RT&S November 2018

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February 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 1

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contents

November 2018

FEATURES

18

Track Inspection Railroads and service providers rely on improved data collection efforts from software and machines to gain insight from track inspections.

24

Port infrastructure 2018 was another big year for rail projects at port facilities. This year’s update features highlights of 2018’s biggest projects so far.

Cover credit: Shutterstock/ Iv Nikolny

28 NEWS

DEPARTMENTS

4

14

TTCI Researchers evaluate the freeze-thaw behaviors of various substructure soils and their effects on track geometry deterioration.

32

AREMA News Message from the president; FYI section; Call for papers; Upcoming committee meetings

Industry Today CREATE’s 75th Street improvement project breaks ground; Kiamichi Railroad Company named BNSF’s Shortline of the Year; Construction begins on U.S. side of Presidio International Rail Bridge and more.

6

Supplier News Acquisitions, contracts and other news

8

People New hires, promotions and appointments

Students from Michigan State University’s Railway Management Certificate Program view the Chicago skyline from the Amtrak location’s point of view.

Story on page 28

35

Calendar

36

Products

37

Advertisers Index

37

Sales Representatives

38

Classifieds Advertising

39

Professional Directory

28

Engineering education Engineering programs provide updates on what railroads are asking of engineering students and how universities aim to combat the knowledge cliff.

COLUMNS

3

On Track Until next time

10

NRC Chairman’s Column Looking ahead to 2019

Credit: Michigan State University

rtands.com

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 1

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On Track

Until next time Vol. 114, No. 11 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 Mischa Wanek-Libman Editor mischa@sbpub.com Kyra Senese Managing Editor ksenese@sbpub.com CORPORATE OFFICES 55 Broad St 26th Fl. New York, N.Y. 10004 Telephone (212) 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 Arthur J. McGinnis, Jr. President and Chairman Jonathan Chalon Publisher Mary Conyers Production Director Nicole D’Antona Art Director Aleza Leinwand Graphic Designer Maureen Cooney Circulation Director Michelle Zolkos Conference Director Customer Service: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS International Corp.

253 West 35th Street 7th Floor New York, NY 10001 212-221-9595; fax 212-221-9195 curt.ciesinski@parsintl.com

N

ew opportunities are funny things.

The excitement surrounding something new is often tempered by having to leave something else behind. This odd tug-of-war between light and heavy heartedness is where I find myself as I write my final column for RT&S. I began at the magazine fresh out of college. I had zero knowledge of the rail industry, let alone engineering and construction, but was armed with a shiny new journalism degree and enough chutzpah to think I could make a go of this. The past 17 years have brought the expected challenges and triumphs, as well as ample opportunities for growth, both professionally and personally.

There has been a tremendous amount of help along the way from friends, mentors and other industry professionals who took time to explain a concept, offer constructive criticism and share many laughs.

I’ve been privileged to help tell your extraordinary stories within these pages and witness the industry’s continued evolution. The gains the industry has made in automation, embracing the advent of big data and the continued focus on safety, have been interesting to watch and report on over the years.

I figure that I have written somewhere in the ballpark of 250 feature

articles and close to 85 columns during my time at RT&S. No matter the topic, be it a highlight of a new concept, an innovative project or an improved maintenance method, a reoccurring theme found in most articles was the importance of communication and partnerships. Ours is an industry of cooperation and collaboration.

In that collaborative spirit, we have a team of professionals on-deck to ensure quality information continues to be included in the print magazine and on the RTandS.com website. Bob Tuzik, who served as editor of RT&S in the early 90s, has agreed to return as contributing editor. Following his time at the magazine, Bob spent many years on the supply side of the industry and will bring a wealth of knowledge to the pages of RT&S. Jon Chalon continues as publisher and Kyra Senese remains as managing editor.

As for me, I’ll be working on the transit side of things in the future. I’m not going too far away and will run into some of you at future events.

It has been my pleasure to be part of this industry. Until next time, be safe and be well.

Mischa Wanek-Libman Editor

Railway Track & Structures (Print ISSN 0033-9016, Digital ISSN 2160-2514), (USPS 860-560), (Canada Post Cust. #7204564; Agreement #40612608; IMEX P.O. Box 25542, London, ON N6C 6B2, Canada) is published monthly by Simmons-Boardman Publ. Corp, 55 Broad St. 26th Floor, New York, NY 10004. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices.

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Railway Track & Structures, PO Box 1407, Cedar Rapids, IA. 52406-1407.

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 3

Industry today

CREATE’s 75th Street improvement project breaks ground

A

groundbreaking ceremony was held Oct. 1 for the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program’s 75th Street Corridor Improvements Project (75th St. CIP).

The $474-million project, which is the largest in the CREATE Program, will eliminate a rail chokepoint used by nearly 500 freight trains and 760 passenger trains per day. The CREATE Program estimates that when the project is completed in 2025, it will eliminate 32,000 annual passenger hours of delay from rail travel in the region.

The project was awarded the largest single Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant, more than $132 million, during the latest round of funding. In addition to the INFRA grant, freight railroads are contributing $116 million, Illinois Department of Transportation is contributing $111 million, Cook County is contributing $78 million, Metra is contributing $23 million, Chicago Department of Transportation is contributing $9 million and Amtrak is contributing $5 million.

“The CREATE Program is grounded in a simple idea — solutions to big challenges only happen when everyone is at the table,” said Edward R. Hamberger, president and CEO of the Association of American Railroads. “We are all committed to improving service for both Chicago rail commuters and freight customers nationwide, and this project dramatically moves the ball forward by untangling one of the most congested

points in the U.S. rail network. America’s railroads are here for the long-haul as we continue to advance rail in Chicago.”

The INFRA grant award will be applied toward five individual projects including the construction of the Argo Connection; design and construction of a grade separation at 71st Street; design and construction of a freight flyover; design of a commuter/freight

flyover and design for a realignment for freight tracks, as well as the addition of a commuter track.

The Argo Connection, also known as B9, which will build additional track and signals allowing for increased train speeds is scheduled to begin next year. Design and construction of the other four projects will follow.

BNSF Railway Company (BNSF) has selected Kiamichi Railroad Company as its 2018 “Shortline of the Year” during its annual Shortline Conference.

Kiamichi is a Class 3 shortline railroad serving Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma and interchanging with BNSF in Madill, Okla.

Kiamichi, a subsidiary of Genesee & Wyoming, was recognized for its commitment to safety, service, growth, investment and velocity.

“Kiamichi’s employee safety record, including an impressive injury-free streak, is a testament to their focus on safe rail operations,” said Merril Lieb, assistant vice president, 4 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

BNSF shortline development.

Lieb also noted that the railroad has made significant investments in its infrastructure, leading to a 300-percent growth in its carload business with BNSF. Since 2012, Kiamichi has improved much of its 265-mile line to handle 286,000-lb. loads of traffic, including upgrades to 150 miles of track and investments of more than $35 million.

With BNSF, officials said Kiamichi worked to achieve market share in aggregates, fluff pulp and coal.

“We are a customer-focused railroad and have worked diligently to help our existing customers grow while bringing more

businesses to our rail line,” said Ryan Englebright, Kiamichi’s general manager. “We have seen growth in transload facilities and attracted a new steel mill.”

BNSF also recognized Richmond Pacific Railroad Corporation (RPRC) for its focus on safety and customer service.

Based in Richmond, Calif., RPRC has a seven-year injury-free safety record, has upgraded rail, and increased capacity to facilitate additional business.

The entire RPRC locomotive fleet has also been upgraded with modern power, which increases fuel efficiency and decreases their environmental footprint. rtands.com

CREATE Program

Kiamichi Railroad Company named BNSF’s Shortline of the Year

Industry today

Construction begins on U.S. side of Presidio International Rail Bridge The Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) and Texas Pacifico Transportation, LTD. (TXPF) held a groundbreaking event Oct. 22 for the reconstruction of the international rail bridge at Presidio, Texas.

The rail bridge, which will be one of eight rail crossings between Mexico and the U.S., was severely damaged by fires in 2008 and 2009. The bridge is located on the TxDOTowned South Orient rail line, a 391-mile rail line running from the Texas-Mexico border at Presidio through San Angelo to just south of Coleman.

TXPF, a private railroad company, leases and operates the South Orient line and is responsible for the reconstruction of the bridge. TXPF is funding the reconstruction of the bridge, which is scheduled to be completed

by September 2019. Work on the Ojinaga, Mexico, side of the bridge has already begun.

“As one of the eight rail gateways between

the United States and Mexico, this crossing is extremely important to the economy of Texas and the rest of the United States,” said Texas Transportation Commission Chairman, J. Bruce Bugg, Jr. “Today’s groundbreaking is a testament to what strong partnerships can accomplish in creating transportation solutions. This project will have positive impacts on both the regional and national levels in support of our energy sector and local communities.” TxDOT has also received a $7 million federal FASTLANE grant to rehabilitate 72 miles of track and additional bridges in Presidio County. TXDOT said this additional work will improve safety and train operations in support of the reconstruction of the Presidio Ojinaga International Rail Bridge.

“Cross-border trade is the lifeblood of many communities in my district, including Presidio.

Restoring this crucial freight connection will create jobs, reduce arduous border wait times,

and facilitate the flow of goods and services through the region. As one of five border crossings between Texas and Mexico, and one of only eight in the nation, these repairs are vital to Texas’ economy,” said U.S. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX-23), who represents more than 800 miles of the Texas-Mexico border.

TxDOT expects to bid the track and other bridge work in the spring of 2019.

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Industry today

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Fiscal and Management Control Board voted in early October to award a $217.7 million contract to upgrade t h e s i g n a l s y s te m s o n t h e system’s Red and Orange Lines.

The contract went to BARLETTA HEAVY DIVISION. ENCORE RAIL S Y S TE M S announced in early October that the company had moved into an expansive new facility in Broomfield, Colo.

N e w Yo r k ’ s M e t r o p o l i t a n Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n A u t h o r i t y (MTA) h as award e d HARSCO CORPORATION’s railway track maintenance division, Harsco Rail, with a multi-year contract worth approximately $40 million for the construction and delivery of 65 flat cars by the end of 2021.

Bentley Systems, Incorporated, h a s a c q u i r e d LE G ION , a pedestrian simulation software provider to more than half of the world’s 40 largest transit agencies.

Texas Central announced that international railway company RENFE will serve as the train’s o p e r a t i n g p a r t n e r. E a r l i e r i n O c t o b e r, Te x a s C e n t r a l announced the selection o f e n g i n e e r i n g f i r m S ALINI I M PREG ILO to l e a d th e c ivil construction consortium that will build the Texas passenger line.

