RTS May 2021

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

BRIGHTLINE’S

LONG LINE OF SPANS

Passenger rail service dealing with widespread bridge construction on West Palm Beach-to-Orlando route

ALSO: TURKEY RIVER EMERGENCY CSX BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

rtands.com

MAY 2021 | WWW.RTANDS.COM February 2018 // Railway Track & Structures 1

CONTENTS

May 2021

8 COLUMNS

3

On Track The unbearable crossing

4

NRC Column Every day is Railroad Day for the NRC

DEPARTMENTS

On the Cover Crane Creek bridge construction on Brightline’s West Palm Beachto-Orlando project.

For story, see p 8.

Photo courtesy of Brightline

Follow Us On Social Media @RTSMag rtands.com

5

TTCI R&D Stabilization of a failed subgrade section at FAST

26

AREMA News Message from the President, Getting to know, and more

29

Business Solutions WVCO bridge construction

31 32 32

Classifieds Advertiser Index Sales Representatives

FEATURES

8

High over/under Brightline’s high-speed rail project in Florida contains several complex spans

12

Triumph on the Turkey River How Canadian Pacific safely executed the emergency replacement of 400 ft of bridge superstructure washed out by floodwaters

20

A counter action CSX finds unique counter repair involving the main truss diagonals

May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 1

September 26-30

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Update your library with the latest in AREMA reference material.

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2021

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ON TRACK

The unbearable crossing VOL. 115, NO. 6 NO. 5 PrintVOL. ISSN 117, # 0033-9016, Print ISSN ## 0033-9016, Digital ISSN 2160-2514 Digital ISSN # 2160-2514 EDITORIAL OFFICES EDITORIAL OFFICE 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 3680 Heathmoor Drive Chicago, Ill. 60603 Elgin, (312) IL 60124 Telephone 683-0130 Telephone 336-1148 Fax (312)(630) 683-0131 Website www.rtands.com BILL WILSON Editor-in-Chief wwilson@sbpub.com DAVID LESTER KYRAC. SENESE Managing Editor dlester@sbpub.com ksenese@sbpub.com CORPORATE OFFICES BOB TUZIK 88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor, Consulting Editor New York, NY 10005 btuzik@sbpub.com Telephone (212) 620-7200 CORPORATE OFFICES Fax (212) 633-1165 55 Broad St 26th Fl. ARTHUR J. MCGINNIS, New York, N.Y. 10004JR. President and Telephone (212)Chairman 620-7200 Fax (212) 633-1165 JONATHAN CHALON ARTHUR Publisher J. MCGINNIS, JR. President and Chairman MARY CONYERS Production CHALON Director JONATHAN Publisher NICOLE D’ANTONA Art Director MARY CONYERS Production Director HILLARY COLEMAN GraphicD’ANTONA Designer NICOLE Art Director MAUREEN COONEY Circulation Director ALEZA LEINWAND Graphic Designer MICHELLE ZOLKOS Conference Director MAUREEN COONEY Circulation Director CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800-895-4389 Reprints: PARS International MICHELLE ZOLKOS Corp.

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D

angerous is not always pulled after the expiration date.

In my book something that is considered dangerous should be consumed within seconds, minutes or hours. If you have a dangerous outlet in your house, you take care of it immediately. If there is a dangerous bear a few yards in front of you, you take care of the situation immediately.

However, unless your heart is about to get ripped out of your chest, other events usually get in the way and cross out the word “immediately”. These days I have about 30 child events that get in the way of addressing anything dangerous in my home, so I often use the power of fear to postpone the fix. “Don’t you dare come close to that outlet, or you will die!” It usually works.

Back in 2005, a Metra commuter train was involved in an accident with six vehicles at Grand Avenue in Elmwood Park, Ill. Within hours, the National Transportation Safety Board was on the scene, and eventually concluded that the railroad crossing was “inherently dangerous.”

It’s been 16 years, and that big bear is still using those tracks every day and night, waiting for its next victim that can’t move.

The Grand Avenue crossing is a complex one. The tracks cross at a 10° angle, which actually makes the railroad crossing 366 ft wide. Vehicles must cross 179 ft of rail to get to the other side of the crossing, and during rush hour that task can sometimes be difficult. In comparison, about a half mile from the Grand Avenue spot the same three tracks are laid at a 70° angle that cover four lanes of traffic at Harlem Avenue, and motorists cross just 35 ft of rail. According to Elmwood Park Village Manager Paul Vope, cars often get trapped between the gates at Grand Avenue.

Between 1956 and 2005, the Grand Avenue crossing was the scene of 45

crashes that killed seven and injured 27. The Federal Railroad Administration’s 2020 Accident Prediction Report marked the Grand Avenue crossing the sixth dangerous out of just under 8,000 crossings in the state of Illinois.

Other than require Metra trains to move slower through the troubled crossing, not much else has been done to protect motorists.

Why? Why is it OK for towns, villages, and states to react slowly to something that is dangerous? The Grand Avenue crossing has killed seven people, so why wasn’t something done after the first fatality? Why wasn’t something done after the first accident?

A shortage of funds is not an excuse, not when you are talking about human lives. If you cannot come up with the money, then you close the crossing until you can come up with the money. The rail line has been there for quite some time, before suburban sprawl hit the Chicagoland area. I understand the reason engineers did not perceive a 10° angle a problem in the very beginning.

However, we are now far from the beginning, and Elmwood Park was introduced to traffic problems a long, long time ago.

