms of technology to move into the 21st century.

And this new technology falls into three general categories: see, feel, and touch.

See me Drones, of course, are the best known of the new tech. The use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) allows inspectors to easily “see” parts of a bridge that are otherwise difficult to view.

There are big cost and operational advantages for railroads that use drones.

BNSF, for example, has invested heavily in drones, sources say. And no wonder. UAVs can be inexpensive. rtands.com

SENSR

two-person bridge inspection teams. UP bridges that are less than 10 years old and have no defects are inspected once annually.

“If you say you’re going to inspect a particular bridge twice a year, then you are required to do so,” Peterson.

In addition, every railroad needs to have designated bridge engineers, inspectors and supervisors.

That requirement has led to strong demand for certifications and courses to get people up to speed in bridge skills. Peterson’s school, for example, offers a two-day course called “Fundamentals of Railway Bridge Engineering and Management.”

Roughly a third of students are consultants and contractors who see opportunity in providing bridge services, particularly to smaller railroads.

“The shortline industry has some pretty good darn engineers in track,” said Halpin, who sometimes teaches at WisconsinMadison, “but they often don’t know much about bridges.”

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BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

Feel me Bridge strikes happen.

Barges hit them. Trucks hit them. It’s a common occurrence.

Generally, the impact of such impacts is minimal.

“The bridge tends to win every time,” according to Walt Blesser II, PE, president of SENSR. But, on occasion, the bridge loses. And there’s a real danger involved when a significant bridge strike occurs and a railroad doesn’t know about it.

SENSR makes equipment that monitors bridges, records impacts, and reports back to the railroad in real time through an email-based system that color-codes the level of a strike. Green means a small, probably insignificant hit (think of a small panel truck scraping its roof under a bridge.)

Red means a major hit (think of a barge 22 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

slamming into a support.)

After a strike, railroads want to know “Is my bridge there and can I run a train across it,” Blesser said. “That’s the question we try to answer.”

The MTA’s Metro-North Railroad, which operates commuter trains in the suburbs of New York City, is a fan of the system.

“We use it in four locations now,” said

“

With railroad bridges, there are things that can look a certain way for year and years. Then, all of a sudden, they may start deteriorating.

Anamaria Bonilla, P.E., assistant chief engineer – Track and Structures, for MetroNorth. “The monitors give us a guaranteed notification that the bridge moved in a certain way. The intensity of that signal is represented in the email notification. If it’s in the red zone, we call the Rail Traffic Controller right away.”

The power of such rapid notification can’t be underestimated. Prior to the development of monitors like those built by SENSR,

railroads often just didn’t know a bridge had been stuck. Truck drivers, barge operators, and local police departments often don’t report such incidents.

New versions of the bridge monitors that include videos and photos of a strike are expected to ship to customers this month.

“We want to get more monitors up at other locations and include a camera,” Bonilla said. “Then we will see not just the intensity (of the strike) but a small video clip. We can see if it’s just a panel truck that got wiped out or if it was a concrete truck that hit hard.”

Such instant knowledge might prove incrediblly valuable to freight railroads that operate in remote areas, Blesser noted. At present, when a railroad becomes aware of a bridge strike, there’s an obligation to hold traffic until safety can be assured.

As sensor technology has gained traction, the FRA is said to be open to allowing for remote releasing of trains after a strike. No longer would a railroad be obliged to send someone miles and miles and miles to estimate damage.

Touch me Not all of what can go wrong with a bridge happens quickly as the result of a strike, said the University of Wisconsin’s Peterson. Sometimes things sneak up on you.

“With railroad bridges, there are things that can look a certain way for year and years,” he said. “Then, all of a sudden, they may start deteriorating.”

That’s why railroad bridge engineers are increasingly using digital photography applications run though touch-pad computers.

“An inspector can be out there an iPad rtands.com

Koppers

Plus there’s no need to schedule large blocks of track time to fly a drone.

But the emerging consensus in the bridge community is that drones just aren’t ready for prime time yet.

“I do think they are the future, but in my judgement they are not there yet,” Halpin said. “Working around a steel bridge their GPS and compass go haywire around that much steel. The pilot gets hesitant.”

Tweet isn’t completely won over either.

“They’re neat. There’s potential there.

We utilize drone technology where appropriate,” he said, noting that standard inspection vehicles combined with human expertise is still a powerful combination.

Or as Halpin put it: “Good ole snooper trucks still do a very good job.”

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

and look at pictures taken last year and compare it with something taken now,” Peterson said.

Many such programs are connected to other software systems, linking multiple data points and putting them in the hands of inspectors.

Metro-North uses a proprietary system built by RailAdvise HNTB, Bonilla said.

“It gathers information from our inspection apps and guides inspectors through each bridge,” she said. “It makes sure the inspector doesn’t miss anything and calls out fatigue prone details.”

The system has been so successful that the railroad is expanding it to include other infrastructure. Retaining walls are in the system now. Transmission towers will go in next, according to Bonilla.

“It’s a huge leap forward from when I first got here and everything was on Excel spreadsheets,” Bonilla said.

The human factor Such leaps forward are likely to continue.

But no one seems to think that we are

Vicksburg – A barge strike on the Vicksburg Bridge was detected by sensors and reported to the Kansas City Southern.

approaching an era of fully automated bridge inspection. At least so far, the 21st century of railroad bridges looks to be a machine-enhanced version of the past.

Bonilla, Peterson, Halpin, Blesser and likely

everyone else in railroading would tell you the industry needs technology that empowers engineers, not replaces them.

Or as Koppers’ Tweet put it, “bridges are unique. Working on them is an art form.”

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April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 23

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Severe deterioration of primar y load carrying members necessitated replacing the entire railroad floor system and truss bottom chords.

The design/build contract presented ex t ra o rd i n a r y c h a l l e n g e s to t h e engineer of record on the project (Modjeski and Masters) and the team of contractors that did the work.

Com plicatin g m at ters was th at the engineers had to minimize traffic i n te r r u pt i o n s a n d m a i n ta i n ra i l operations. Because as rough as the Seabrook Bridge looked, it was still in heavy use by the Norfolk Southern and Amtrak.

Closures and construction schedules had to be negotiated among the Port of New Orleans, Norfolk Southern and the US Coast Guard.