The S O U THEA S TERN PENNSYLVANIA TRANSPORTATION AUTHORITY released a request for proposals to purchase electricity generated by wind, solar or other renewable energy sources.

Ca n a d ia n Nation a l (CN) h as re ach e d an agre em ent to a cq u i re th e TRAN SX G RO U P o f CO M P ANIE S , o n e o f Canada’s largest and oldest transportation companies.

6 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

Glacier Rail Park opens in Kalispell State and local officials gathered in Kalispell, Mont., on Oct. 8 to celebrate the grand opening of the Glacier Rail Park.

Officials said the new rail park, which is approximately 40 acres and is the only transload facility in the region, expands transportation options for freight movement, as well as provides traffic congestion relief. It is situated on BNSF’s Great Northern Corridor, which offers access to markets on the West Coast, Great Lakes and in Canada. Mission Mountain Railroad, a subsidiary of Watco Companies, also serves the rail park.

In a post touching on the highlights of the event, the city of Kalispell said that teamwork and partnerships to make the rail park a reality were central themes that came up again and again in speeches.

“Tenacity was also a central theme as it took many years and creatively working through obstacle after obstacle to see this day come,” wrote the city.

The Glacier Rail Park, which began construction work in August of 2017, is part of the larger Kalispell Core & Rail Redevelopment Project, which aims to position the town to take advantage of business opportunities, while providing a livable and safe community.

The project was awarded a $10 million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant in 2015.

With the rail park complete, the city of Kalispell says it can now “look to the future of the rail park and to the economic vitality this piece of infrastructure will attract and support.”

Arctic Gateway continues progress repairing Hudson Bay Rail line The Arctic Gateway Group LP has provided regular updates via its Facebook page to the progress made to repair and restore service along the Hudson Bay Railway Line. At the beginning of October, work to repair all washouts has been completed along the line connecting The Pas to the Port of Churchill in Manitoba.

The company said that other areas of the track that may not have been washed out or damaged are also being inspected to ensure that there are no issues.

“Along with this work, new culverts have been installed to allow for proper drainage and to avoid future issues,” the company said in an Oct. 22 update. “Testing is now complete and repairs are continuing to fix the flaws to move towards safety testing and resumption of train service. This will all be subject to the weather allowing the final repairs to meet the standards of safety set by Transport Canada.”

In a community update at the beginning of October, the town of Churchill offered its thanks and congratulations to work crews performing the repairs.

“The dedicated work by experts, in difficult working conditions, has been very impressive,” a statement from the town read.

The company notes that the weather has been good as it continues to perform back filling work and rail changeouts, which

should be completed in the next few weeks.

Arctic Gateway, which took possession of the line at the beginning of September, notes that it is in a “race against time” to complete all repairs prior to the onset of winter; an achievement the company is still not confident it can reach.

Murad Al-Katib, president and CEO of AGT Food and Ingredients Inc., said, “We have always maintained that safety and transparency are essential to our mission of serving the communities along the line. It is in this spirit of safety and transparency that we wanted to let our stakeholders know that, even if the washout repairs occur prior to winter, it is still possible that rail service will not be restored until the spring. In the meantime, we will continue to work as hard as we possibly can, and do everything we can do, to get this line up and running before then.”

TxDOT/Marc Williams

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Industry today

People Th e ASSOCIATION of AM E R ICAN R AILROADS named Adrian Arnakis, deputy staff director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation under Chairman John Thune (R-S.Dak.) as senior vice p re s i d e n t o f g ove r n m e n t a f f a i r s , effective in November.

B N S F R A I LW AY C O . E x e c u t i v e Chairman Matthew K. Rose will retire from the railroad in April of 2019, after 26 years of service.

The DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT board of directors announced that it re-elected Sue S. Bauman as the chair for Fiscal Year 2019.

David Hillenbrand resigned from KOPPERS HOLDINGS INC. as chairman of the Board, effective Oct. 11, 2018, citing personal and health-related reasons for the decision. The Board elected Stephen Tritch as chairman of the Board and cut down the size of the

Board from 11 to 10 directors.

G E N E S EE & W Y O M I N G I N C . promoted Michael Miller to serve as president, North America. Mike Peters was also promoted to the role of chief commercial of ficer, Nor th America, and leads GWI corporate commercial, industrial development, real estate, fleet management and commercial support teams.

HNTB CORPOR ATION brought on C. Yoga Chandran, Ph.D., PE, GE, as a project director and vice president in Southern California.

The METROLINK Board of Directors appointed Pam O’Connor, a Santa Monica cit y councilmember, as an alternate director. Chief Executive Art Leahy announced his retirement from the agency, ef fective Jan. 4, 2019. The Metrolink Board appointed General Counsel Don Del Rio and Chief Financial Officer Ronnie Campbell as

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OPERATION LIFESAVER, INC. selected Ronald Ries as the recipient of the Champion Award for 2018. The national rail safety education organization also hired Jessica Puchala as director of communications and marketing.

RAILPROS announced the selection of Ken Koff as CEO, as the company’s c u r re nt C EO a n d fo u n d e r J o h n ny Johnson moves to the role of executive chairman. Before the promotion, Koff se r ve d as c h ief o p e ratin g of f ice r.

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Looking forward to 2019

T

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your efforts to build and maintain rail capacity are saving lives every day.

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 10 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

hanksgiving is fast approaching!

Many of us have a tendency to overeat and enjoy some liquid libation during the holiday season. If you enjoy a beverage, be sure to use a designated driver or take a cab, Uber or Lyft to get home safely. Make sure you’re well rested before driving, too. During the holidays, the highways will be at capacity, so stay focused on your safe driving techniques.

On a more positive note, know that your efforts to build and maintain rail capacity are saving lives every day. Freight and people move much more safely by rail than they do by the highway.

This October, Grassroots events have been numerous and well organized. The membership committee is working to set a record with a goal of exceeding 425 members. I attended not only a very successful Grassroots event at R.J. Corman for U.S. Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY6), but also was privileged to travel back to my home state to award the University of Kentucky a well-deserved $15,000 educational grant. Dr. Jerry Rose and his appropriately named group of students, the “Rail Cats,” have worked on several research projects regarding Class 1 railroads and the grant will assist them in continuing those efforts.

Educational grants and scholarships are one of our core efforts to provide added value to our member companies. We have increased those awards throughout the past two years.

I can’t remind everyone enough that our 2019 NRC Conference is Jan. 6-9 in Marco Island, Fla., at the J.W. Marriott. The speakers at our conference will be excellent and the exhibits are always a big hit. The 2019 Conference is lining up to be another great one, with Matt Rose, executive chairman of BNSF being the featured speaker on Monday morning’s opening session.

Also speaking will be senior engineering and procurement executives from major rail transit agencies and Class 1 railroads.

These executives will come armed with the latest information on their capital program plans for 2019 and the opportunities that will be available for NRC member contractors and suppliers.

We have already filled up the J.W. Marriott as well as overflow hotels. We will do our best to have adequate accommodations for all who attend. Make your reservations ASAP. If you have difficulty and need assistance, please don’t hesitate to call Matt Bell on the

NRC staff at 202-715-1264. Let’s set another attendance record this year!

The Railway Engineering-Maintenance Suppliers Association (REMSA) is continuing to put the finishing touches on the Exhibition, which is expected to sell out. There will be about 150 booths showing off the latest technology and equipment of the rail supply world. Your participation will allow you to keep up with the latest information regarding what’s happening in our industry.

For more information on the conference, registering, hotel reservations, sponsorships and exhibiting, please visit www.nrcma. org. I encourage you to register as soon as possible and get a hotel room booked — it’s quick and easy.

If for any reason you can’t find what you need on the website, or for any conference questions or help to register, call Matt Bell or email mbell@nrcma.org. For exhibit questions, reserving exhibit space, booth pricing, show hours, and more, please visit https:// www.remsa.org/nrc-remsa2019 or contact Urszula Soucie with REMSA at 202-715-2921 or soucie@remsa.org.

As we start to wind down 2018, I hope all of you are busy with projects and answering RFPs to keep your project pipelines full. It seems the large projects across the country are coming out faster than our Quotes and Proposal teams can respond.

Back in D.C., the NRC staff will continue working to ensure the flow of rail projects keeps on coming! Whether that is simply through more rail transit funding or involves efforts to ensure this work is available for competitive contracting, the NRC is on it.

Last month I wrote about how our transit efforts paid off with WMATA putting out an RFP for the Silver Line maintenance and operations. We now look to other major transit agencies to put out additional RFPs for our member companies to provide proposals on. The NRC team and Board have worked hard to help make this happen.

I wish everyone a great and safe Thanksgiving with their families and a successful month. I look forward to seeing you in Florida on Jan. 6.

Mike Choat NRC Chairman rtands.com

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Chuck Baker – President Matt Bell – Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer Chana Elgin – Director of Public Affairs Mike McGonagle – Director of Operations

Annual Conference and Exhibition J.W. Marriott Marco Island Marco Island, FL January 6-9, 2019 Railroad Day on the Hill Roadway Worker Protection Training Program and Safety Training Videos Fall Protection in the Rail Industry Safety with Railroad Hand Tools Safety Around Building Turnouts Safety with Railroad Power Tools Safety Around Handling CWR Safety on Freight and Industrial Track Safety Around Railroad Safety Around Railway Maintenance Grade Crossings, Part 1 & 2 Equipment, Parts 1 & 2 How to Conduct a Job Briefing Safety Around Transit Track Highlights from 10 Years of NRC Safety While Unloading & Handling Material Safety Videos Safety With Hot Work Safety Around Hi-Rail Trucks Safety Around Thermal Adjusting CWR Safety Around Field Welds Safety with Defensive Driving Fatigue Safety on a Rail Gang Recognizing Signs & Symptoms Safety on a Tie Gang Safety Around Flash Butt Welding Annual NRC Rail Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction April 2019, Location TBA Government Affairs and Legislative Advocacy in Washington DC Railroad Infrastructure Investment Tax Credits Truck Size and Weight Laws High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Commuter Rail and Rail Transit Funding Reasonable Regulation of Industry Construction Friendly Policies Government Financing Programs such as RRIF and TIFIA Membership Directory — Railroad and Transit Buyer’s Guide NRC Awards Contests Safe Railroad Contractor of the Year Hall of Fame Inductees Railroad Construction Project of the Year Field Employee of the Year

National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, Inc. 410 First Street, SE, 2nd Floor, Washington, DC 20003 Phone: 202-715-1264 info@nrcma.org

www.nrcma.org rtands.com

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 11

41ST ANNUAL CONFERENCE January 6-9, 2019 J.W. Marriott Marco Island Marco Island, Fla.