It seems like we are finally coming up to the expiration date. Elmwood Park has plans of building an underpass at the cost of $100 million. I’m guessing the price tag would have been lower if something was done 10 years ago, and maybe it would not have cost a life or two.

Instead, motorists have lived with the fear at the Grand Avenue crossing, and some of them have even poked the bear.

BILL WILSON Editor-in-Chief

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, 88 Pine Street, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10005. Printed in the U.S.A. Periodicals postage paid at New York, NY, and additional mailing offices.

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May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 3

NRC CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN

Every Day Is Railroad Day for the NRC

O JIM HANSEN Chairman, National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC)

nce a year, professionals from across the railroad industry travel to Washington, D.C., to make the case for railroads with their elected officials in Congress. Railroad Day on the Hill provides an opportunity to listen, learn and connect with others and to share our tremendous story.

Due to the COVID pandemic, this year Railroad Day on the Hill spanned two days—April 13 and 14—and was held virtually. Nearly 400 industry professionals from Class 1 and short line railroads, unions, contractors, and suppliers joined together to advocate on behalf of our industry with U.S. Senators and Representatives and staff from about 300 congressional offices.

While Railroad Day provides immeasurable benefits, it tells only a portion of the NRC’s advocacy efforts on behalf of our members. The NRC is on the front lines representing railway contractors and suppliers before Congress and with federal agencies all year long.

COVID-19 safety and relief—Those efforts were particularly evident just over a year ago when the NRC collaborated with lawmakers and regulators to ensure railway contractors and suppliers were protected and deemed “critical infrastructure workers” and had access to PPE and vaccines.

The National Railroad Construction & Maintenance Association, Inc. 410 1st Street, S.E. Suite 200 Washington D. C. 20003 Tel: 202-715-2920 Fax: 202-318-0867 www.nrcma.org info@nrcma.org 4 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

Increased investment in infrastructure—Congress is currently discussing far-ranging proposals for sizable investments in infrastructure. The NRC is providing expertise to Congress and U.S. DOT to help formulate and refine legislation to increase federal funding for rail infrastructure investments, which we also believe will stimulate the economy, job growth and additional infrastructure investment by states, localities, and private-sector partners.

Balanced freight rail regulatory framework—The NRC supports maintaining the market-based regulatory framework for freight railroads overseen by the Surface Transportation Board.

This framework protects rail customers by providing an approach to address service concerns while allowing freight railroads to manage their assets and pricing without overt government intervention.

Truck size and weight limits—The NRC backs upholding the existing federal truck size and weight maximums to help maintain highway safety and to limit the damage trucks cause to our highway infrastructure.

T-HUD appropriations accounts for rail infrastructure investment— The NRC is continuing to support robust rail infrastructure investment to improve safety, efficiency, reliability, and rail access to ports, including FRA and Intercity Passenger Rail, FTA New Starts, and the U.S. DOT RAISE & INFRA Discretionary Grant programs Flexibility for contractors—The NRC is always championing the causes of its rail contractor members on the Hill by promoting ideas to help their bottom lines. Some examples include working with the FRA on regulatory relief, helping to keep the 45G Short Line Tax credit permanent so short line railroads can continue re-investing in their critical infrastructure, harmonizing environmental permitting processes, and many other ongoing efforts.

The NRC is pursuing an aggressive advocacy agenda, but we can’t do it without participation and support from our members. Your story matters. With COVID-19 hopefully behind us later this year, we will cultivate additional opportunities to connect our members with regulators and elected officials. We hope to see much more of that in the future.

JIM HANSEN Chairman, National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) rtands.com

TTCI R&D

Stabilization of a Failed Subgrade Section at FAST Evaluating subgrade remediation techniques used to address negative scenarios Stephen Wilk, Ph.D., Senior Engineer II Transportation Technology Center, Inc.

Figure 1. Failed clay/HMA of Section 29 at FAST.

S

ince 1991, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has studied the effects of heavy axle loads (HAL) on soft subgrade at the Low Track Modulus (LTM) Section 29 at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST), Pueblo, Colo. This study included the influence of granular layer depths, poor drainage in sub-ballast, subgrade failures, and the benefits of various remedial techniques.1 This article summarizes the results of several subgrade remediation techniques that were used to address subgrade failure scenarios in Section 29 of FAST located at the Federal Railroad Administration’s Transportation Technology Center near Pueblo. The results verified that appropriate remedial measures could be successful

if implemented correctly.

The LTM section of FAST was installed in 1991 to assess the inf luence of HAL environments and remedial techniques on soft subgrade environments. 1,2 In 1999, a 700-ft hot-mix asphalt (HMA) layer was poured to determine the benefits of HMA on a soft subgrade. 3 About half the section had an HMA thickness of 4 in. and the other half was 8 in. The HMA section performed well until 2005 when part of the 4-in. HMA section failed (~100 ft) and had to be remediated with French drains. 4 In October 2013, part of the 4-in.

HMA section failed again (~100 ft), revealing similar issues to the 2005 failure in which the subgrade and HMA deformed and heaved under the inside

rail (closer to the adjacent track). The inside rail had a maximum 62-ft profile deviation of 2.05 in. and a cross level deviation of 2.05 in.

An investigation determined that water was accumulating on the upper clay layer under the HMA. This standing water increased the moisture content of the upper few inches of the clay region, lowering its shear strength. The loading during train passage would cause surface shear failures (top layer of the clay) that progressively settled and eventually resulted in the failure that was observed in 2013. Figure 1 shows the HMA heaving on the inside rail.