For all the details on this fascinating

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24 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

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Gregory Taravella at Modjeski & Masters, Inc.

One of the more complicated and difficult bridge repair jobs of recent years involved the Port of New Orleans’ Seabrook Bridge.

T h e d o u b l e tra c k Stra u s s h e e l trunnion bascule bridge, built in 1923, had fallen into serious disrepair.

Over the years, the original paint coating deteriorated, resulting in severe corrosion of the existing metalwork within the splash zone, including the railroad and highway floor systems an d bot tom ch ord e le m e nts. Th e deterioration of the highway floor system components prevented traffic from using the bridge and the roadways were closed. In order to maintain the bridge’s future capacity to continue to carry railroad loads, significant remediation of deteriorated splash zone components was required.

MATERIAL HANDLING

Brandt recently added the Straddle Carrier, a high capacity overhead material handler, to its line of equipment.

MATERIAL HANDLING:

2019UPDATE MARKET

Suppliers focus on productivity, efficiency and safety when providing machinery intended to quickly handle materials for the right-of-way.

Photo Credit: Brandt

By Kyra Senese, managing editor

R

ail industry suppliers work hard to ensure key materials that railroads require to keep moving arrive when and where they are needed.

Railroads continue to rely on suppliers to provide machines that can handle materials effectively, even when weather events such as recent flooding impact railroad assets. rtands.com

Brandt For three decades, Brandt Road Rail has worked to provide a range of productive, dependable mobile material handling and maintenance-of-way equipment. From multi-purpose railcar movers and specialized on-track cranes to custom railcars, locomotives or repair and maintenance

equipment, Brandt says it designs and manufactures premium rail tools that aim to get the job done.

“Developing the right product for the rail industry is always a challenge,” said Neil Marcotte, Brandt’s senior VP of sales – Manufactured Products. “Our railindustry customers have very specialized April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 25

material handling

GREX said its SPS®, pictured, is known for being versatile and that it can handle various tasks and materials.

needs and we’ve worked hard to build strong relationships and learn from their considerable experience.”

In 2018, following customer focus sessions, Brandt explains that the company added the Straddle Carrier — a highcapacity overhead material handler — to its line of equipment. The Straddle Carrier enables the efficient removal of material from railcars while minimizing the potential for damage.

According to Marcotte, Brandt also pairs the performance advantages of John Deere 130 to 350 excavators with Brandt’s top-loading design for “unrivaled railcar cleanout efficiency.” Marcotte said such an arrangement delivers maximum productivity and operator visibility in all directions in order to eliminate blind spots. It is also designed to be more efficient than side unloading as no manual labor is required to remove accumulated materials in the corners of the railcar.

“The versatile Straddle Carrier can be easily disassembled, transported and later reassembled at another site, delivering exceptional maneuverability and stability, resulting in safer load handling,” Marcotte said.

The unit is available with various capabilities, including: magnet, grapple, groundlevel fueling system and multiple cleanout bucket options, which the company said are 26 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

customizable to the material being handled.

Brandt also offers a safety- and productivity-enhancing lighting package for use during nighttime operations.

The ladder, cage and walkway system is designed to simplify access and servicing for all preventative maintenance points

“

Railroads, contractors and industries appear to have some flexibility with their spending at this time,” - Mike Muhsman, Omaha Track

with continuous three-point contact and meets ISO, OH&S, and SAE safety standards. An available fire suppression system is intended to ensure safe handling of flammable materials.

For cold weather operations, an Espar engine heater is designed to deliver easy starts and increased uptime in harsh

conditions while an auto-lube system facilitates ease of maintenance and increased component longevity.

“We pour a lot of energy and resources into understanding what our customers need to succeed,” Marcotte said. “Because, when all is said and done, the reason Brandt Road Rail exists is to help make rail operators productive and profitable.”

Dymax DymaxRail, a developer of rail maintenance solutions, has recently introduced a new rail handler.

“We had some questions from grapple truck owners and operators about coming up with something for them,” said Scott Balderson, president of DymaxRail. “We took our successful Rail Handler for large excavators and made it the right size for using with grapple trucks.”

The Dymax Rail Handler SG joins its bigger brother, the Rail Handler LG, to help ease the job of picking up sections of rail left alongside the tracks. Balderson said the Rail Handler safely grips and ensures a positive lock on the rail during operations.

“There is no slipping and sliding, no manhandling of sections of rail in a grapple,” said DymaxRail.

The SG is intended to handle all types of rail up to 50 feet in length, and easily handles insulated joints. DymaxRail also rtands.com

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SPS® An onboard excavator is free to travel the entire length of our self-powered work platform, making quick work of clearing debris, plugging gaps with riprap or offloading ballast.

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material handling

GREX said its DumpTrain®has served as a mainstay in the material handling space for some time.

notes that it folds to 68 inches in length and extends to 92 inches.

One must also talk about the DymaxRail Tie Handler, which the company said is quickly becoming a standard on Class 1 lines. The Tie Handler is both a tie extractor and a tie inserter, changing out wood and concrete ties in minutes.

It is available for both excavators and backhoe loaders. Featuring 360-degree rotation, the Tie Handlers include heavy duty tie pads that can easily be replaced when worn and provide a firm grip on the ties.

“DymaxRail prides itself on our long history of understanding and developing unique work tools to solve material handling challenges,” Balderson added. “It’s what Grandpa Balderson taught us nearly a century ago!”

DymaxRail is a division of Dymax Inc., delivering material handling work tools since 1929.

GREX Springtime always seems to bring with it the risk for significant weather events that have the capacity to damage railroad assets.

Unfortunately, GREX said 2019 is no different, as several states are struggling with serious flooding.

Throughout the years, GREX said its equipment has been called upon to assist with many casualty events and the company has always aimed to help wherever it can in difficult circumstances.

GREX said its SlotMachine®, SPS® and DumpTrain® have been mainstays in the material handling space for some time.

28 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

Their collective abilities to deliver large volumes of materials is unmatched.

“The SlotMachine and SPS are extremely versatile in that they handle a variety of tasks and materials,” GREX said.