EXHIBIT⎮EDUCATE⎮EXPAND Maximize the benefits of an NRC membership and your company’s presence in the industry by reserving your space TODAY.

Ask about our spouses’ programs and excursions!

Visit remsa.org/nrc-remsa2019 to view the live floor plan and reserve your booth space online, or contact Urszula Soucie, the 2019 NRC-REMSA Show Manager, at soucie@remsa.org for more information.

January 6-9, 2019 • JW Marriott Marco Island Beach Resort

Conference Highlights

Plan to attend the premier railroad construction and maintenance industry event!

The annual National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association Conference will encompass more than 1,000 attendees, 150 exhibitors and 25,000 square-feet of meeting space. We have a unique program agenda lined up with chief engineers from the major freight railroads and other key speakers covering topics on: • • • • • • •

2019 Class 1 and Regional Railroad Capital Spending Plans Rail Projects of National Significance Commuter Rail and Rail Transit Contracting Florida Rail Projects Legislation Affecting the Rail Industry Railroad Construction Safety High Speed and Intercity Passenger Rail Developments

• Golf Tournament, Sailing Tournament, Everglades Excursion, Safety Awards, Multiple Networking Receptions • Seminars on project management, railroad safety regulations, railway engineering, safety training

Exhibition Booths are still available, visit www.remsa.org/nrc-remsa2019 to reserve a booth Attendee, hotel and exhibit registration available at www.nrcma.org/2019conference REGISTRATION CATEGORIES

A T T E N D E E R E G I S T R A T I O N F O R M

On or Before 10/1/18

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12/1/18 - On-site

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$900.00

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No Charge

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Railroad/Media/Government Personnel COMPLETE FORM AND RETURN WITH PAYMENT TO: The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association, 410 1st Street SE, 2nd Floor, Washington, D.C. 20003 Phone: 202-715-1264 • conference@nrcma.org

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NOTE: All prior membership dues owed to NRC must be paid in full to register for the Conference as a member. Not a member? Join today by calling the NRC office at 202-715-1264, visiting the NRC website at www.nrcma. org, or emailing mmcgonagle@nrcma.org.

HOTEL: For hotel reservations, go to the following link to reserve online: https://book.passkey.com/event/49595790/owner/10865/home or call the JW Marriott Marco Island at 239-394-2511. When making your reservations by phone, be sure to mention that you are with the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Conference in order to receive the discounted room rate. There are numerous room rate options. Room rates start at $274 per night. We expect to sell out our block; make your reservations as soon as possible.

TTCI r&D

Research shows insight into freeze thaw behavior at TTCI’s northern megasite Colo., monitored a section of Canadian National Railway (CN) track near Winnipeg, Manitoba, CA.

TTCI evaluates the freeze-thaw behaviors of various substructure soils and their effects on track geometry deterioration.

Site substructure The substructure at the selected site comprises four layers. The depths, and a brief description of each layer, are presented in Table 1.

by Stephen Wilk, Colin Bayse and Benjamin Bakkum

I

n northern regions of North America, railroad tracks experience annual freezethaw cycles that can result in track geometry deterioration. During the freezing period, the track substructure stiffens and can experience frost heave due to the accumulation of ice in underlying soil.1 Silty soils tend to be the most susceptible.

During the thaw period, the track substructure softens and can experience lateral deformation and other movement.

To better understand the freeze-thaw behavior of various substructure soils, and how they contribute to track geometry deterioration, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI), located in Pueblo,

Instrumentation Thermocouples, lateral earth pressure cells and strain gages were installed to monitor soil behavior. Ten thermocouples (T1 through T10) were placed in the soil at 6-inch vertical increments to measure soil temperatures. Four lateral earth pressure cells (P1 through P4) were placed at different depths to obtain static and dynamic lateral pressure with time. This can give insight into load distribution and lateral deformation.

The strain gauges were attached to the rail to measure wheel loads, providing insight into axle weight and minimizing the influence of load variability from the dynamic lateral earth pressure measurements.

The depths of the instrumentation are displayed in Figure 1. The second column refers to the depth below the ballast surface at the tie elevation and the third column refers to depth below the ballast surface at the instrument locations, since the ballast slopes downward on the instrumented

shoulders. Differences are due to the thermocouples being installed 80 inches laterally from the tie (16-inch elevation difference) and the third and fourth pressure cells at 24 inches laterally from the tie (6-inch elevation difference).

Results Static monitoring occurred from June 2016 to July 2017, and dynamic monitoring occurred from September 2016 to June 2017.

To minimize the influence of wheel load variation on the dynamic lateral earth pressures, the peak dynamic lateral pressures (static pressures baselined to 0.0) were divided by wheel load values to give lateral pressure ratio (LPR).2 General observations General observations from the thermocouples, depicted in Figure 2, and LPR show three distinct timeframes: • Thawed: Mid-May to mid-December. Soil temperatures above 32°F with consistent LPR values.

• Frozen: Mid-December to early April. Soil temperatures below 32°F with erratic high and low LPR values.

• Thawing: Early April to mid-May. Soil temperatures at 32°F with initially high LPR that drop with time.

The thermocouples and LPR values show a general agreement in the testing period

Table 1. Substrate layers Layer

Depth* (thickness)

Description

1

0-28 in.

(28 in.)

Dense fines-contaminated ballast

2

28-40 in.

(12 in.)

Sand with silt, fine gravel, clay, dense

3

40-52 in.

(12 in.)

Fine gravelly sand with silt and clay

4

52-36 in.

(84 in.)

Stiff high plasticity clay

*Depth below ballast surface at tie (top-of-tie)

14 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

rtands.com

TTCI r&d

Figure 1: Diagram of instrumentation

timeframe based on varying depths.

All 10 thermocouples experienced freezing, indicating the frost depth extends below 5 feet. The upper soil layers appeared to both freeze and thaw first, suggesting that a thawed surface in the spring may not indicate a thawed subsurface. Between early April to mid-March, the soil temperatures stabilized at 32°F, indicating thawing with the presence of both ice and water conditions. Daily temperature fluctuations affected the soil to a depth of 18 inches, and the soil below that depth experienced minimal daily fluctuations. Freezing front advancement may have been slowed by the presence of a water table at the Layer 3/4 interface shown in Figure 1.

Thawed LPR Values The average LPR value during the thawed period for 2016 and 2017 is shown in Figure 3. For both years, the highest LPR values were measured by P2 and P3. This suggests that Layer 3 (gravelly sand) from P2 and P3 shows the highest dynamic response compared to Layer 2 (silty sand) from P1 and Layer 4 (stiff clay) from P4.

Second, the P2 and P3 average LPR values rtands.com

are noticeably lower in 2017 than 2016 (~35 percent drop). Some change is anticipated every year from particle rearrangement, compaction and lateral deformation, but the high 2016 values are likely from residual

daily temperature fluctuations affected the soil to a depth of 18 inches.” stresses during pressure cell installation.

These residual stresses would be released during the freeze-thaw cycle and would not appear the following year.

Thawing LPR Values During the thawing time period of early

April to mid-May, all four lateral pressure transducers experienced similar behavior in which the lateral pressures started at a high value and then decreased to the thawed LPR value. The beginning and end of this drop agrees with 32°F thermocouple measurements at similar depths. For example, the LPR of P4 starts at 0.21 and ends at 0.03, a drop of 0.18 (87 percent). This relaxation of stresses could indicate lateral movement or thawing mechanisms.

Track geometry The final objective was to correlate the dynamic lateral pressure results with track geometry measurements. Track geometry was taken four times within the general timeframe of the study: April, August and November of 2016, and in April of 2017.

Vertical surface (profile), alignment and cross level were also compared.

To align the various curves, a road crossing approximately 487 feet from the site was used as a fixed reference point. Analysis of track geometry shows minimal degradation throughout the year of measurements, with changes of less than 0.05 inch. The other track geometry measurements showed November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 15

TTCI r&D

Figure 2: Ambient and soil temperatures with time

similar results. This does not allow for a comparison between the dynamic lateral pressure and track geometry, and additional data would need to be collected and analyzed. It also is possible that movement occurred between measurements and returned to their original position in the case of frost heave.

Conclusions The testing results showed the following:

Three distinct timeframes were observed throughout the year, including: thawed (mid-May to mid-December); frozen (midDecember to early April); and thawing (early April to mid-May). Each of these timeframes had distinct soil pressure behaviors.

During the thawed timeframe, the dynamic lateral earth pressures were consistent. The pressures were noticeably lower during 2017 than in 2016, suggesting that 2016 experienced higher pressures

Figure 3: Ambient and soil temperatures with time

16 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

from residual stresses due to the installation process.

During the frozen timeframe, the dynamic lateral earth pressures were erratic and had episodes of both high and low pressures. This is likely from the formation/heaving of ice lenses and other freezing behaviors.

During the thawing timeframe, the dynamic lateral earth pressures decreased with time, suggesting a relaxation in the lateral stresses. The greatest decreases were in Layer 2 (silty sand) and Layer 4 (stiff clay).

Frost depth extended beyond 5 feet and daily temperature fluctuations affected the top 18 inches.

Track geometry measurements from the study timeframe showed no significant degradation, so no conclusions can be made.

A long-term study that includes inclinometers to measure lateral slope movement would likely be necessary.

References 1. Li, D., Hyslip, J., Sussmann T., and Chrismer, S. 2016. Railway Geotechnics.

CRC Press. Boca Raton, Fla. 2. Terzaghi, K., R. Peck, and G. Mesri.

1996. Soil Mechanics in Engineering Practice.

John Wiley and Sons. New York. rtands.com

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TRACK INSPECTION

Making the most

OF

DATA Holland says automation has changed almost every industry for the better, and track testing is no exception.

As track inspection methods continue to adapt to incorporate evolving technologies, service providers aim to capitalize on these advancements and work smarter using the growing breadth and depth of information available.

S

ervice providers offer details on how they are aggregating reliable information within shrinking work windows, as well as how they ensure the data they collect is turned into useful information.

ENSCO ENSCO aims to provide innovative track condition monitoring and maintenance planning solutions that empower railroads to optimize and improve the velocity, efficiency and safety of their operations, the company said.

18 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

By Kyra Senese, managing editor

ENSCO provides track geometry measurement and related vision inspection systems used for track condition monitoring along with data analytics and predictive maintenance planning tools.