Figure 2 shows the rail elevation of the inside rail at the initial failure (red line) along with the locations of the 4- and 8-in.

HMA layers.

Figure 2. Inside rail surface profiles of initial failure and post-stabilization.

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May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 5

TTCI R&D

Figure 3. Track geometry with MGT for Tie 418.

Chemical stabilization TTCI researchers tried two initial remedial techniques in Section 29, but they did not stabilize the local subgrade surface issue for that section. Therefore, it is important to understand the failure mechanisms and select an appropriate remediation technique that addresses that specific failure mechanism. Figure 3 demonstrates how the track geometry degradation continued after Remediation 1 and Remediation 2.

To directly address the surface shearing, two types of subgrade stabilization material—cement grout fly ash mix and polyurethane—were injected into the failed subgrade section in Spring 2015.

Researchers decided that both subgrade stabilization methods would be used with the grout stabilizing roughly half of the failed section and polyurethane stabilizing the other half. Initially, the two vendors injected each material at three locations per crib at every other crib. However, the polyurethane vendor switched to injecting every crib to ensure the subgrade was stabilized, and the number of injections was switched from three to two injections per crib. During the injections, both the grout and polyurethane vendors emphasized quality control to prevent track heave 6 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

during installation. The track did not experience any heave during installation for either stabilization technique.

Results Settlement and unloaded track geometry, both measured from top-of-rail survey elevations, were used to analyze the success of the stabilization. As shown in Figure 3, measurements were taken for two years until the end

of 2016 (307 MGT) with a final measurement at the end of 2019 (576 MGT) to verify no further degradation had occurred.

To verify that subgrade settlement was reduced after chemical stabilization, the ballast settlement from a non-failed section (Tie 369) was subtracted from settlement of Tie 418, which was the tie at the center of the failed section. Since the ballast settlement was assumed to be similar, this

Figure 4. Assumed post-tamping subgrade settlement of Tie 418.

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TTCI R&D

isolated the subgrade settlement. Figure 4 shows a significant reduction in subgrade settlement after chemical stabilization.

The latest 2019 measurement is not included because the baseline elevation (reference elevation off from track) was different; therefore, it does not give an accurate result. However, this last measurement can be used for the track geometry portion (Figure 3), which provides a good visualization of track geometry performance among various remedies tested.

The success of the chemical stabilization is further emphasized in Figure 2, which shows a stable post-stabilization surface profile.

Post-test investigation While the track geometry of the stabilized region has continued to hold up after 455 MGT, TTCI was still interested in how the stabilization material distributed itself in the clay and whether it infiltrated the ballast and surrounding shoulder. Four trenches were excavated in the test zone in December 2019. At the time of the trenching, both the grout and polyurethane appeared to be of good quality and no deterioration was observed. Though neither material directly mixed with the clay, both materials infiltrated lateral cracks and appeared to have a layering effect, which appears to have been enough to stabilize the upper clay layer and minimize track geometry degradation.

Key findings • Cement grout ash mix and polyurethane, two subgrade stabilization methods, were successful at stabilizing a failed subgrade section at FAST; • Currently, the section stabilized with these two methods has accumulated over 450 MGT and has not shown signs of track or material deterioration; • No track heave was experienced during the installation of either stabilization material; and • Before use of the current stabilization materials, two other remediation methods attempted did not address the root cause of the failed section; emphasizing the importance of understanding root causes and selecting remediation techniques that specifically address that root cause.

Acknowledgements The authors would like to acknowledge former TTCI employee Colin Basye for leading most of this work, as well as stabilization suppliers Keller (formerly Hayward Baker) and Uretek, USA. In addition, former Hayward Baker employee Jeff Hill is acknowledged for his input into this test.

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References 1. Wilk, S., and D Li. 2020. “History of Heavy Axle Load Subgrade Research at Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST).”

2020 American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) Conference. Virtual Conference.

2. Li, D., D. Read, and S. Chrismer. July 1997. “Effects of HAL on Soft-Subgrade Performance.” Technology Digest TD97020. AAR/TTCI, Pueblo, Colo.

3. Li, D., J. Rose, and J. LoPresti. April 2001. “Test of Hot-Mix Asphalt Trackbed over Soft Subgrade under HAL.” Technology Digest TD01-009. AAR/TTCI, Pueblo, Colo.

4. LoPresti, J., and D. Li. December 2005. “Long-term Performance of HMA over Soft Subgrade at FAST.” Technology Digest TD05-035. AAR/TTCI, Pueblo, Colo. rtands.com

May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 7

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

HIGH

W

hen Brightline embarked on Phase II of its Florida high-speed rail system, the 168-mile corridor from West Palm Beach to the Orlando

8 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

International Airport, a significant list of transecting geographic features needed to be crossed to complete the route. Chief among the obstacles are 25 bodies of water ranging from drainage canals to major

navigable waterways, including a crossing of the Okeechobee Waterway which serves as the vital connection between the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. rtands.com

Photo Credit: Brightline

OVER/UNDER

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

Brightline’s high-speed rail project in Florida contains several complex spans going over and under

By Scott M. Gammon, P.E., DBIA, Contributing Author

The route also crosses major Florida highways, including I-95, the S.R. 528 Beachline Expressway, and the S.R. 417 Central Florida GreeneWay. The final 3 miles of the project threads the needle through rtands.com

the heart of one of the busiest airports in the country en route to its terminus at the newly constructed Orlando International Airport (OIA) Intermodal Transportation Facility (ITF). Expanding service from the

existing Brightline system in south Florida to central Florida required creativity, innovation, and 47 bridges. Officials had their work cut out for them in planning for this major system expansion.