Both machines consist of a series of short gondolas without bulkheads to allow an onboard excavator to be free to move the entire length of the joined cars while seated securely on the floor. The SPS version of the machine includes a power unit to move the consist. GREX said the machines can deliver and pick-up everything ranging from various sizes of rock to ties, rail and otm.

The machines have also been used extensively in drainage and restoration of areas damaged by weather events.

GREX’s newest material handling machine, The DumpTrain for Curves®, entered into service two years ago. As a result of demand, GREX said it is adding more units and workforce to keep up. These trains, along with the original DumpTrain, have proven their effectiveness in a variety of applications and conditions.

Later this year, GREX will be introducing the latest version of its GateSync/Solaris aggregate delivery solution. The original product used a hydraulic-over-electric design to automate the opening and closing of the ballast gates.

With more than 2,000 such kits already in service, the company said it applied customer feedback to drive new improvements to the product. The update features the same unloading capabilities as the original using wired toggles, wireless remotes or a completely automated

unloading that utilizes a pre-dump survey to unload the train without ever putting a person on the ground.

However, new features allow for faster train setup times and longer train consists.

The company has been testing this new functionality in several mainline applications. The solution aims to deliver pinpoint accuracy in ballast placement, decreased track time and a safer delivery solution for railroad employees.

GREX has also recently introduced its newest generation HydraDump product.

This solution builds on the reliability and safety of the first offering. The company has made great strides in improving the unloading time of the system. The new HydraDump also offers a remote control system that allows customers to unload while standing a safe distance from the cars.

Omaha Track Omaha Track recently added hi-rail excavators to its fleet. The machines are primarily used in tie and steel reclamation, and the company said the machines will add value for customers by increasing efficiencies and reducing hours of service issues with traditional grapple trucks.

As for customer budgets and work windows, the company has observed what it believes is the market getting stronger.

Chief Engineer Mike Muhsman said the company’s primary customers include Class 1 and shortline railroads, contractors and industries.

“Railroads, contractors and industries appear to have some flexibility with their spending at this time,” Muhsman said.

Muhsman explained that Omaha Track has been getting inquiries regarding a mix of hi-rail grapple trucks, rotary dump trucks, section trucks, service trucks and pickups.

Omaha Track said it is also currently adding ladder extensions to help the operator get up and down from the equipment. The company’s ladder material has grip tread, and Omaha Track is applying anti-slip material to all of the other stepping surfaces.

Muhsman said the company is also adding additional handrails to ensure three points of contact can be used at all times. In addition, the company is installing back-up cameras on all of its equipment to prevent accidents.

Muhsman said Omaha Track is also working on some exciting R&D initiatives that Omaha Track hopes will be ready to rtands.com

material handling

share in 2019.

Omaha Track explained that it has addressed hydraulic oil cooling issues that have been intermittent within its equipment.

“This has been addressed by increasing our cooler capacities, and changing to a better grade of oil, which has provided a 20-degree temperature difference in our systems,” Muhsman said.

Pettibone Updating the design of its “do-it-all rail crane,” Pettibone said it now offers the Speed Swing 445F. Designed to be versatile for multiple railroad service applications, the 445F aims to offer precise hydraulic engineering and ample power to lay rails, set ties, and perform numerous other tasks.

Powered by a 163-horsepower Cummins QSB4.5 Tier 4 diesel engine that offers fuel savings up to 10-percent over the previous model, the Speed Swing 445F features a Dana T20000 3-speed transmission with twist grip electric shift control that delivers exceptional torque. The machine has an impressive front load capacity of

10,000 pounds and side load capacity up to 8,000 pounds.

Pettibone said operators can move the Speed Swing between job sites quickly, traveling at 25 mph on Hi-rail and 20 mph with all-terrain rubber tires. The tires — along with four-wheel drive with a rear wheel disconnect — also intend to enable greater maneuverability off the rails to simplify most jobs. Four-wheel outboard dry disc service brakes also intend to provide sure stopping power.

Providing 180-degree boom rotation, the 445F is primarily used to thread out old rail and thread in new rail. Pettibone explained that an optional magnet package can quickly clean up old plates, spikes and small pieces of rail. The unit can also tow rail carts, move rail cars and supply air or hydraulics for hand tools.

“Durably built for the challenges of the railroad, the Speed Swing is designed to simplify service and maximize uptime,” Pettibone said.

A ROPS/FOPS tilting cab and tilt engine enclosure are included to provide direct

access to service points and machine components. Additionally, Pettibone said an engine block heater keeps the machine working reliably in cold weather conditions.

The spacious, climate-controlled operator cab includes a digital IQAN display module, full instrumentation panel and precise, pilot-operated controls. Tinted safety glass and a rearview camera help ensure safe operation at all times.

The Speed Swing 445F can be built to meet customer specifications for particular applications, Pettibone said. Common options and attachments include a tote boom, hydraulic tool circuit, magnet package, AAR coupler, track cleaning bucket, load bucket, 20-foot extendable boom, fork frame, backhoe, brush cutter, snow plow and more.

Pettibone/Traverse Lift, LLC is part of the Pettibone, LLC Heavy Equipment Group. Founded in 1881, Pettibone has been recognized as a leader in material handling equipment since the company delivered forward-reaching, rough-terrain machines in the 1940s.

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Apply by May 24, 2019

Criteria:

Call for Entries

• Innovation • Safety • Service Performance & Reliability

The selection process for the Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence has begun and this year's chair, AREMA Past President and Honorary Member Michael W. Franke, PE, a former student of Dr. Hay, has issued a call for entries.

2019 HAY AWARD CELEBRATES 21 YEARS

The 2018 Hay Award was awarded to Arup for The Fulton Center in New York City. Congratulations!

Please visit www.arema.org to review the application process. Entries are due by May 24, 2019.

REGISTER NOW Join us in Minneapolis September 22-25, visit conference.arema.org to register.

REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN FOR THE AREMA 2019 ANNUAL CONFERENCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH RAILWAY INTERCHANGE.

Professional Development

Message From The President

AREMA is focused on your education and helping you advance in the railway i n d u s t r y. A R E M A’s i n p e rso n se m i n a rs p rov i d e Professional Development Hours (PDHs) to serve your educational needs.

Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering Seminar Date: May 20-22 Location: Lanham, MD (Near Washington, DC) PDH: 20 D esc ri ptio n: Pa r ti c i p a nts benefiting the most from this course are those with limited ex p o s u re to th e ra i l wa y industry, or railroaders with highly specialized positions.