ENSCO introduced multiple new products this year relating to this work.

ENSCO introduced a new Rail Surface Imaging System (RSIS) that can measure and quantify Rail Surface Damage. RSIS is meant to help railroads identify Rolling Contact Fatigue (RCF) Surface Condition and quantifies the severity of RCF and displays RCF severity in strip chart format

alongside track geometry, rail wear, and machine vision imagery. ENSCO said the RSIS will provide railroads with a greater understanding of their overall track quality and the ability to make better decisions on grinding and maintenance.

ENSCO also introduced a new Predictive Rail Temperature System that the company said predicts rail temperature more accurately than the method utilized today in which rail temperature is predicted solely by using a constant offset from ambient temperature. The new ENSCO Predictive Rail Temperature System uses the National rtands.com

Weather Service (NWS) data and utilizes several additional weather and material parameters including: intensity of solar radiation; solar angle; wind speed; sky temperature; heat absorptivity and emissivity of rail.

The new ENSCO Predicative Rail Temperature System will have a positive impact on safety and is intended to minimize the impact on railroad operations by allowing for the issuance of advance heat slow orders in an accurate, effective and targeted way.

ENSCO also said it continues to see a focus on the application of Autonomous Inspection Systems, which allow railroads to increase inspection frequency and reduce the overall cost per inspection. Autonomous Inspection Systems have continued to evolve and improve throughout the past year, ENSCO said.

“We have seen an increase in demand for our Autonomous Track Geometry Measurement System, which is typically installed onboard a revenue vehicle and measures track geometry and continuously streams the data to a cloud-based server,” ENSCO said. The railroad personnel are then notified instantly of any exceptions via email.

The Autonomous Vehicle/Track Interaction Monitors (VTI’s) continue to grow in popularity among Class 1, regional railroads and transits systems, ENSCO said.

VTIs are installed onboard revenue vehicles to measure ride quality, wheel/rail impacts, and track geometry surface conditions. VTIs have been credited with helping railroads identify high-risk track conditions and avoid broken rails and derailments.

ENSCO said the company has been an active participant in various industry associations and conferences in which the company engages railway engineering departments to discuss Autonomous Inspection and the latest in technology advancements.

ENSCO said it has been successful in integrating multiple technologies into a single platform. ENSCO offers an open network architecture that allows integration and synchronization of many measuring systems and the company has developed a structured process and integration protocols that reflect its past experiences and helps ensure success.

To date, the company has integrated with 13 unique third-party inspection systems and has performed more than 20 third-party system deliveries with additional projects in process for future delivery.

Automation and the continued development, advancement and adoption of automated track inspection technologies is a key driver in the track inspection market, the rtands.com

company said.

ENSCO said the company will remain focused on continuing to automate inspections and to develop and implement deep learning algorithms that it expects will lead to the increased adoption of autonomous systems that provide reliable, fully autonomous inspection systems that are installed on freight and passenger cars used in revenue service.

One of the most significant advantages of autonomous inspection technology ENSCO cites is that every movement of the host train offers an opportunity to evaluate the track, allowing for more frequent inspections without track time being consumed by dedicated inspection vehicles.

The use of autonomous inspection technologies can also result in earlier detection of track defects, allowing for maintenance practices to be preventative rather than reactive, reducing the number of trackrelated derailments and decreasing the cost per inspection.

Recent customer conversations have focused on the future state of automated track inspections and the industry’s desire to aid track inspection and reduce onsite walking inspections, the company said.

As a result, ENSCO has been focused on office-based track inspection solutions whereby the review of measurement and imagery data can be conducted in the office through the increased use of autonomous track inspection technology.

ENSCO said it has developed an entire suite of data management, analysis and predictive track maintenance planning software tools that can be integrated with SAP and other ERP Software Platforms. This integration allows for SAP and ENSCO’s tools to combine their specialties to achieve greater value than either system alone. SAP excels at work order management and finance, the company said.

ENSCO’s software tools excel at the scientific assessment of asset condition to plan maintenance and carry out regulatory track inspection scheduling and reporting. The two systems work together to exchange asset information, inspection and maintenance work order information.

ENSCO’s software tools are built on a common architecture, data structures and asset databases, the software integrates into one user interface and enables crosscommunication of the systems.

“We help our customers go beyond data collection and convert data into actionable information,” the company said. “We are

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track inspection

ENSCO said the company will remain focused on continuing to automate inspections.

optimistic that the market will continue to expand its adoption of autonomous technology with a focus on increasing track inspection frequencies and utilizing the data collected to develop proactive and predictive maintenance planning programs.â&#x20AC;?

ENSCO said the company is committed to working collaboratively with leaders in rail

20 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

engineering to develop solutions to the most pressing challenges while enabling railways to maintain infrastructure and to ensure people and assets move safely, efficiently and on-time.

Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. The Georgetown Rail Equipment Co.

(GREX) said its Aurora Xi inspection vehicles are equipped with 3-D laser profiling, backscatter x-ray technology and LiDAR technology to provide a full assessment of tie condition for railroads throughout North America.

With what the company said has been an increased demand for Xi collections, GREX will put three more Freightliners into service in 2019. Understanding that the maintenance process does not end with finding defective crossties, the team has developed tie replacement algorithms in collaboration with customers that assist in the identification of areas of concern, GREX said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;With a vision of full automation of the tie replacement process, our most recent advancement of automated tie marking has resulted in a significant step in the progression,â&#x20AC;? said Ryan Richard, Director of Service Planning for GREX. The Aurora tie marking system finds and paints ties identified as defective while traveling at 10 mph. The paint truck will perform a live-scan of a given mile that has been identified for tie replacement and pinpoints the

rtands.com

predetermined defective ties, supplied by the railroad, and mark only those ties.

“The ability to understand the condition of every tie and every tie’s neighboring ties means that advanced replacement logic can be applied,” Richard said. “That gives railroads an entirely new level of control and manipulation. We believe this system has the potential to achieve a more thorough job and offer substantial savings.”

Understanding that the tie life cycle starts with putting quality ties in track, GREX said it has migrated its technology to in-plant tie inspection. By employing the Aurora Xi inspection system at the tie plant, the company said it can better predict the crosstie life cycle by understanding the condition of ties before they are installed in track.

The in-plant system will illuminate and record the condition of new ties so that in-track condition assessments can be correlated and analyzed to determine true tie degradation rates, the company said.

Holland Holland said the company’s services and products reach beyond welding to include turnkey construction services, track inspection, railcar products, custom engineered solutions and more.

Holland’s Railway Measurement Systems & Services (RMSS) business unit is the North American industry leader in Track Geometry Testing Services with its flagship TrackSTAR® testing units. RMSS continues to provide Rangecam Track/Tie Replacement Planning Services and has added the newly developed ArgusTM Track Geometry/Profile Testing Systems to its portfolio in 2018.

TrackSTAR® customers have been seeking multiple data streams from single track occupancy allowing them to maximize the use of allocated track time.

“Holland sees the industry continuing to move towards combined platform testing services, but the real growth opportunities lie in autonomous geometry testing technologies,” stated Jason Jeans, director of product management. “Holland’s development of the ArgusTM track geometry and profile testing technology uniquely positions Holland to provide cost-effective geometry systems for both manned and unmanned platforms, without sacrificing the quality and repeatability required by the industry.”

Jeans added that railroads continue to strive for faster delivery of defect reports, trended analysis and near real-time data.

The increased collaboration between committees that are in process would help to drive awareness of the complementary nature of different testing methodologies to common issues within the maintenance of way.

For example, LiDAR technology is typically used to provide clearance information for train operations, but it could be used by track maintenance for review of ballast condition and for PTC asset identification. Additionally, collaboration at the customer level to bring them in to the data analysis side up front is proving to be helpful, the company said.

Increasing the value of every mile of track tested without further degrading track speed is of paramount importance to railroads.

Selecting complementary technologies that provide optimized throughput of the testing criteria is key to providing value to the client, the company said.

Automation has changed almost every industry for the better, and track testing is no exception. Automated systems allow for greater data collection and enhanced visibility of rail defects without degrading the network velocity. Holland said it has embraced this technology as a holistic addition to the TrackSTARTM testing service. rtands.com

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November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 21

track inspection

The Georgetown Rail Equipment Co. Aurora Xi inspection vehicles are equipped with 3-D laser profiling, backscatter x-ray technology and LiDAR technology.

“The only thing worse than no data is bad data,” said Meera Dugar, Holland’s director of digital intelligence.

Holland’s Service and Data Management groups continuously review data captured from the company’s systems and clients to validate the quality of the data. Holland’s data analysts utilize the power of Rangecam’s analytics to curate the data captured from various testing platforms and provide high fidelity maintenance planning reports.

“Holland’s digital strategy and our commitment to providing autonomous testing is the foundation of our vision for the coming year.

With autonomous testing on the horizon, vast amounts of data will be accumulated and therefore a solid enterprise digital platform is an absolute necessity to make sense of the data generated by both manned and autonomous testing technologies,” said Jeans. “Holland’s exChaingeTM asset intelligence platform will provide web based online maintenance planning and provide the data intelligibility our

clients require.”

Holland said the company is committed to incorporating more technology, gathering more data and being able to use its inspection technologies and services to provide greater insight for planning and operations in the industry.

Increased visibility of the location and condition of all assets within the right-ofway are also expected to allow railways and transit systems to tie the condition of critical components into non-railroad-specific third-party software platforms to meet internal or mandated requirements.

“We’re increasing our footprint, better positioning ourselves by improving our data collection capabilities and expanding our software and analytics platforms to strengthen our digital transformation and allows us to play a larger role in providing comprehensive, data-based information services going forward,” said Felix Krupczynski, general manager of the RMSS business unit.

THE

Plasser American Plasser American Corporation (PAC) is a manufacturer of track maintenance machinery, including track measuring cars.

For track inspection, PAC offers systems for inspections, including track geometry, rail profile, corrugation, clearance, catenary and track component video. Recently, PAC developed a track geometry measuring system for Hi-rail vehicles with no minimum speed requirement and full cloud connectivity. Measured data can be downloaded to the tamping machine to be used for tamping guidance.

Track inspections are becoming recognized more frequently in the context of big data, the company said. Based on measured data, research is now heading to improve maintenance prediction not only on deterministic, but also on a probabilistic approach.

Further, the company said there is increasing demand to get all data online with immediate access to data and analysis results.