In March 2018, Brightline, the first privately funded passenger rail system in America in over a century, began operating Phase I of its service along a 68-mile corridor between Miami and West Palm Beach.

By the first quarter of 2020 it had surpassed the 1 million annual passenger mark and is on track to top 2 million passengers in 2021. Construction to Orlando was in full swing. Then the pandemic hit. Public health concerns drove Brightline’s temporary suspension of Phase I service in March 2020, but construction to Orlando never stopped. Deemed an essential service, Brightline and numerous contractors implemented increased safety measures, keeping nearly 1,000 people employed on the project and forging forward with progress on this massive $2.7 billion investment in the state.

On track to Orlando The 168-mile Phase II route comprises two distinct segments—the North-South (N-S) and East-West (E-W), each of which presents unique engineering, construction, and operating challenges.

The N-S Segment runs 129 route miles along the east coast of Florida from Brightline’s West Palm Beach station to Cocoa. The route is being constructed entirely within the existing right-of-way of the Florida East Coast Railway (FECR), wherein FECR operates freight service and Brightline holds a perpetual passenger easement.

This corridor crosses 19 features including eight minor drainages, four canals, one roadway, and six major waterways. With many constructed in the first half of the 20th century, Brightline is undertaking a major bridge replacement program in the segment, with only a handful of bridges being rehabilitated or used in place.

Bridges in the N-S Segment have been designed in accordance with the AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering using a Cooper E-80 live load. The N-S Segment is designed with Maximum Authorized Speeds (MAS) of up to 110 mph. Except for five bridges with a MAS under 90 mph, bridges in the N-S employ a ballasted deck design. At most locations twin bridges still exist as a remnant of past double tracking, with one in service and the other May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 9

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

Brightline’s West Palm Beach-to-Orlando route crosses 25 bodies of water.

decommissioned and unmaintained.

Phased construction is being used to minimize freight disruption. The phasing plan consists of maintaining freight traffic on the existing main while demolishing the decommissioned bridge, and then reconstructing in the footprint of the decommissioned bridge. Once completed, rail traffic is switched to the new bridge and then work begins demolishing and reconstructing the bridge carrying the existing main.

Due to access limitations and shallow water depths, most of the bridges in the N-S Segment require temporary trestles for construction access. Only work at the St. Lucie and Loxahatchee rivers employ a floating construction plant.

The 39-mile E-W Segment extends from Cocoa to the Orlando International Airport and is characterized by greenfield construction on a new alignment paralleling S.R. 528, known locally as the Beachline Expressway. Unlike the N-S corridor where passenger and freight service will coexist, the E-W route will operate exclusively as a Brightline passenger route. Bridges in the E-W Segment have been designed in accordance with the AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering using a Cooper E-60 live load. At certain key locations, bridges are designed to rate for Cooper E-80 to allow delivery of construction materials.

The E-W Segment is being constructed to FRA Class 7 track standards enabling a MAS of 125 mph.

“Deck-less” bridges From West Palm Beach to Orlando there 10 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

are 42 fixed bridges with overall lengths that vary between 19 ft and 1,667 ft and individual span lengths that vary between 16 ft and 163 ft.

With the coastal physiography and silty sand profiles common to this part of Florida, bridges are most commonly supported on 24-in. prestressed concrete displacement piles, with a few limited locations using 18-in. and 30-in. pile sizes. Certain bridges at OIA are micropile-supported for constructability in low headroom conditions. A broad array of superstructure types using both steel and concrete have been used.

Precast superstructure types include solid slab, voided box beams, and deck beams. Steel superstructure types include rolled beams, deck plate girders (DPG), and through plate girders (TPG).

Brightline and consultants HNTB and Bergmann Associates have developed a relatively unique “deck-less” precast beam design eliminating the typical bridge deck, enabling more rapid and cost-efficient construction. In this design, the flanges of the beams are connected by an ultrahigh-performance concrete (UHPC) closure pour after erection to provide the load-distribution function of a typical bridge deck.

The UHPC is specified to have a maximum w/c ratio of 0.25, use discontinuous internal steel fiber reinforcement, and have a minimum 28-day compressive strength of 21 ksi. Elimination of the deck allows for more rapid cost-efficient construction.

Old will be young again The Phase II project involves two bridges that include a movable span, one replacement over the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter and one major rehabilitation of a movable span at the St. Lucie River in Stuart.

Originally constructed in the 1920s with replacement of the bascule span in 1935 after a locomotive accident, the Loxahatchee River bridge is being replaced entirely with the exception of the bascule pier, rest pier, and abutments. At an overall length of 584 ft, this bridge consists of eight fixed DPG spans with spans ranging from 60 ft to 71 ft and one single-leaf trunnion type bascule with a span of 55 ft. Existing timber-pile-supported interior bents are being replaced with 48-in.-diam. driven steel pipe piles.

New substructure locations have been offset a half span enabling phased construction within a limited number of highly constrained track windows. The bascule span will be replaced entirely, including mechanical and electrical systems. The DPG approach spans will be replaced in-kind, except a single span being converted to a TPG to improve vertical clearance for small vessel navigation.