Pa r t i c i p a n t s w i l l g a i n a g re ate r a p p re c i ati o n fo r the technical and not-sotechnical aspects of railroad engineering and operations.

Some of the topics covered are equipment, basic track and design, tractive effort, inspections and regulations as well as maintenance.

Registration fee includes a workbook containing printed copies of the presentation, a digital copy of the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering and a field trip to a rail yard or maintenance facility (PPE required).

For more information on this seminar and to register, please visit www.arema.org.

Follow Arema on Social Media:

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James K. Kessler, PE AREMA President

O

2018-2019

ver the preceding two months, I have recognized the various standing committees that provide significant contributions to AREMA’s operations. This month I will conclude the series with our newest standing committee - the Seminar Committee. Past President, Brian Lindamood, developed the idea for this Committee which was established at the Functional Group Board of Directors’ Meeting in the summer of 2016. The Committee is comprised of the Chair (Vice Chair of AREMA Committee 24 – Education and Training – currently Ashley Pate) and a representative of each of AREMA’s six Functional Groups (either the Vice President or one of their Directors, as designated). Beth Caruso serves as member, ex-officio and the Seminar Committee is supported by Desirée Knight, Director of Education and Meetings.

The Seminar Committee is responsible for ensuring that the content delivered outside of the Manual for Railway Engineering (MRE) and the Communications & Signals Manual (C&S) is consistent with AREMA’s recommended practices. The Committee provides a review of new or updated content back to the originating technical committee within a 30-day timeframe.

Ashley Pate notes that “since our inception, the Seminar Committee has had the opportunity to mostly review webinar presentations. Our largest review project will be assigned soon as the third edition of the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering is finalized.”

Through these columns, I have been attempting to provide a better

understanding of AREMA’s Headquarters staff, its Board of Governors’ and Functional Group Board of Directors’ and its Standing Committees. However, no discussion of AREMA is complete without highlighting the Functional Groups and the 30 Technical Committees, with recognition being given to our hard working, dedicated members who perform the valuable work of these committees.

I will begin the discussion this month with the Engineering Services Functional Group led by Vice President Trent Hudak, PE. The technical committees comprising this Functional Group are: • Committee 6 - Building & Support Facilities • Committee 13 - Environmental • Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals • Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations • Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways • Committee 24 - Education and Training As mentioned above, Committee 24 has a strong relationship to the Seminar Committee. Committee 24, Chaired by Cassandra Gouger, PE, is unique among all of the technical committees in that it does not maintain a chapter of the MRE or section of the C&S. Their mission is to utilize the combined knowledge of industry professionals to develop educational and training resources for the current and future railway engineering community in the design, construction, and maintenance of safe and efficient railway infrastructure.

“

no discussion of AREMA is complete without highlighting the Functional Groups and the 30 Technical Committees, with recognition being given to our hard working, dedicated members.”

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 31

The efforts of Committee 24’s volunteers include: • The Practical Guide to Railway Engineering publication • Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering and Track Alignment Design Seminars • Railway Engineering Education Symposium (REES) • Participation in AREMA Scholarship Judging, Training Cooperative, Student Chapters and Meet the Next Generation Major activities that Committee 24 currently has underway include a major revision of the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering and development of the Track Alignment Design Seminar II. Committee members are also actively engaged with preparation for the student activities during the Annual Conference.

In recognition of Committee 24’s work, Trent Hudak, PE, says “I would like to recognize the substantial contributions by the members of Committee 24 toward achieving the goals and mission of AREMA through their educational work and preparation of technical materials.”

Other Committees in this Functional Group include:

Committee 6, Chaired by Glen Smith, PE, provides criteria for buildings and railroad unique structures and facilities necessary for construction and maintenance support of freight and passenger railway operations.

This Committee provides recommended practices for office buildings, repair shops, and passenger stations, as well as utilities, sand, air and fueling systems. Glen notes that preserving institutional knowledge and lessons learned is an important part of the Committee’s purpose. Committee 6 also supports introducing college students to the unique opportunities of railway industry design in the fields of architecture and the building sciences.

As Committee 6 focuses on updating its manual content, they find that their greatest challenge is the lack of participation by those who are the owners of such railway facilities and who have knowledge of current operational philosophies. While the consultants, contractors and suppliers that regularly participate in Committee activities can provide input on codes, standards, and best practices across many different industries, their greatest need is active participation and support by railroad personnel that ultimately make these projects cost effective and

successful. I strongly encourage AREMA’s railway members engaged with building and support facilities to become actively involved with Committee 6 and to contact either Trent or Glen for information about this committee.

Committee 13, chaired by Leo Thorbecke, serves to support the railroad industry and AREMA membership in providing guidance and recommendations on environmental best practices and regulatory information. This Committee’s focus is Air Quality Management; Environmental Review Consideration/ Permitting; Waste; and Water & Wastewater Compliance. This Committee is currently working on the development of a new chapter covering Canadian Regulatory Affairs. This Committee’s chapter of the MRE serves as a reference for nonenvironmental practitioners on environmental issues and a refresher to others.

The committee will be completing a new webinar for 2019 titled “Effective Project Management of Environmental Permitting Challenges”.

Next month we will continue recognizing the Engineering Services Functional Group committees.

Upcoming Committee Meetings April 2019 Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals Norfolk, VA

May 15 - 16 Committee 5 – Track Little Rock, AR

April 17 - 18 Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems Meeting Baltimore, MD

June 18 - 19 Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction Petaluma, CA

May 2019 Committee 34 – Scales San Diego, CA

September 10 - 11 Committee 15 - Steel Structures Columbus, OH

May 14 - 15 Committee 15 – Steel Structures Kansas City, MO

September 22 Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction Minneapolis, MN

2020 January Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction Albuquerque, NM June Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction New York, NY September 13 Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction Dallas, TX

If you’d like to learn more about the AREMA Technical Committees and would like to get involved, please contact Alayne Bell at abell@arema.org. For a complete list of all committee meetings, visit https://www.arema.org/events.aspx.

Negotiated airline discount information for AREMA Committee meetings can be found online at: http://www.arema.org/ meetings/airlines.aspx.