PAC said the company is very experienced in integrating multiple technologies onto a common platform as demonstrated for decades with our multi-function measuring vehicles. The key element of the system integration is data structuring by data line-up and tagging with common track information, PAC said. The challenge is “data transport” of big data. Due to the size of data records, online transmission of complete data sets is still expensive.

“We will probably see more maintenance predictions done automatically, maintenance machines will be automatically guided with minimal to no operator interaction,” PAC said. “We collect the data in a structured way, allowing us to retrieve data spatially as well as chronically to derive desired information off the data collected.”

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port infrastructure

Double stack container trains at the Port of Long Beach.

BOLSTERING RAIL INFRASTRUCTURE

AT PORTS

Port authorities around North America continue to invest in better rail access as they look to take advantage of trade and growth opportunities.

R

ail access continues to play a leading role in North American port authorities’ plans for future growth and success. The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), which represents more than 130 public port authorities in the U.S., Canada, the Caribbean and Latin America, issued a report, State of Freight III – Rail Access and Port Multimodal Funding Needs, earlier this year. The report identified more than $20 billion in multimodal port and rail access needs during the next decade.

“Our national multimodal supply chain begins with ports. As a hub for rail, barge, trucks and perhaps someday drones, our nation’s ports are the best illustration on how a multimodal freight network can 24 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

and must work if we expect to address our nation’s increasing freight volumes while delivering on the demands of a growing population,” the AAPA says in its report.

Additionally, a third of ports identified pressing rail project needs that cost more than $50 million. The report says that within the next 10 years, 77 percent of ports are planning on-dock, near-dock or rail access projects.

However, despite a strong need and many planned projects, 67 percent of the report’s respondents said funding and financing options are the biggest initial obstacles in getting port rail access projects started.

Problematic at-grade crossings or height restricted overpasses and tunnels followed by land acquisition issues rounded out the top

three challenges identified by respondents.

The government of Canada launched the Trade and Transportation Corridors Initiative in 2016. The 11-year initiative will invest CA$2 billion (US$1.54 billion) for the National Trade Corridors Fund, a meritbased program to make Canada’s trade corridors more efficient and reliable. In 2018, the National Trade Corridors Fund has granted CA$200.9 million (US$154.18 million) to three Canadian ports for rail projects.

The Port of Vancouver in British Columbia received the largest grant at CA$167 million (US$128.16 million), which will be used for three projects. Two of the projects are led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, with investment from Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific rtands.com

Port of Long Beach

By Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor

port infrastructure

Railway. The projects will improve the existing Thornton Rail Tunnel ventilation system so that trains can pass through the tunnel more frequently; improve the rail corridor by building 5.5 km (3.42 miles) of track adjacent to the existing doubletracked corridor; design and raise Douglas Road so it crosses over the existing Canadian National railway corridor; build the Centennial Road overpass, a 600 meter-long (1,968.5-foot), two-lane elevated viaduct structure; extend the existing two-lane Waterfront Road by 600 meters (1,968.5 feet); realign 350 meters (1,148.3 feet) of Commissioner Street; and build 9.4 km (5.84 miles) of new siding track and reconfiguring train switching operations within the Canadian Pacific railway corridor, along the south shore of Burrard Inlet in the cities of Vancouver and Burnaby.

Canadian National will lead the third project at the Port of Vancouver, with investment from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority. The project involves designing and building a 4.2-km (2.61-mile) secondary track, parallel to the existing Burrard Inlet line, in the city of Vancouver.

On the other side of the country, the Port of Montréal and the Port of Québec also received CA$18.4 million (US$14.12 million) and CA$15.5 million (US$12 million), respectively. The Port of Montréal will apply the funds toward the Optimisation du réseau intermodal Project, which is being delivered in partnership with Montréal Port Authority (MPA) and the

Ministère des transports du Québec. Officials said this project will optimize the Port of Montréal’s rail network capacity, particularly in the port’s interchange zone.

The work is expected to include relocating underground and above-ground infrastructure, relocating and constructing the port’s new road and building new rail lines.

This work will eliminate bottlenecks, while increasing the flow of rail traffic and the Port of Montréal’s competitiveness.

The project to be funded will help the Port of Montréal maintain its level of operational excellence within the context of expected freight traffic growth. The port explained that the Canadian government’s financial assistance will allow for the installation of 6,000 meters (3.72 miles) of railway track and switches and carry out additional development work on its railway network.

The funds awarded to the Port of Québec will be applied toward three projects. The first is in the Anse au Foulon sector where the infrastructure was built nearly 100 years ago. Officials explain that port operations that take place in this sector require an efficient transportation network and infrastructure adapted to the needs of export businesses. This project will upgrade the road and rail infrastructure, which should result in efficiency gains, as well as upgrade the electrical network and the water system.

A second project, in the Estuaire sector of the Port of Québec, will repair the drawbridge structure, motors and gears to give the drawbridge at least 30 years of useful

life. The third project will restore strategic infrastructure in the Anse au Foulon and Beauport sectors of the Port of Québec to address the deterioration of the wharves.

Back in the United States, federal, state and private funds are being used to enhance rail infrastructure at various ports along all coasts.

Port of Prince Rupert Less than a year after the opening of the Fairview Container Terminal Phase 2A Expansion project, the Port of Prince Rupert and DP World came to an agreement for the terminal’s next phase of expansion, 2B. Phase 2A boosted the terminal capacity by 500,000 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) to its current capacity of 1.35 million TEUs. Phase 2B will increase the annual throughput capacity of Canada’s second largest container terminal to 1.8 million TEUs when the project is completed in 2022.

The project is set to expand the container yard from its current 32 hectares (79 acres) to 41 hectares (101.3 acres) and add two new rubber-tired gantry cranes in addition to an eighth dock gantry crane.

The existing maintenance and administration buildings will be relocated to allow for additional container storage capacity, as well.

The port said the expansion and relocation of the truck gate to the south end of the terminal, where it will link with the Fairview – Ridley Connector project being advanced by the Port of Prince Rupert, is

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port infrastructure

also expected to enhance efficiency.

The Phase 2B project will expand on-dock rail capacity by adding 6,680 feet of working track, facilitating a total of 24,680 feet of on-dock rail by 2022.

Construction on Phase 2B is set to kickoff in mid-2019. Officials said an initial gradual release of capacity to 1.6 million TEUs would take place in 2020, following the expansion of the container yard to the south.

DP World Group Chairman and CEO, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, noted that Canada is an important part of the global network, and DP World Group is excited to confirm the upcoming plans.

“Prince Rupert… plays a major role in enabling trade in the region and across the west coast with rail connections inland to the rest of the country and the United States,” Bin Sulayem said. “It also demonstrates the excellent relationships built with the port authority and the confidence we both share in the future.”

Port of Vancouver USA The Port of Vancouver USA wrapped up a decade-long project at the end of July designed to improve freight rail movement through the port. The $251-million West Vancouver Freight Access Project (WVFA) consisted of 21 individual projects, which has resulted in an annual railcar increase of 350,000, as well as a 40 percent reduction in mainline delays.

WVFA included 42 miles of new track, the creation of a new rail entrance (aka, “the trench”) into the port, expanding the port’s rail corridor and the addition of a loop track at the port’s Terminal 5.

26 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

“It’s hard to overstate the importance of the West Vancouver Freight Access Project,” said port CEO Julianna Marler. “Whether we’re talking about how the project reduces rail congestion on the mainline and expands our capacity or how it supported thousands of family-wage jobs during design, engineering and construction – as well as jobs for the future – this has been a critical project with far-reaching benefits for our community, region and nation.”

More than 70 percent of the WVFA was funded through the port along with federal and state grants and private contributions.

Officials noted the project spurred private investment in and near the port. Port tenants and neighbors, including United Grain Corp., Great Western Malting and Farwest Steel, have already invested more than $200 million in private funds to upgrade facilities and equipment and take advantage of increased rail capacity.

Georgia Ports Authority The Georgia Ports Authority’s (GPA) Mason Mega Rail Terminal project at the Port of Savannah progressed this year with a groundbreaking ceremony and funding approval.

The project will double the Port of Savannah’s annual rail capacity to 1 million containers and deliver the largest on-terminal rail facility in North America by 2020.

The Mason Mega Rail will combine the current on-dock CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern rail terminals into a single facility, providing each railroad with at least nine 2,700-foot working tracks. The project will add 97,000 feet of new rail at Garden City

Port of Los Angeles A $21.6-million state grant is allowing the Port of Los Angeles to move forward with its planned Terminal Island Railyard Enhancement Project, which is designed to optimize on-dock rail operations and improve the flow of cargo at the port.

The project will expand an existing intermodal rail storage yard on Terminal Island.

More than 31,000 linear feet of track will be added to expand the number of storage tracks from six to 11. The project will increase capacity and use of the Pier 400 on-dock rail rtands.com

Port of Prince Rupert

The Port of Prince Rupert and DP World have an agreement in place that will move Phase 2B of the Fairview Container Terminal expansion project forward.

Terminal, for a total of 179,000 feet, as well as increase the number of working tracks from 8 to 18.

“It is no accident the GPA is constructing rail capacity as the demand for rail is growing,” said GPA Board Chairman Jimmy Allgood. “As part of our strategic planning two years ago, our team identified the growing role intermodal cargo would play in GPA’s long-term success and put into place this plan for expansion.”

Following a groundbreaking ceremony for the project in March, the GPA Board of Directors approved $92 million for the project in September. The Mason Mega Rail Terminal was awarded a $44-million Fostering Advancements in Shipping and Transportation for the Long-Term Achievement of National Efficiencies (FASTLANE) grant in July 2016. The FASTLANE grant combined with the approved funding covers the estimated $128-million price tag of the project.

GPA said the Port of Savannah handled 364,090 TEUs in September 2018, the most recent month data is available, which represents an increase of nearly 39,000 TEUs over September 2017. It also marks 23 consecutive months of growth at the port.

Officials said the added rail capacity brought by the Mason Mega Rail Terminal project would better accommodate 10,000foot long unit trains, which port officials explained provide faster, more frequent service over greater distances. This will extend the territory best served by the Port of Savannah along an arc of cities ranging from Memphis to St. Louis, Chicago and Cincinnati.

“A strengthening economy and a greater reliance on GPA in major inland markets is driving growth at the Port of Savannah,” said GPA Executive Director Griff Lynch.

“We expect this trend to continue as more customers take advantage of Garden City Terminal’s central location and efficient terminal operations.”

port infrastructure

Georgia Ports Authority/Stephen B. Morton

yard by up to 525,000 Twenty-Foot Equivalent units (TEUs) annually, which represents about a 10 percent overall increase in capacity for the Port of Los Angeles.