Temporary access necessary to construct this work is currently under construction, along with fabrication of the fixed spans, bascule span, and machinery. Pile driving, foundation work, and erection of the fixed spans is scheduled to commence in the second quarter of this year.

A major rehabilitation to the nearly century-old 1,272-ft St. Lucie River bridge is in design, with construction expected to commence later this year. This reach of the St. Lucie River is part of the Okeechobee Waterway connecting the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway and the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, making the bascule span vital to the operation of the waterway. Limiting features including a 40-ft horizontal navigational clearance and the single-track configuration have driven a 10-year design life for the rehabilitation as an interim condition while Brightline plans full replacement of the bridge within the time horizon.

Under construction In the E-W Segment there are three locations where, rather than go over the roadway, Brightline’s track is designed to pass beneath the roadway. Just east of I-95, the track will pass beneath S.R. 528 in a 604-ft-long precast concrete arch structure. The structure, being constructed rtands.com

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION

using cut-and-cover methods, employs a cast-in-place concrete foundation and stem walls with precast segments erected thereon to form the arch. At this time, the foundation has been constructed, all arch segments have been cast on-site and erection is planned by summertime.

The remaining underpass structures, one beneath Goldenrod Road at the airport and the other under S.R. 528 in Cocoa, were constructed using a box jacking method.

Brightline was the first in the southeast to use the method when it installed the Goldenrod box in just nine days. Six months later construction history was made again as crews installed a rail underpass under S.R. 528, becoming the first in North America to use the innovative box jacking method under live traffic.

The view seen from an average car ride from Orlando to the beach along S.R. 528 is much different than a year ago, and it will look entirely different a year from now as construction of the E-W Segment nears completion. In the N-S corridor, the normally sleepy pace of daytime

Bascule leaf fabrication for the Loxahatchee River bridge.

freight traffic has been replaced by the intense activity associated with reviving passenger rail within the corridor after a hiatus of over 50 years. With an expected

construction substantial completion in late 2022, Brightline’s high-speed rail connecting south Florida to central Florida is right around the corner.

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May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 11

BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION

TRIUMPH on the Turkey River How Canadian Pacific executed the emergency replacement of 400 ft of bridge superstructure washed out by floodwaters in 12-and-a-half days

L

ate on the night of March 14, 2019, large chunks of ice built up near the mouth of Iowa’s Turkey River, forming ice dams in two locations and elevating water levels in the process. Unable to withstand the pressure,

12 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

the upper ice dam broke, sending a wall of ice and water downstream towards Bridge 71.61 of Canadian Pacific’s (CP) Marquette Subdivision main line. Upon impact, five of the northernmost through-plate girder spans of Bridge 71.61 lifted off their

bearings and toppled into the river, leaving a 400-ft gap in the bridge and pulling 900 ft of track off the north approach in the process.

Fast forward to March 27, after placement of 35,000 tons of rip-rap, installation rtands.com

Photo Credit: Canadian Pacific

Setting the first temporary spans, Day 8, March 22.

BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION

overcame high water, scarce bridge materials, difficult access, and soft soils to restore service and reduce the risk of a similar occurrence in the future.

Marquette Bridge 71.61 is located in rural Clayton County, Iowa, approximately 20 railroad miles north of Dubuque, Iowa.

The Marquette Subdivision runs along the west side of the Mississippi River between Sabula Junction, Iowa, and La Crescent, Minn. The bridge is 836 ft long and consists of 10 through-plate girder spans and one steel beam span.

A wall of ice and water CP mobilized maintenance crews to the site in the early afternoon on March 14 to remove the ice blocks from the upstream side of the bridge to reduce the drift load on the superstructure. It quickly became evident that ice removal efforts were futile and workers were cleared from the bridge for safety reasons. The river continued to rise and ice continued to build that afternoon until approximately 5 p.m., when a large ice block collided with Spans 8 and 9, shifting the spans off their bearings. At that point, engineering teams were alerted and they began assembling available as-built records on the structure and the site in preparation for the worst-case scenario of losing all or part of the bridge.

In the darkness, at 10:15 p.m. on March 14, an ice jam that had built upstream of Marquette Bridge 71.61 broke loose and released a wall of ice and water that lifted Spans 7 through 11 vertically off their substructure, inverting four of the five spans, and placing them 20 to 300 ft downstream in the Turkey River.

The darkness had reduced the visibility such that CP forces could only hear the thunderous roar of the steel spans as they were ripped off their bearings. The next morning, March 15, as the damage became clear, CP immediately began executing a plan to restore service.

By Karl Rittmeyer, P.E., Michael Keller, P.E., Scott Paradise, P.E., Patrick Flannery, P.E., Tim Havlicek, P.E., and Jeff Johnson, P.E., Contributing Authors

of 2,600 ft of H-pile, installation of nine temporary bridge spans, reconstruction of over 900 ft of track, and all safety inspections completed, CP train 691 eased across the newly installed spans over the Turkey River. What happened in between rtands.com

during those mere 12-and-a-half days was an astonishing achievement in planning, engineering, construction, teamwork, and professionalism. With the help of 18 contractors and over 300 CP and contractor employees, CP and the project team

Planning begins Water remained high on the morning of March 15 when crews arrived, and Spans 7 through 11 were clearly no longer in place. What was not clear was whether Piers 8 through 11 were compromised or if they could be reused. CP assumed that the piers themselves were in place and reusable based on the surface f low characteristics of the river above the submerged pier locations. This assumption then left May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 13

BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION

the team to determine how to fill a 400-ft gap in the bridge.