32 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

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Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures

The Dooley Family

Michael T. Dooley PE, SE, Senior Vice President, ESCA Consultants, Inc.

A

REMA: Why did you decide to choose a career in railway engineering?

DOOLEY: It just kind of happened, and I’m thankful it did.

AREMA: How did you get started?

DOOLEY: I began working at ESCA Consultants, Inc. after about a year of working for a geotechnical consulting firm in the Chicago area. ESCA had a long history of providing engineering services to the former Illinois Central Railroad Company (ICRR) and I became involved in some of

FYI

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the railroad projects. That history continued after ICRR was acquired by Canadian National (CN) and my involvement in railroad projects steadily increased to the point where, for the last several years, most of my workload has been railroad projects.

AREMA: How did you get involved in AREMA and your committee?

DOOLEY: Following the advice and mentoring of Rich Payne (President, ESCA Consultants, Inc.) I joined AREMA in 1999 and applied for membership on Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures.

My application was accepted, and I’ve spent the last 20 years working with and getting to know some very talented, intelligent individuals on the Committee.

AREMA: Outside of your job and the hard work you put into AREMA, what are your hobbies?

DOOLEY: Good question, with the limited free time that is available outside of those tasks I like to hit the gym or work outside in the yard.

AREMA: Tell us about your family!

DOOLEY: Jennifer, my wife of 30 years, is amazing. After raising our two boys as a stay at home mom, she went back to school and earned a degree in Occupational Therapy.

She now works full-time as an Occupational Therapy Assistant while still trying to raise me! My oldest son, Kyle, graduated from the University of Illinois where he wrestled

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Visit www.arema.org for more information on advertising rates.

Order the 2019 Communications & Signals Manual now. With over 50 new, revised, reaffirmed or extended Manual Parts, it’s the perfect time to get the 2019 Manual.

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for the Fighting Illini. He now works as a plumber in the Chicago area and just got married last Fall. Kyle and his wife, Maggie, live in Batavia, IL. Maggie works at two nearby schools as a Speech Pathologist. My youngest son, Trey, joined the Navy in 2017 and is now stationed in Norfolk, VA. Trey is assigned to the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower aircraft carrier as an Electrician’s Mate.

AREMA: What is your biggest achievement?

DOOLEY: Raising two fine young men, although most of the credit should go to my wife.

AREMA: What advice would you give to someone who is trying to pursue a career in the railway industry?

DOOLEY: Listen to the “old-timers”, they are full of lessons learned!

“

Listen to the ‘old-timers’, they are full of lessons learned!”

with Railway InterchangeTM. Please visit www.arema.org or contact lmcnicholas@ a re m a .o rg fo r m o re i nfo rm ati o n o n sponsorship investment opportunities!

Call for Entries for the 2019 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence. The Selection process for the 21st W. W. Hay Award has begun. Entries must be submitted by May 24, 2019. Please visit www.arema.org for more information.

Leverage the power of your trusted association’s Railway Careers Network to tap into a talent pool of job candidates with the training and education needed for long-term success. Visit www.arema. org/careers to post your job today. Use code RAILCAREER to receive a discount.

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 33

Congratulations to the AREMA 2019 Educational Foundation Scholarship Winners!

Sina Anesteh University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Wayne Russell Memorial Scholarship Josue Cesar Bastos University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Committee 27 - Maintenance-of-Way Work Equipment Scholarship - Josef W. Neuhofer Memorial Scholarship Taylor Berg Illinois Institute of Technology Union Pacific William E. Wimmer Scholarship Jacob Branson University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Michael W. & Jean D. Franke Family Foundation Scholarship (Includes a special donation from Gordon Bachinsky) Adam M. Breindel Florida State University Communications & Signals Functional Group Scholarship Tzu-Yu (Stan) Chang University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign CSX Scholarship Alex Christmas Michigan Technological University Committee 27 - Maintenance-of-Way Work Equipment Scholarship William R. Dancey University of Kentucky John J. Cunningham Memorial Scholarship (Sponsored jointly by Committees 11 and 17) Kyle Dick Michigan Technological University Michigan Tech Alumni Scholarship Lee Evans University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals Scholarship Richard A. Green Drexel University Norfolk Southern Foundation Scholarship Luke J. Gublo The University of Texas at Arlington Michael and Gina Garcia Rail Engineering Scholarship Danielle Hurd University of Manitoba Committee 5 - Track Scholarship Franklin Richard Keller, III The Ohio State University Charles L. Stanford Family Ohio State University Railway Engineering Scholarship

www.aremafoundation.org

Tyler Kleinsasser South Dakota School of Mines & Technology Structures Functional Group Member Emeritus Scholarship in Honor of William B. Conway Katelyn Knopf University of South Carolina Committee 4 - Rail Art Worth Memorial Scholarship Samantha Lau Brigham Young University AREMA Women's Engineering Scholarship (Sponsored by Larry and Teresa Etherton) Yubing Liang University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Committee 15 - Steel Structures Professor Wallace Sanders Scholarship Chen-Yu Lin University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign REMSA Scholarship Reza Kashi Mansouri University of Manitoba Committee 27 - Maintenance-of-Way Work Equipment Scholarship Ricardo J. Quirรณs Orozco University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction Scholarship Daniel Rappoport Illinois Institute of Technology Committee 1 - Roadway & Ballast Scholarship Cassandra Reineke-Ryskiewicz Illinois Institute of Technology Canadian National Railway Company Scholarship Geordie Roscoe University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Committee 24 - Education & Training Scholarship Soumya Sharma North Carolina State University North Carolina Railroad Company Scholarship Jordan Torregrosa Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Committee 33 - Electric Energy Utilization Scholarship William A. Zdinak Pennsylvania State University at Altoona Committee 1 - Roadway & Ballast Scholarship Zhipeng Zhang Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey New York Central Railroad Memorial Scholarship

Calendar

APRIL

MAY

1-3. Rail Passengers Association Spring Ad vo c a c y C o n f e r e n c e. We s ti n Ci t y C e nte r i n Wa s h i n g to n , D.C . Ph o n e: 202-408-8362. Website: https://www. railpassengers.org/.