As a result of increasing on-dock capacity at Pier 400, the project will free up capacity at another major storage and staging yard located on Terminal Island, thus improving overall rail operations throughout the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The project is a critical link between the San Pedro Bay port complex and the Alameda Corridor, which carries about 11 percent of all waterborne containers entering and exiting the United States. Port officials expect the expanded yard to eliminate an estimated 1,250 truck trips per day by 2040.

The $34-million project will be funded with a $21.6-million grant from the State Road Repair and Accountability Act of 2017 (Senate Bill 1) -Trade Corridor Enhancement Program (TCEP), which funds improving freight corridors in California. The port will fund the remaining cost of nearly $12.4 million. The Terminal Island Railyard Enhancement Project is one of eight interrelated rail projects collectively known as America’s Global Freight Gateway: Southern California Rail Project. The package consists of rail improvements within the harbor complex, including two at the Port of Los Angeles and grade separation projects at critical junctures across Los Angeles County.

Port of Long Beach The Port of Long Beach (POLB) is involved in two major rail projects: the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility and the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project.

In August, POLB said the $470-million second phase of the Middle Harbor Terminal project would be completed on time and on budget. The $1.493 billion modernization project is being built in two phases and construction is scheduled for completion in December 2020 with the terminal set to be commissioned in March 2021.

Among the many planned land and water improvements, the port plans to renovate the existing Pier F container terminal and expand an on-dock rail yard from 10,000 linear feet to 75,000 feet. The on-dock yard is designed to handle 1.1 million TEUs a year, or about 24 trains a week, to minimize roadway traffic impacts. POLB also notes that the Middle Harbor Terminal Redevelopment Project is creating the world’s greenest container shipping terminal.

In other project news, POLB’s Board of rtands.com

Harbor Commissioners approved an $870 million budget to build the Pier B On-Dock Rail Support Facility in September.

The port explains that currently, the ability to build long trains at the facility is limited due to the lack of adequate yard tracks and the configuration of mainline tracks. The new Pier B facility would change this, providing track space to join together sections of trains assembled at terminals.

The Pier B facility would not allow trucks and is designed to shift more shipping containers from trucks to rail. Officials say the facility will result in a more efficient and sustainable transfer of cargo, helping the Port of Long Beach to stay competitive and meet environmental targets.

Pacific Harbor Line will operate the Pier B facility, which the port calls the centerpiece of its $1 billion rail improvement program. An Environmental Impact Study was released in late December 2016 and the Board of Harbor Commissioners approved the project in January 2018.

“The Port’s $1 billion rail program is designed to meet the needs of our customers,” said Long Beach Board of Harbor

Officials took part in a groundbreaking ceremony in March for the GPA’s Mason Mega Rail Terminal, which will add 97,000 feet of track at Garden City Terminal.

Commissioners President Tracy Egoscue.

“Moving more cargo by train helps our marine terminals transfer cargo faster.

At the same time, it helps us make progress toward the environmental goals the Commission set in the Clean Air Action Plan and continue to lead the industry on sustainable operations.”

The first arrival, departure and storage tracks are expected to be completed in 2024, with additional tracks coming online in 2030, followed by project completion in 2032.

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November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 27

education

Students on track with a track warrant from Canadian National and on-site staff at the Longyear Pesheeke Wood Yard.

Educating

THE FUTURE OF THE INDUSTRY

R

T&S catches up with engineering programs and professional organizations to gain insight into how schools are preparing students to handle the engineering challenges of the future of railroading.

AREMA Many people enter the workforce with an engineering degree but are unfamiliar with the nuances of providing engineering services for the rail industry and may not know of the career opportunities available in the industry, according to the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-ofWay Association (AREMA).

At TranSystems, AREMA said there was a need to build the bench of qualified railroad professionals and developed a training program to cross-train the staff to handle the company’s needs.

In 2014, the first group of TranSystems’ Railway Engineering Education Seminars (TREES) was launched. The group included 28 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

16 modules, a site visit at a local rail yard, mentorship pairing and an invitation to AREMA’s Annual Conference.

“At TranSystems, we believe continuing education with AREMA Committee involvement is important,” the company said.

“Many of the technical committee meetings include a site visit, which is a great way to see the principles you read about in action.”

AREMA and its volunteers aim to serve as significant drivers of filling the educational and training needs of the rail industry. AREMA’s technical committees provide publications, webinars, seminars and other opportunities for the industry.

AREMA’s Committee 24: Education and Training publishes educational resources such as the Practical Guide to Railway Engineering, Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering and Track Alignment and Design Seminars for the rail industry. The committee also runs the AREMA Student Chapter program, which helps build interest in the industry while students are finalizing

their path into the engineering field.

AREMA said its most successful contribution to the training of future railroad engineers is its offering of multiple committees.

The committees have developed the industry guidelines published for the Manual for Railway Engineering, webinars, seminars and other technical publications.

“The collective brainpower of each of the committees helps keep the technical information relayed to the industry current, based on what has been seen at the various railroads as well as in the consultant and vendor communities,” AREMA said.

University of Alberta The Canadian rail sector faces many challenges, such as high safety and security standards, long travel distances, sparse population, harsh environments and extreme climatic changes. Industry experts predict that 30 percent of the skilled workforce in the rail sector will be eligible for retirement within the next five to 10 years, emphasizing rtands.com

Photo credit: Dave Nelson/ Michigan Technological University

Engineering programs provide updates on what railroads are asking of the next generation of engineering students and how universities are looking to combat the knowledge cliff. By Kyra Senese, managing editor

education

the need to attract high caliber candidates and provide sector-specific university training at the undergraduate and graduate level.

“For Canada’s network to continue to grow, it is critical that the transportation system evolve to become more innovative, efficient and resilient to our changing environment,” the University of Alberta said.

Two of Canada’s premier rail research programs, the Canadian Rail Research Laboratory and the Railway Ground Hazard Research Program, provide steps toward addressing such challenges.

The Canadian Rail Research Laboratory (CaRRL) was established in 2012 to serve as Canada’s premier education and research program in railway engineering.

Housed within the University of Alberta’s Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, CaRRL features a large laboratory inside the Natural Resources Engineering Facility. Phase 1 (2012-2018) of the CaRRL research program focused on scientific and technological research to support key Canadian and North American priorities of ground hazards (subgrade) and winter

service reliability and capacity. Phase 2 (2019-2024) of CaRRL’s research program will commence shortly with a focus on developing new technologies to improve railway system performance and to establish a risk management framework for potential implementation into railway operations.

CaRRL is supported by Canadian National Railway (CN), Canadian Pacific Railway (CP), University of Alberta, Transport Canada (TC), Natural Resources Canada, and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). Established in 2002, the Railway Ground Hazard Research Program (RGHRP) is a collaborative effort among industry leaders, academic institutions and the federal government.

“Our research is aimed at developing technical solutions that manage the risks associated with ground hazards, including landslides, rockfalls, subsidence, stream erosion and extreme weather events,” the university said.

The collaboration among RGHRP partners shows the commitment of those involved

AREMA Student Chapter members from Brigham Young University discuss their answers during the Quiz Bowl at the AREMA 2018 Annual Conference & Exposition.

toward building an innovative railway sector that prioritizes the safety of Canadians and their quality of life, the university added.

University of Delaware There The University of Delaware’s (UD) Railroad Engineering and Safety Program aims to provide undergraduate and graduate railroad education through related courses, in addition to providing professional

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education and training by offering professional short courses.

The two- and three-day short courses encompass railroad engineering, safety, operations, data analytics and related areas. These are non-credit courses but offer CEUs, such as those needed for PE license renewal.

The Big Data in Railroad Maintenance conference also falls into this area. The annual conference held at the university draws about 200 attendees from railways, transits, suppliers and academia, and focuses on advanced data analytic techniques to help railways make use of the growing inspection and condition data available.

Improved data analytics has been a key focus of UD’s research and has included research into the development of rail, tie and track geometry defects, their growth, degradation mechanisms and improved techniques for predicting their development and associated risks.

Multiple Ph.D. and master’s degree theses were based on this research, combined with extensive publications at AREMA, Railway Age, RT&S, and other relevant publications.

UD also recently expanded its program to include juniors— third-year students—with an Introduction to Railroads course, which prepares students for more advanced railroad engineering and safety courses.

Another recent addition is the new Life Cycle Project Engineering for Rail/Transit course, which was introduced last year and is taught

by Professor Edgar Small, who serves as director of UD’s Construction Engineering and Management Program.

The university also worked with railroads and transit systems to develop relevant curriculum. UD’s Railroad Engineering Program Advisory Board, for example, is chaired by Dave Staplin, a recently retired deputy chief engineer for Amtrak, and the board includes many railroad and transit representatives.

“We maintain an active relationship with several major Class 1 and local railroads,” UD said. “We also have relations with several local shortlines and suppliers that allow us to bring students on track or into shops to get a hands-on feel for the railroad world.”

One of the challenges the university faces is balancing student interest with industry needs.

“It is important that we can find jobs for our graduates who develop an interest in and an excitement for railroad engineering,” the university said.

Despite that challenge, the university said its program has successfully generated interest by civil engineering students in entering the railway industry, who before taking the Railroad Engineering curriculum would have likely focused their attention toward other civil engineering roles.

UD said it sees an ongoing growth in the university’s railroad program, with students starting to select the university based on its program.

“Today’s generation has a high technology background. It is exciting to see the student interest generated, by showing them the level of technology within, and emerging from, the railway industry,” the university said.

Michigan State University The Michigan State University (MSU) Center for Railway Research and Education offers executive education in railway management.

Engineers should attend the university to expand their knowledge of the railway ecosystem and how different functions interact, MSU said.

30 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

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EDUCATION

Engineering and Technology is one of four modules that lead to a certificate in Railway Management. The other three are Regulation, Safety, and the Industry; Business Administration; and Operations.

All four modules include site visits to reinforce learning.

The university introduced a new seminar that will take place at the end of January 2019 and cover near-zero and zero emission motive power and relates to one of our key research efforts: alternative propulsion technologies for railways.

MSU said the university works with railroads and other sector partners to develop its programs.

“Our topical content is evolving continually to reflect changing industry requirements,” MSU said. “We update after consultation with railroads, agencies, regulators and feedback from participants. Findings from our research activities are also incorporated into our educational offerings.”

Innovation and associated proprietary intellectual property within organizations make it difficult to incorporate leading-edge practices in educational offerings, other than publicly-available content and research conducted at universities, MSU said. Railways and sector organizations are assisting through the provision of subject matter experts and by hosting site visits, however, MSU said continuing professional development for employees participating in educational programs could improve.