CP turned to its Emergency Bridge Span List to identify available steel beam spans that were shallow enough to fit within the existing top-of-rail to top-of-pier cap dimension to avoid substructure modifications. Many of the spans had not seen train traffic since the 1950s and were located on former double track territories that were running now only as single track. From the resulting list of available spans, CP identified six secondhand spans to fill 240 ft of the 400-ft gap, but the remaining 160 ft would have to be filled with new spans fabricated from material that had yet to be identified. The temporary spans were not long enough to span from existing pier to existing pier, so temporary intermediate bents would be required.

CP then reached out to contractor partners to see what material they had available that could be repurposed or could be acquired from steel suppliers in the Midwest. CP was able to source a 50-ftlong beam span originally designed for a crawler crane with the intent of re-spacing the beams and reconstructing the diaphragms to work as a railroad span. The remaining temporary spans were planned 14 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

to be fabricated using new beams.

Initial design concepts Once the span types and lengths were set, the temporary substructure type to

“

THE EXTENSION OF THE CAUSEWAY REDIRECTED THE FLOW OF THE RIVER TO THE PIERS AND THE FLOW VELOCITY INCREASED CONSIDERABLY. be installed in between the existing piers had to be determined and the material located. CP quickly settled on a five-pile bent standard, which consists of precast concrete caps welded to braced, driven H-piles. Piling, channel bracing material and precast caps were immediately pulled

from CP’s available stockpiles or ordered from their suppliers.

The structural design team shifted their focus to the design of the skewed spans that were required to span between the existing skewed piers. Simultaneously, the geotechnical design team evaluated pile capacity with soft soil conditions to determine the cross bracing required to maintain pier stability.

At the end of Day 1, March 15, CP selected the preferred concept plan, materials were located or on order, contractors were mobilizing to the site, and the design team was underway preparing plans and designing elements to help with fabrication. In addition, the construction team had completed the arduous task of clearing ice from a 2-mile-long access road to reach the bridge.

On Day 2, water receded below the pier tops and survey crews performed a terrestrial LiDAR survey to determine the exact location and elevation of each pier. Based on the results of the survey, it was determined that the piers had not moved and could be reused.

Causeway construction Causeway construction began at the north rtands.com

Photo Credit: Canadian Pacific

Location map showing sequence of events on March 14. (a) Early morning March 14 ice dam forms and water begins backing up at the still frozen Mississippi River; (b) At 4 p.m. water rises above low steel at the Turkey River Bridge, backing up ice in the process; and (c) at 10:15 p.m. ice dam breaks upstream of the Turkey River Bridge and unleashes a torrent of ice and water.

BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION

Photo Credit: Canadian Pacific

Looking north from Span 6 of Marquette Bridge 71.61 on the morning of Day 1, March 15.

side of the bridge on Day 2 and continued around the clock for the next three days. Three-hundred-and-fifty carloads of 36-in.-diam. riprap were hauled in by rail from a quarry 10 miles north of the bridge. By Day 6 construction was complete with 35,000 tons of riprap installed in fast-f lowing water that was up to 30 ft deep. The extension of the causeway redirected the f low of the river to the piers in the middle of the bridge and the f low velocity increased considerably, which began to erode the channel bottom at existing Piers 2 through 8.

Amphibious excavators were brought in to open the channel beneath Spans 1 through 6 by removing debris and siltation.

Due to increased flow velocity, CP engaged an underwater inspection team to perform daily monitoring of river depth.

By Day 10, significant scour was observed next to several piers which presented a pier stability concern. CP ordered 1,800 riprap bags to be filled with 2 tons of riprap each and placed around the existing and temporary piers to prevent further scour and increase pier stability.

Pile driving began on Day 6 and the first spans were set on Day 8. Work continued non-stop, driving pile through Day 11 with rtands.com

four bents installed and 2,600 ft of piling driven to bedrock 130 ft below the surface.

Welding crews completed 40 pile splices, four precast concrete caps and bracing installation on four temporary bents. The first eight temporary spans were set by the end of Day 11 with a single 73-ft gap remaining at Span 7.

A span too far Water velocity and depth increased between existing Piers 7 and 8 due to erosion at the leading edge of the causeway.

With no way to safely install and brace a temporary bent as planned in the deep and fast-flowing water, CP needed to find an alternative plan to bridge the 73-ft gap at Span 7.

Design plans were completed for the replacement of Span 7 by Day 5, but the calculated live load deflection was estimated to be greater than AREMA recommendations.

CP weighed its options of finding a stiffer beam or accepting a beam with greater-than-allowable predicted deflection. With limited time to complete fabrication, CP decided to pre-camber the span using varying thickness steel shim plates welded to the top flange to produce a

Aerial view of Marquette Bridge 71.61 looking geographic west, Day 2, March 16.

deflected shape within AREMA tolerance under live load.

Going up A few days into the emergency response to replace Spans 7 through 11, the CP engineering team initiated a plan to raise the bridge 2.2 ft to prevent another bridge washout.

The project team was given seven days to design and execute the bridge and track raise while the track was out of service. A second structural design team was engaged along with another bridge contractor to perform the raising. Precast concrete blocks and steel pedestals were ordered, fabricated and delivered within four days.

Both bridge approaches were raised for 1,000 ft in each direction to match the new bridge height.