6-9. American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s 2019 Connections Convention. Orlando, Fla. Contact: Kathy Cassidy. 202-585-3443. E-mail: kcassidy@ aslrra.org. Website: www. Aslrra.org.

24. NRC Rail Construction and Maintenance Equipment Annual Auction.

Blackmon Auctions. Lonoke, Ark. nrcma. org/2019a uction. Contact: dbrown @ u1source.com or mbell@nrcma.org.

29-5/3. Regulation, Safety and the Rail Industr y. Michigan State Universit y’s Railway Management Cer tif icate Program, Module 1. Washington, D.C. a n d N ewa r k , N . J . l o c a ti o n s . E m a i l: littlen@broad.msu.edu. Website: www. raileducation.com.

8. Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.

Washington, D.C. Website: www.aslrra. org or www.aar.org.

JUNE 3 -7. M o d u l e 2 o f M i c h i g a n S t a t e U n i v e r s i t y ’s R a i l w a y M a n a g e m e n t Certificate Program. MSU East Lansing, Mich., campus. Phone: 517-355-8377.

Website: https://broad.msu.edu/.

18-21. Wheel-Rail Interaction 2019. Hilton New Orleans Riverside. New Orleans, La. Contact: Brandon Koenig. Phone: 847-808-1818. Website: www.wheel-railseminars.com.

23-26 . A P TA 2 01 9 Ra i l C o nf e re n c e.

S h e rato n C e ntre, 123 Q u e e n Stre et W. Toronto, ON, CA. Contact: Kwakuita Spence. 202-496-4800. Email: kspence@ apta.com. https://www.apta.com.

JULY 21-23. Minnesota Regional Railroads

The Railway Educational Bureau Track Safety Standards

BKTSSAF

Track Safety Standards, Subparts A-F Only $9.86 for orders of 50 or more!

$10.95

Bridge Safety Standards FRA Part 237 establishes Federal safety requirements for railroad bridges. This rule requires track owners to implement bridge management programs, which include annual inspections of railroad bridges, and to audit the programs. Part 237 also requires track owners to know the safe load capacity of bridges and to conduct special inspections if the weather or other conditions warrant such inspections. Updated April 3, 2017.

Bridge Safety Standards $7.95 BKBRIDGE

22-24. American Association of Railroad Superintendents 123rd Annual Meeting.

Hilton. Norfolk, Va. Website: https://www. supt.org/event-3097339.

23-25. 4th Annual ICRI Workshop on RCF and Wear 2019. Joseph and Rosalie Segal Centre, Harbour Center. Vancouver, CA. Website: www.icri-rcf.org/icri-workshop.

SEPTEMBER 11-13. ASLRRA 2019 Central Pacific Region Meeting. San Antonio Grand Hyatt. San Antonio, Texas. Phone: 202-585-4500.

Email: aslrra@aslrra.org. Website: https:// aslrra.org/web/Events/Regional_Meetings/ 2 2-2 5 . R a i l w a y I n t e r c h a n g e 2 0 1 9.

M i n n e a p o l i s C o n v e n t i o n C e n te r.

Minneapolis, Minn. Organizer: SimmonsBoardman Rail Group. 212-620-7200.

Website: https://railwayinterchange.org/.

Federal Regulations Workplace Safety

Subparts A-F

Track Safety Standards, contains all the Track Safety Standards, Subparts A-F, for Classes of track 1-5. The standards cover general information, Roadbed, Track Geometry, Track Structure, Track Appliances and Track-Related Devices, and Inspection. Includes Defect Codes.

Updated April 3, 2017.

Association Summer Conference.

Madden’s Resort. Brainerd, Minn. Website: www.mnrailroads.com/news/conference/.

This reprint includes the FRA's Railroad Workplace Safety Standards addressing roadway workers and their work environments. These laws cover such things as: personal protective equipment, fall protection, and scaffolding for bridgeworkers; and training issues. Also includes safety standards for on-track roadway vehicles. Updated April 3, 2017.

BKWRK

$10.50

Railroad Workplace Safety Only $9.45 for orders of 50 or more!

Track Calculator The Track Safety Standards Calculator is a must for anyone who works on track. This slide rule type calculator contains many of the details for Classes of track 1- 5. Deviation from uniform profile and from zero cross level. Difference in cross level. Updated as of July 11, 2013.

BKTCAL Track Calculator $10.50 Only $9.50 for orders of 50 or more!

Only $7.15 for orders of 50 or more!

The Railway Educational Bureau 1809 Capitol Ave., Omaha NE, 68102 www.RailwayEducationalBureau.com rtands.com

800-228-9670

www.transalert.com

Add Shipping & Handling if your merchandise subtotal is:

UP TO $10.00 10.01 - 25.00 25.01 - 50.00 50.01 - 75.00

U.S.A. $4.50 7.92 10.78 11.99

CAN $8.75 12.65 16.80 21.20

Orders over $75, call for shipping

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 35

PRODUCTS

Spike Puller

Soil Confinement System

Focused Technology Solutions offers the first ever battery-operated spike puller, the “SpikeEase.”

The SpikeEase is intended to boost productivity, reduce injuries and pull spikes in an average of 3 to 7 seconds, according to Focused Technology Solutions. The SpikeEase weighs less than 30 lbs and aims to eliminate the need for hydraulics and the claw bar.

Peter Bartek, president and CEO of Focused Technology Solutions, said the company received orders from a soon-to-be-named Class 1; Ameritrack Rail, leaders in track construction services, RailTek, a top distributor of rail products out of Philadelphia, Pa., and Railroad Tools and Solutions, a major distributor out of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“The fact that the SpikeEase can pull spikes without the physical impact on our employees allows us to do more work, safer, without sacrificing speed or power,” said Tim Lawler, the vice president and general manager of Ameritrack. Website: www. focusedtechnologysolutions.com.

Quick response times and emergency repairs are often needed to keep trains on schedule and reduce costly downtime in the case of inclement weather.

The Presto Geosystems GEOWEB® 3D system is intended to stabilize challenging soft soil and heavy stress areas—as well as for quick emergency repair and armoring, the company said.

The GEOWEB® system aims to serve as a go-to solution when customers face challenging soil stability problems for both new construction and repair work. The GEOWEB 3D system is designed to be a versatile solution for ballast reinforcement, yard stabilization and erosion protection of embankments and stormwater channels. The company said it intends to offer a more economical solution than geogrids or other 2D solutions, especially in soft soil environments and in heavy, repeated loading areas.