“Interest in railways by younger generations and the subsequent desire to pursue education and a carrier in the sector is a further challenge,” the university notes.

Management and leadership applied to railways continue to be areas that need to be expanded, as does integration with supply chain management, MSU said.

“Breadth and depth of railway education will be expanding at different institutions, often aligned with the expertise of the particular group,” the university explained.

“Collaboration among institutions is an option to address low enrollment numbers and provide expertise in specific areas allowing coverage of the whole railway ecosystem.”

Michigan Technological University Michigan Technological University established a rail transportation minor in the fall of 2016. The university’s first students have now graduated with the minor and another group is working toward their degree.

Michigan Tech said it has been working in two ways with the industry when rtands.com

developing its minor requirements and course content. The initial priority list of topics was developed based on industry surveys conducted regarding the greatest skills and capabilities needed in the rail industry, Michigan Tech said.

The final list of courses for the minor was vetted with the university’s Rail Transportation Advisory Board (RTAB), a group of industry experts advising the program. The university said it is reviewing the course contents with RTAB and making revisions as needed.

Michigan Tech said it faces a lasting challenge regarding the availability of educational materials.

“While the situation has improved slowly, it remains challenging,” Michigan Tech said. “Unlike most other academic

“

It is important that we be able to find jobs for our graduates who develop an interest in and an excitement for railroad engineering,” – University of Delaware

fields, there are hardly any books developed specifically for university classrooms and even less solid homework problems.”

Much of the latest development in the industry stays behind closed doors, or the relevant information has a price tag attached to it, the university said. Another challenge faced is getting students into the classroom.

“Especially for our engineering students, the talent competition from the other industries is currently fierce and they have made on-campus visibility a key strategy in the form of equipment demonstrations, competitions and funded projects,” Michigan Tech said. “The rail industry is yet to make a similar commitment which makes attracting students to rail classes challenging.”

Those involved in Michigan Tech’s educational efforts said they see a few trends for rail education, such as an expectation that online offerings may greatly expand, in addition to the growth of continuing education opportunities.

Penn State Altoona A new area of focus for Penn State Altoona is its RTE Virtual Learning Lab, representatives said. With a grant from the National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association (NRC) and gifts from Norfolk Southern Corp., PS Technology, Wabtec, Ansaldo STS and Berkeley Simulation Software (BSS), Penn State Altoona has built a new lab to provide virtual learning opportunities for students.

In the lab, students use virtual reality headsets, a virtual welder and locomotive simulator to experience various aspects of railroad operations. A student travel sponsorship provided by Leica Geosystems also allowed students to travel to Germany, Switzerland and Austria during May of 2018 to record 360-degree virtual reality videos that will allow fellow students to gain exposure to European railway systems through various virtual tours.

Communications and Signals classes also enable students to learn about signal logic, track circuits and PTC system operation.

Representatives said Penn State worked with several Class 1 railroads, consulting firms and industry professionals to develop its RTE program.

As for challenges faced in creating new curriculum, Penn State said the two big questions were whether there would be a market for graduates and whether there would be a supply of students.

“The market remains strong for qualified railroad engineering graduates,” Penn State said. “We receive inquiries weekly from new companies interested in hiring our students. Supply of students, however, has been slower than expected.”

Penn State RTE faculty are working with colleagues at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Michigan Technological University, among others, to promote K-12 outreach for rail transportation engineering, the college said.

“More help is needed through collaboration among universities, private industry and government to promote K-12 outreach to ensure a healthy pipeline of qualified railroad industry professionals,” a statement said.

Railroads are accustomed to long-term planning for capital investment projects, and Penn State believes workforce development should be viewed no differently.

“We need to reach students much earlier so that railroad engineering is on their radar before they start thinking about college,” the college said.

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 31

FYI

Po r t f o l i o of Tra c k wo rk Pl a n s: Re-re l e ase d af te r fo u r ye a rs, o rd e r t h e N E W 201 8 e d i t i o n .

This edition features new plans and specifications for the design, details, materials and workmanship for switches, frogs, turnouts & crossovers, crossings, rails and other special trackwork.

Order online now at www.arema. org or contact mbruins@arema. org for more details.

2 01 9 C a l l f o r p a p e r s: Pa p e r s are now being accepted for the AREMA 2019 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange to be held in Minneapolis, Minn., from Sept.

22-25, 2019. The deadline to apply is Dec. 14, 2018. Please visit www. arema.org for more information and to submit a paper online.

The AREMA Scholarship Program is now accepting applications f o r t h e 2 01 9-2 02 0 a c a d e m i c ye a r! Th e AR EMA Ed u catio n a l Foundation provides scholarships to engineering students who are specializing in the railway industry and supports other educational and training endeavors that help ensure the future of the profession.

Application Deadline: Dec. 7, 2018.

Demonstrate your professionalism by joining the AREMA membership t o d a y. A R E M A m e m b e r s a r e d e d i c a te d to i m p rov i n g th e i r practical knowledge and a re i nte re s te d i n exc h a n g i n g information with your peers in order to advance the railroad e n g i n e e r i n g i n d u s tr y. N ot a n AREMA member? Join today at www.arema.org

Follow Arema on Social Media:

32 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

Message From The President

T

he American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Annual Conference and Exposition was held Sept.

16 – 19 at the Hilton Chicago in Chicago, Ill. This was a great event and provided an excellent opportunity for all attendees to network with fellow railroad industry experts and exchange ideas and get updated on the latest news of the industry.

The conference provided an excellent opportunity for members of the railway industry to increase their railroad knowledge and technical expertise. It also offered a forum for exchanging ideas and networking. The Program Committee (the six Functional Group vice presidents, 12 directors and Stacy Spaulding) was instrumental in the development of the technical sessions. I want to thank them for their hard efforts in selecting abstracts, reviewing technical papers and presentations and assembling a great slate of more than 70 technical presentations. I also want to acknowledge the technical paper authors, co-authors and presenters for their hard work in making the conference a success.

There also were a number of seminars and 17 committees held meetings in conjunction with the conference.

Our keynote speaker at Monday’s opening general session was Captain Mark Kelly, commander of Space Shuttle Endeavor’s final mission. His presentation “Endeavor to Succeed” combined his experience at NASA and the space program along with the events surrounding his wife, U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords, recovery from an assassination attempt.

We were very honored to have Ron Batory, administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration as our keynote speaker at Tuesday’s Annual Committee

Chairs Luncheon. At Wednesday’s General Session, Tony Hatch, transportation industry analyst, provided an update on the rail industry. I want to thank Captain Kelly, Administrator Batory and Mr. Hatch for being with us and providing interesting and informative presentations.

The Wednesday General Session also featured the installation of the 2018 – 2019 officers. I was officially installed as president of AREMA at the Presidents Dinner on Sunday evening but did not take on the responsibilities of president until Wednesday morning. I am very humbled and honored to be chosen to serve as AREMA president for the upcoming year. I want to thank Dwight Clark for his leadership and the overall effort he has put into AREMA as president this past year. The past presidents are a great resource for providing support and I look forward to continuing to work with Dwight and all the past presidents. Ed Sparks, assistant chief engineer Structures, CSX Transportation, was also installed on Wednesday as senior vice president, the same position I held last year.

Joining our Board of Governors for a three-year term is Vic Babin, Northern Indiana Commuter Transportation District. Incoming Functional Group Board of Directors are: Vice President of the Engineering Services Group – Trent Hudak, BNSF Railway; Director of Track Group – David Clark, CSX Transportation; Director of Structures Group – Ronnie Medlock, High Steel Structures, LLC; Director of Passenger and Transit Group – Frank Miller, STV; Director of Communications and Signals Group – Tommy Phillips, Norfolk Southern; and Director of Maintenance-of-Way Group – Matt Porto, Amtrak.

I feel fortunate to have these highcaliber individuals joining our existing Board of Governors and Board of Directors. Together with the incumbent Board of Governors and Functional Group Board of Directors, committee members and AREMA staff, we will continue to make AREMA stronger.

The conference included several activities focused on students and younger members – the future of AREMA – including the student chapter activities, the Young Professionals Program and the Meet the Next Generation panel discussion and networking event. rtands.com

Another important event that took place during the Annual Conference was the AREMA Spouse/Guest Program hosted

by AREMA President Dwight Clark’s wife ‘Lissa. On Monday the spouses and guests had a brunch featuring speaker Lynn O’Dowd followed by a “behind the scenes” tour of the Hilton Chicago. On Tuesday, the group visited the Field Museum and had a docent led tour of the exhibits.

Thank you to ‘Lissa for hosting the Spouse/ Guest Program.

A generous round of applause needs to go to the group of 37 volunteers present throughout the conference at the registration desk and at all of the events. This is the Conference Operating Committee (COC) led by Joe Bamert and Anthony DiGirolamo. The COC supports the on-site operations of the Annual Conference and has responsibility for safety and security,

GET YOUR CEM CREDITS BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR A R E M A of f e r s e d u c a ti o n a l c o n te n t that will extend our ability to ser ve the needs of our railway engineering community with PDH accredited courses.

supporting the registration and information centers and assisting with all on-site activities during the conference. Thank you all!

And finally, thanks to all those AREMA members, exhibitors and guests that attended the AREMA 2018 Annual Conference & Exposition. Your active participation in the General Sessions, the Technical Sessions, the Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon, Committee meetings and other activities is what makes the AREMA 2018 Annual Conference & Exposition the premier railroad engineering industry event.

Thanks to everyone and we look forward to seeing all of you at the AREMA 2019 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange in Minneapolis, Minn., Sept. 22–25. Have a safe and prosperous year!

The AREMA 2018 Annual Conference showcased the most in-depth education for railway engineering professionals. If you missed any of the sessions, you can still experience the education as if you were at the conference with the new VirtualAREMA18. Gain unlimited access to view the presentation videos whenever you want, wherever you want - from your computer or your mobile device.

Features include: • Full motion video of the Monday Keynote

Call for papers: Submit now Ed u c a ti n g a n d i n f o r m i n g th e railway industry is a need that is shared by many voices. This may be your opportunity to enlighten yo u r p e e r s by p re s e n ti n g a t the conference next year. The AREMA 2019 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange provides a platform for you to present your knowledge and expertise in the railroad industry.

Submit your Abstract by Dec. 14 for your chance to participate in this prestigious event. For more i nfo r m a ti o n o n p a p e r to p i c s, submission guidelines and requirements, visit www.arema.org.

speaker, Captain Mark Kelly -- FREE viewing after log in!