The golden hook bolt The last hurdle CP experienced on this trying outage had to do with something as small as the hook bolt length required to connect an open deck tie to the underlying steel beam span. Standard track panels were installed instead of larger bridge ties to accelerate construction. CP recognized that the use of standard track panels May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 15

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Last year Canadian National replaced a wooden trestle bridge with a precast concrete bridge in the state of Louisiana.

The scope of the waterproofing work was as follows: • Seal longitudinal and transverse joints in the precast concrete panels; • Fill longitudinal joint between panels to avoid collection of moisture and debris; and • Waterproof the bridge deck to meet owner expectations without a completely lined monolithic coating system.

The above scope was chosen because the proposed systems offered a very fast return to service and allowed for making up time in the midst of a hurricane season in Louisiana, which was fully expected to impact the project’s schedule.

The concrete deck was pressure-washed to remove all laitance, debris and oils and grease. The longitudinal joint was primed with POLYQuik®

PolyPrime LV, a two-component urethane primer that can be sprayed or roller applied. POLYQuik® PolyPrime LV sets within 20 minutes and has an eighthour open time. Using WVCO Railroad Solutions’ meter for a clean, efficient and labor-saving method, FastPatch® 5000, a two-component polyurethane with a high compressive strength (to match the precast panels) and a low tensile strength to offer movement capability between the two rigid panels, was installed. By filling this mile long, 3-in. x 3-in. channel, the ingress of debris and water was avoided.

FastPatch® 5000 cures within 10 minutes and so was not impacted by sudden rain squalls that were always a threat on this project. This process was created by the contractor, Protective Coatings with the manufacturer, The Willamette Valley Company LLC., and is known as a Weld Joint procedure. Numerous spalls in the precast panels that were adjacent to the joints (typical corner breaks) were instantly repaired using the same FastPatch® 5000 material.

POLYQuik® P480, 100% solids and VOC-free polyurea was sprayed over the FastPatch® filled channel with an overlap of 1 ft on either side of the channel, providing a completely waterproof barrier over the seam between the concrete panels. POLYQuik® P480 gels within seconds and cures within a couple of minutes allowing almost instantaneous return to

service and the re-entry of other trades. POLYQuik® P480 and FastPatch® polyurethanes are compatible chemistries.

The transverse joints were treated by applying a peel-and-stick membrane over the steel cover plates to provide a base that the waterproofing system would not adhere to, thus creating a slip-sheet that would continue to allow for extreme movement without compromising the expansion joint design. A pre-formed geo-membrane utilizing POLYQuik® P480 and a woven textile fabric was placed over the peel-and-stick and tacked into place onto the surrounding concrete using POLYQuik® P480. The POLYQuik® P480 polyurea embedded the membrane into place forming another waterproof protective barrier. The advantage of using pre-formed membranes is that they are easier to manipulate into place and provide a consistent thickness in the vulnerable joint areas. No protection board is necessary when using POLYQuik® P480 at 120 mls thickness as it is ballast resistant.

Normally specifications call for completely coating the concrete bridge deck. This modified specification highlights the areas of the maximum potential weakness that are often left unaddressed. The contractor used both attention to detail and creative detailing to overcome present and potentially future challenges ensuring that the bridge deck is waterproofed where it matters most.

In-depth discussions about the products, systems and procedures were held between the engineers, contractors and the manufacturer to reach a comfort zone with the proposed applications.

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BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION

Emergency reconstruction of the CP bridge was a total team effort.

on bridge spans left them without hook bolts of the appropriate length or grip to use with a track tie with no tie spacer. To handle this, 300 custom hook bolts were ordered, fabricated and delivered on Day

12 with the final golden hook bolt installed the next day. CP train 691 eased across the newly installed spans over the Turkey River on March 27, exactly 12-and-a-half days after the washout.

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BRIDGE RECONSTRUCTION

historic bridge washout. Through CP’s leadership and organization, they were able to assemble a team of railroad professionals from across the industry who came together to solve one of the greatest challenges of 2019.

Installation of five new permanent through-plate girder spans was completed on Nov. 14, 2019, exactly eight months after the bridge washout. Marquette Bridge 71.61 will serve as a testament to the dedication and ingenuity of the railroad professionals who responded to rebuild a bridge in record time with no injuries or incidents.

CP train 691 eases across the newly installed spans over the Turkey River on March 27, exactly 12-and-a-half days after the washout.

Photo Credit: Canadian Pacific

Acknowledgements This topic and similar information were first presented and published at the AREMA 2020 Virtual Conference, Sept. 13-17.

CP also would like to extend its thanks and gratitude to the entire emergency response team, whose combined efforts made the response at Turkey River possible.

rtands.com

May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 19

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

A COUNTER ACTION CSX finds unique counter repair involving the main truss diagonals

O

riginally built for and owned

by The Atlantic Coast Line Railroad Co., a CSX predecessor railroad, Bridge A605.25 is a 1907 vintage, double-tracked, open deck structure traversing the St. Mary’s River near Folkston, Ga. The bridge location is 3 miles south of Folkston, and 37 miles north, northwest of Jacksonville, Fla., and straddles the Florida/Georgia state line. The bridge is on a north-south tangent alignment, with 13-ft track centers, on a CSX core route. Approximately 50 trains per day traverse the bridge at speeds of 60 mph for freight and 70 mph for passenger. The structure consists of north and south steel approach viaducts with a central river span consisting of a Camelback through truss with counters.