Presto Geosystems says its GEOWEB system is ideal for quick response to emergency repairs of ballast, embankments and channels. Stock readily available allows for fast deployment by local railroad crews. Website: www.prestogeo.com.

STAY IN GEAR WITH RAIL GROUP NEWS RAIL GROUP NEWS brings you a daily round-up of news stories from Railway Age, RT&S, and IRJ. This email newsletter offers North American and global news and analysis of the freight and passenger markets. From developments in rail technology, operations, and strategic planning to legislative issues and engineering news, we’ve got you covered.

RAIL GROUP From RAILWAY AGE, Railway Age,RT&S RT&S and and IRJ IRJ NEWS http://bit.ly/rail_news ROUND-UP of NEWS STORIES FROM:

RA_RailGroupNews_Half_InGear_2019.indd 1

36 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

3/4/19 1:04 PM

rtands.com

Ad Index

COMPANY

PHONE #

FAX #

E-MAIL ADDRESS

PAGE #

AREMA Marketing Department

301-459-3200

301-459-8077

marketing@arema.org

34

Danella Rental Systems

561-743-7373

561-743-1973

SBolte@danella.com

29

Diversified Metal Fabricators, Inc.

404-875-1512

404-875-4835

sales@dmfatlanta.com

18

Georgetown Rail Equipment Co

512-869-1542

512-863-0405

bachman@georgetownrail.com

27

Herzog Railroad Services Inc

816-385-8233

jhansen@hrsi.com

Cover 2

Herzog Services, Inc.

816-233-9002

816-672-0119

telbert@herzogservices.com

11

Hougen Manufacturing Co

866-245-3745

800-309-3299

info@trak-star.com

23

Koppers Railroad Structures

800-356-5952

608-221-0618

rrdiv@koppers.com

21

Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc

763-478-6014

763-478-2221

sales@loram.com

Cover 4

Plasser American Corp

757-543-3526

757-494-7186

plasseramerican@plausa.com

2

Progress Rail, A Caterpillar Company

256-505-6402

256-505-6051

info@progressrail.com

24

Railcet

866-724-5238

217-522-6588

grif1020@yahoo.com

7

Rail Insights

212-620-7205

212-633-1162

conferences@sbpub.com

16-17

Railway Education Bureau, The

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb-com

12,35

Sensr

512-240-5273

866-521-7417

walt.bleser@sensr.com

Cover 3

Advertising Sales MAIN OFFICE Jonathan Chalon Publisher 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com AL, KY, Jonathan Chalon 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com

CT, DE, DC, FL, GA, ME, MD, MA, NH, NJ, NY, NC, OH, PA, RI, SC, VT, VA, WV, Canada – Quebec and East, Ontario Jerome Marullo 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com AR, AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, In, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OK, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY, Canada – AB, BC, MB, SK Heather Disabato 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com The Netherlands, Britain, France, Belgium, Portugal,

Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRL Corte Lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 V Piano, Genoa, Italy 16129 +39-10-570-4948 Fax: +39-10-553-0088 info@mediapointsrl.it

Switzerland, North Germany, Middle East, South America, Africa (not South), Far East (Excluding Korea / China/India), All Others, Tenders Louise Cooper International Area Sales Manager The Priory, Syresham Gardens Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom +44-1444-416368 Fax: +44-(0)-1444-458185 lc@railjournal.co.uk Scandinavia, Spain, Southern Germany, Austria, Korea, China, India, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Russia, Eastern Europe Baltic States, Recruitment Advertising Michael Boyle International Area Sales Manager Nils Michael Boyle Dorfstrasse 70, 6393 St. Ulrich, Austria. +011436767089872 mboyle@railjournal.com

Reader Referral Service This section has been created solely for the convenience of our readers to facilitate immediate contact with the RAILWAY TRACK & STRUCTURES advertisers in this issue.

Japan Katsuhiro Ishii Ace Media Service, Inc. 12-6 4-Chome, Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Tokyo 121-0824 Japan +81-3-5691-3335 Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 amkatsu@dream.com CLASSIFIED, PROFESSIONAL & EMPLOYMENT Jeanine Acquart 55 Broad St., 26th Floor New York, NY 10004 (212) 620-7211 Fax: (212) 633-1325 jacquart@sbpub.com

The Advertisers Index is an editorial feature maintained for the convenience of readers. It is not part of the advertiser contract and RTS assumes no responsibility for the correctness.

rtands.com

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 37

New & Used Equipment

R. E. L. A. M., INC.

SALES – SERVICE – RENTALS – PARTS – HI-RAIL & CRANE INSPECTIONS HI-RAIL TRUCKS IN INVENTORY AND IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE FOR SALE OR RENTAL (NEW AND USED)

SECTION TRUCKS – GRAPPLE TRUCKS ROTARY DUMP TRUCKS ... PICKUP TRUCKS … AND MORE ALSO HEAVY DUTY HI-RAIL TIE & RAIL CARTS Omaha Track Equipment 13010 F Plaza • Omaha NE 68137 (402) 339-4512 Contact PAUL WARD • (402) 651-6632 paul@omahatrack.com