• Watch session presentation slides while listening to fully synchronized audio • Personalized dashboard for streamlined viewing • Add Bookmarks and notes • Downloadable PDFs of presenter slides and MP3 audio • P o s s i b i l i t y t o e a r n P r o f e s s i o n a l Development Hours Purchase today at virtual.arema.org.

Upcoming Committee Meetings

November 11, 2018

January 25-26, 2019

May 14-15, 2019

Committee 6 Building & Support Facilities California

Committee 24 Education & Training Atlanta, GA

Committee 15 Steel Structures Kansas City, MO

DECEMBER 11, 2018

February 5-6, 2019

September 10-11, 2019

Committee 33 - Electric Enegery Utilization Philadelphia, PA

Committee 15 Steel Structures New Orleans, LA

Committee 15 Steel Structures Columbus, OH

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.

rtands.com

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 33

Membership

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Education & Events

Programs such as Webinars, Seminars and the Annual Conference help professionals meet their educational needs.

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Calendar

NOVEMBER 5-9. Railroad Track Inspection & Safety Standards. Center for Transportation Research, The University of Tennessee.

Chattanooga, Tenn. Contact: Diana Webb. Phone: 865-974-5255.

Website: ctr.utk.edu/ttap.

12-14. ASLRRA 2018 Central/Pacific Region Meeting. Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. San Diego, Calif. Contact: Cara Boyle.

Phone: 202-585-3447. E-mail: cboyle@aslrra.org. Website: https:// aslrra.org/ 13. Western Railway Club meeting. Union League Club of Chicago. Phone: 8 47-87 7-1514. Website: ht tp://w w w. westernrailwayclub.org/western-railroad-membership.htm.

14-16. ASLRRA General Counsel Symposium and Finance & Administration Seminar. San Diego Sheraton Hotel and Marina.

San Diego, Calif. Contact: Cara Boyle. Phone: 202-585-3447.

E-mail: cboyle@aslrra.org. Website: https://aslrra.org/ 29. Understanding and Complying with FRA 213 Track Safety Sta n d a rds . U n ive rsit y of Wisco nsin-M a d iso n . M a d iso n, Wis. Contact: Dave Peterson. Phone: 800-462-0876. E-mail: dmpeter5@wisc.edu

DECEMBER 11-12. Application of Emerging Data Techniques in Railway Maintenance. University of Delaware Newark Campus. Phone: 302-831-8302. E-mail: enggoutreach@udel.edu. Website: www. udel.edu/.

13-14. Big Data in Railroad Maintenance Planning Conference.

University of Delaware Newark Campus. Newark, Del. Contact: Allan Zarembski. E-mail: dramz@udel.edu.

JANUARY 6-9. NRC-REMSA Conference & Exposition. J.W. Marco Island, Fla. Contact: Matt Bell. E-mail: mbell@nrcma.org. Phone: 202-7152921. Website: http://www.nrcma.org/conference_exhibition.

13-17. Transportation Research Board 98th Annual Meeting.

Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington, D.C. Website: www.trb.org.

22-24. AAR’s 31st Quality Assurance Auditor and Industry Conference. Hilton Riverside. New Orleans, La. Website: www.aar. com/standards/FAQ.html.

24-25. Texas Rail Advocates’ 15th Annual Southwestern Rail Conference. Magnolia Hotel – Park Cities/SMU. Dallas, Texas. E-mail: peter@texasrailadvocates.org. Website: http:// texasrailadvocates.org/2019-southwestern-rail-conference/.

FEBRUARY 28. Wisconsin Railroad Association Freight Rail Day. The Westin Milwaukee. Milwaukee, Wis. Contact: Shari Liebe. Phone: (608) 512-1280. Website: https://wisconsinrailroadassociation.com/.

rtands.com

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 35

PRODUCTS

Ballast tampers

Managed compact switch

KINSHOFER Group, a manufacturer of excavator and loader crane attachments, has released ballast tamper excavator attachments for railway maintenance and repair work.

The company said it offers the highest adjustable frequency on the market — 60 hertz (3,600 rpm) — allowing the tampers to maximize efficiency when packing ballast beneath crossties. KINSHOFER offers a single-tamper model, the RST03, and a double-tamper model, the DT03-22. Both are available with or without 360degree rotation.

Each tamper includes two motors and a vibrating unit, which delivers 16,500 pounds of compaction force. The tampers feature four gripper arms that move together and apart while vibrating and shuffling the ballast before tamping it. This double action, combined with the tampers’ high frequency, allows operators to stabilize ballast quickly, the company said.

KINSHOFER also backs its tamper attachments with a two-year warranty. Website: www.kinshofer.com

Belden, Inc., a provider of signal transmission solutions, has released its new Hirschmann BOBCAT Switch. The managed compact switch is intended to provide advanced security and realtime communication through time-sensitive networking (TSN) technology on all of its ports to standardize Ethernet usage in any application, the company said.

“In the industrial and manufacturing sectors, the bottom line is driven by productivity and cost savings,” said Juergen Schmid, senior product manager at Belden. “The IIoT enables this level of efficiency through real-time communication between connected devices - from the factory floor up to the local cloud. Created with TSN, more security and flexibility, the Hirschmann BOBCAT Switch takes Ethernet to the next level and is equipped to work with the evolving needs of industrial facilities.”

Belden said the Hirschmann BOBCAT Switch is ideal for classic automation applications that require real-time communication, low latency and the simultaneous synchronization of data and information to control operations. Website: w w w. h i r s c h m a n n . c o m / e n / index.phtml

The Railway Educational Bureau Track Safety Standards

BKTSSAF

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.

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

Federal Regulations

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 36 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

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

rtands.com

Ad Index

COMPANY

PHONE #

FAX #

E-MAIL ADDRESS

PAGE #

AREMA Marketing Department

301-459-3200

301-459-8077

marketing@arema.org

Cover 3

Custom Truck One Source

816-241-4888

816-241-3710

bboehm@customtruck.com

25

Diversified Metal Fabricators, Inc.

404-875-1512

404-875-4835

sales@dmfatlanta.com

22

Georgetown Rail Equipment Co

512-869-1542

512-863-0405

bachman@georgetownrail.com

2

Harsco Rail

803 822-9160

803 822-8107

railinfo@harsco.com

20

Herzog Services, Inc

816-233-9002

816-672-0119

telbert@herzogservices.com

19

Holland Lp

708-367-2987

708-672-0119

rgehl@hollandco.com

21

Hougen Manufacturing Inc.

866-245-3745

800-309-3299

info@trak-star.com

29

Koppers Railroad Structures

800-356-5952

608-221-0618

rrdiv@koppers.com

9

Landoll Corporation

800-428-5655

888-293-6779

jim.ladner@landoll.com

Cover 2

Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.

763-478-6014

763-478-2221

sales@loram.com

17

MIchigan State University

517-353-5663

517-353-0796

littlen@broad.msu.edu

30

Next-Gen Freight Rail

212-620-72224

212-633-1165

jchalon@sbpub.com

7

North American Rail Products Inc.

604-946-7272

888-692-1150

cerhart@narailproducts.com

27

NRC

202-715-2920

202-318-0867

info@nrcma.org

11

Pandrol USA, L.P

1-800-221-CLIP

856-467-2994

Progress Rail, A Caterpillar Company

256-505-6402

256-505-6051

info@progressrail.com

23

Railway Education Bureau, The

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb-com

8,36

Sperry Rail Services

203-791-4507

robert.dimatteo@sperryrail.com

Cover 4

Western-Cullen-Hayes, Inc.

773-254-9600

cp@wch.com

30

773-254-1110

5

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, TN 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, 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,

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.

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 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

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 37

New & Used Equipment 100 S PANIPLUS DRIVE OLATHE, KS 66061 MAIN: 913.764.1315

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

PARTS • SALES • SERVICE • RENTALS

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

MORE

OLATHE, KS • HOUSTON, TX • BRIGHTON, CO • BRANCHBURG, NJ • SAN MARCOS, CA • CALGARY

paul@omahatrack.com

www.Crane-Works.com

PICKUP TRUCKS ….

Sales

aspenequipment.com/railroad

Rentals

Service Parts

Hi Rail Gradalls

New and Used Hi-Rail Trucks Available

Nationwide DELIVERY

- Pickup Trucks - Service Bodies

- Flatbeds - Bucket Trucks

- Welding Trucks - Section Trucks - Grapple Trucks

- Track Inspector Trucks - Boom Trucks

CAll Bruce Harrod: 877-888-9730 BHarrod@aspeneq.com 38 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018

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

www.RailwayEquipmentServices.net “A full service company with over 25 yrs exp!” rtands.com

New & Used Equipment

Professional Directory

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

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 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

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

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

2016 NRC PlatiNum Safety awaRd wiNNeR

Contact: Tom Monroe: 415-616-3472 Email: tmonroe@atel.com rtands.com

November 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 39

Products & Services An Authorized Harsco Remanufacturing Facility 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

ON-SITE TRAINING

GLOBAL RAIL TENDERS

825 S. 19th St., Independence, KS 67301

TRADE IN ACCEPTED

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Get up-to-the-minute business intelligence by subscribing to GlobalRailTenders.com

TURNING OPPORTUNITIES INTO NEW BUSINESS

EQUIPMENT LEASING

WANT TO SEE MORE OF OUR WORK? SCAN THE QR CODE FOR OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL .

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

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED Powered by

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7/18/17 11:53 AM

RAIL NEWS DELIVERED TO YOU AT HIGH SPEED 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, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve got you covered.

RAIL From Railway Age, RT&S and IRJ GROUP www.railwayage.com/rgn NEWS 40 Railway Track & Structures // November 2018 RA_RailGroupNews_Half_HighSpeed.indd 1

ROUND-UP of NEW

RAILWAY

rtands.com 7/18/17 10:27 AM

Attention Students - Apply Now for a Scholarship The AREMA Scholarship Program is now accepting applications for the 2019-2020 academic year.

The AREMA Educational Foundation provides scholarships to engineering students who are specializing in the railway industry and supports other educational and training endeavors that help ensure the future of the profession. For more information on if you qualify, the complete scholarship listing and the application process, please visit www.aremafoundation.org.

Application Deadline: December 7 If you want to educate and inform the railway industry, this may be your opportunity to enlighten your peers by presenting at the AREMA 2019 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange. Let this be your platform to present your knowledge and expertise in the railroad industry. Submit your Abstract at www.arema.org by December 14 to participate in this prestigious event.

AREMA CALL FOR PAPERS