Sales

aspenequipment.com/railroad

Rentals

Service Parts

New and Used Hi-Rail Trucks Available Medium Section Trucks from $59,000

Email: RelamCFE@aol.com Tel: 440-439-7088 Fax: 440-439-9399 Visit our website at: www.relaminc.com EQUIPMENT FOR SHORT OR LONG TERM LEASE HARSCO AND NORDCO TAMPERS 6700S, 6700SJ, 6700SJ2 Switch and Production Tampers Mark IV Switch and Production Tampers 3300 and HST Chase Tampers 3000 Tampers w/Raise & Line or Chase Tampers 2400 Tampers w/Raise & Line HYDRAULIC STABILIZERS HARSCO TS-30HDs TIE INSERTERS/EXTRACTORS Nordco TRIPPs TR-10s and TKOs 925 S/Ss, Standards, KTR-400s KNOX KERSHAW PRODUCTS KBR-860s and 925s, KSF-940 Ballast Regulators & Snow Fighters KBR-940 Dual Head Brush Cutters KTC-1200 Tie Cranes KKA-1000/1050 Kribber-Adzers KPB-200 Plate Brooms NORDCO ANCHOR APPLICATORS, SPIKERS & GRABBERS Models CX and SS Spikers M-3 Screw Spike Machines Model F Anchor Machines and BAAMs Model SP2R Dual Spike Puller/Grabbers RACINE RAILROAD PRODUCTS Dual Anchor Spreaders, Squeezers, Knockers (Anchor Removers), Anchor Applicators, DAACs (Dual Anchor Adjuster Cribber), Dual e-Clip Applicators, Ride-on Regauge Adzers, TPIs, Tie Straighteners, OTM Reclaimers, SAFELOK IIIs (SAR IIIs) HI-RAIL CRANES, SPEEDSWINGS & RAILHEATERS Pettibone Model 445E/445F Speedswings w/Multiple Attachments (F’s with Tier 4 Engine) Geismar 360/360-Tronic Hi-Rail Excavators, (Cold Air Blower, Brush Cutter, Grapple, Heel Boom, Train Air & Knuckle available) Badger 30 Ton Cranes w/Hi-Rails Propane and Diesel Railheaters - Single & Dual Sided, Self-propelled w/Vibrators HI-RAIL TRUCKS, EXCAVATORS, & CARTS Hi-Rail Gradalls, XL3300 Series III w/Digging Buckets & Brush Cutters Hi-Rail Rotary Dumps, Various Hi-Rail Pickups Hi-Rail Grapple Trucks (available w/Magnet, Rail Racks & Creep Drive) 25-ton Hudson Ballast Cars 25-ton Rail and OTM Carts, 5-ton Tie Carts

Available for Lease

Ready for Nationwide Delivery: - Welding Trucks - Pickup Trucks - Service Bodies

- Flatbeds - Bucket Trucks

- Section Trucks - Grapple Trucks

- Track Inspector Trucks - Boom Trucks

CAll Tim Marr: 612-716-2878 • TMarr@aspeneq.com 38 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

3000 cu ft Covered Hopper Cars 4650 cu ft Covered Hopper Cars 4300 cu ft Aluminum Rotary Open Top Gons 65 ft, 100-ton log spine cars equipped with six (6) log bunks 60 ft, 100 ton Plate F box cars, cushioned underframe and 10 ft plug doors 50 ft, 100 ton Plate C box cars, cushioned underframe and 10 ft plug doors 26,671 Gallon, 263k GRL, NC/NI Tank Cars Contact: Tom Monroe: 415-616-3472 Email: tmonroe@atel.com rtands.com

Professional Directory

New & Used Equipment

MOW Equipment Lease & Sale Brushcutting Specialized Hauling Track Surfacing Low Boys with Rail

www.RailwayEquipmentServices.net â&#x20AC;&#x153;A full service company with over 25 yrs exp!â&#x20AC;?

MOW Integrated Carbide Tools 6700 Tamping Tool JK-635

MKIV Tamping Tool JK-215L/R

GRM3000 Tamping Tool JK-560C

MARKETPLACE SALES Contact: Jeanine Acquart Ph: 212/620-7211 Fax: 212/633-1165 Email: jacquart@sbpub.com

Replace worn components with Harsco Railâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s complete line of integrated carbide tools. â&#x20AC;˘ Class 1 product approval â&#x20AC;˘ Genuine OEM parts â&#x20AC;˘ All products in stock with immediate availability

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

To order, call: 1-800-800-6410 Email: railparts@harsco.com

<285 6,1*/( 6285&( 3529,'(5 3$576 6(59,&( 5(17$/ 6$/(6

,1'(3(1'(1&( $9( .$16$6 &,7< 02 _ UDLO#FXVWRPWUXFN FRP rtands.com

April 2019 // Railway Track & Structures 39

Products & Services

ERIC HEADRICK President 205 N. Chestnut/PO Box 404 Arcola, IL 61910

Ph217-268-5110 cell217-259-4823 Fax217-268-3059 email eric@rrcri.com Exchange Units/Related Tamper Parts and Assemblies To purchase parts, contact: New & Rebuilt sales@rrcri.com Electromatic/Hydraulic Units available for same Workheads day shipping

REESE WHAT CAN WE DO FOR YOU?

• Track construction and maintenance • On-track ditching and rotary dump service • On-track tree trimming and brushcutting • Storm and flood cleanup and debris removal • Tie distribution, removal and disposal

K. W. Reese, Inc.

Box 298 • Mercersburg, PA 17236

RailwayAge.com

The News Destination for the Rail Industry

(717) 328-5211 • fax (717) 328-9541 • www.kwreese.com

2018 NRC PlatiNum Safety awaRd wiNNeR

An Authorized Harsco Remanufacturing Facility-An Authorized Harsco Parts Distributor Let Precision remanufacture your non-functional, outdated 6700 into a fully functional 6700 with the latest technology. If you have an old, worn-out 6700 tamper, we have your solution.

CALL 620-485-4277 OR VISIT PRECISIONRWY.COM FOR MORE DETAILS

REMANUFACTURED 6700 SALES

40 Railway Track & Structures // April 2019

ON-SITE TRAINING

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rtands.com

We stand ready to help solve your monitoring needs. SENSR has already deployed several emergency field ops teams for immediate response to our customers’ needs during the heavy flooding happening in the Midwest.

Bridges form one of the most critical pieces of our transportation infrastructure. Ensuring their safety and stability is essential, especially as they continue to age and endure ever-increasing loads.

Scour, extreme weather, and high water can all create scenarios where a bridge can be quickly and unexpectedly damaged. SENSR technology is specifically designed to help you manage these difficult challenges. We keep you continuously aware of changing conditions at the bridge site.

Scour from streams, rivers, and tides removes material from around your piers, undermining their ability to support loads. SENSR continuously monitors your piers for signs of instability or misalignment. You’ll know when scour pockets are forming long before you’d be able to spot their influence with the unaided eye. You can quickly and easily assess whether it’s safe to operate during high flow events.

Contact a SENSR representative today and discover how we can help keep an eye on your bridges.

111 Cooperative Way | Suite 100 Georgetown, TX 78726 | 512.240.5273

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