Over the initial 113-year life span of the trusses, the counters had become worn and 20 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

slack, exhibiting significant oscillation under live loading. With the 160-ft truss being in generally good condition, CSX was looking for a unique counter repair that could be achieved with CSX bridge forces, under continuous rail traffic, performing the work using natural work windows. This article focuses on converting the main truss diagonals, U2L3 and U4L3, into stress reversal members, removing the existing counters, U3L2 and U3L4, and the preparations and procedures to implement the truss modification safely.

The truss itself is a Camelback through truss with counters designed for the Cooper E50 Load Train with steam impact. Truss member composition for the end posts and upper chord members consists of built-up sections with four angles, top cover plate, web plates, and bottom lacing. Built-up

vertical members U1L1, U2L2, U4L4, and U5L5 comprise four angles, two web plates, lacing bars, and stay plates. Vertical components for built-up member U3L3 consist of two channels, lacing bars and stay plates.

Truss main diagonals and lower chord members are all 8-in.-wide ordinary eyebars of varying thickness, and the counters are 7-in. x 1 1/8-in. adjustable eyebars. The steel used to construct the bridge is open-hearth steel with a tensile strength of 55,000 to 65,000 psi. Available information indicates that in 1907 the eyebars would have been hydraulically forged.

Inspection of the truss and the approach viaducts found the bridge to be in generally good condition. However, one issue of concern was the truss counters oscillating out-of-plane under live loading. Inspection of the four counters found them to exhibit rtands.com

Photo Credit: CSX Transportation

By Jacob Metcalf, Michael Dumais, EIT, and Daniel Doty, P.E., Contributing Authors

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

View on the left is looking south at Bridge A605.25 traversing the St. Mary’s River. The view on the right shows the downstream truss prior to modification.

per day; 2. No scheduled work windows/track outages; all truss work would be complete between trains using natural work windows; 3. All work was to be performed by CSX bridge forces; 4. Limit the weight of installed materials to 300 lb per component; and 5. Track No. 1, the upstream track, is not centered between truss stringers but offset in the upstream direction, encroaching on the upstream truss.

Before any work could commence, these challenges had to be dealt with to ensure safety. CSX personnel in charge confronted each challenge as follows:

Photo Credit: CSX Transportation

a slight sag combined with a lean or twist.

At the counter head pinhole/pin interface, at Joint U3, fretting steel (bleeding steel) was observed at the pinholes indicating wear.

Also observed were the heads of the counters wearing into the channel components that comprise the truss vertical U3L3.

Given that the bridge was in generally good condition, the project’s goal was to extend the structure’s life another 30-plus years.

Below, at and above On paper, the project was not complex. Truss repairs consisted of initially replacing the existing counters but ultimately ended with their removal. All truss repairs would require working below, at, and above track level, presenting the following project challenges: 1. Train frequency of approximately 50 rtands.com

Challenge No. 1: Working on busy rail routes is a common task for CSX bridge forces. They were able to coordinate with the dispatcher to direct the majority of the traffic to the track opposite the one they were working next to.

Challenge No. 2: The requirement that all work would be performed within natural work windows and knowing that each work window time frame varies, an efficient construction scheme was required to maximize work time on the bridge. With variable work windows on any given day, the use of on-track equipment would be impractical for performing truss work. Instead, CSX chose to build scaffolding for both trusses. The tower scaffolding allowed the bridge forces access

everywhere necessary on the two trusses to perform their work. Additionally, when the teams had to clear the scaffolding for a train running on the adjacent track, it could be done quickly and efficiently. Once the train cleared, the teams could promptly access the trusses and resume working. When trains ran on the far track, work on the near truss span continued uninterrupted.

Challenge No. 3: CSX bridge forces would perform the truss modification work. However, since this work was beyond customary, CSX partnered with an outside contractor to provide on-site steel repair expertise. Also, CSX had the Engineer of Record on-site during key phases of the project to resolve design questions and provide additional on-site truss expertise.

Challenge No. 4: CSX bridge forces would be performing their work during natural work windows, working within five stories of scaffolding on the field side of the trusses and four levels on the track side. Additionally, the teams would be working around and contending with the existing truss members. Lifting and moving steel, tools, and equipment within that interference would be a challenge. Therefore, to keep the handling of fabricated steel manageable, the maximum weight of a fabricated piece of steel that two men could handle would be 100 lb. In contrast, the weight limit of a fabricated piece of steel would be 300 lb. Any fabricated steel between 100 and 300 lb would require a boom truck to deliver the material out to the trusses. To aid in the lifting and installation of steel components May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 21

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

within the truss, the innovative use of allterrain vehicle (ATV) winches, hung from the bottom of the upper chord, was implemented.

Challenge No. 5: With four stories of tower scaffolding in place on the trusses’ trackside, train-operating clearance was a concern. Existing plans indicated that the truss clearance was 27 ft 1 in. inside face to the inside face of end posts.

This yielded a clearance between the centerline of tracks to the inside face of the end post equal to 7 ft .5 in., or 84.5 in. The trackside scaffolding was constructed inward of the inside face of end posts, meaning outside of the truss clearance lines ensuring that the scaffolding would not encroach into the truss clearance diagram.

Field measurements to verify the track side scaffolding clearances between Tracks No. 1 and No. 2, the upstream and downstream tracks, respectively, found that neither track was centered perfectly between their respective stringer pairs. Track No. 1 had a clearance measurement of 76 1/8 in. an encroachment of 8 3/8 in. Track No. 2 yielded a clearance measurement of 81 5/8 in. a 2 7/8 in. encroachment. Based on these findings, all high and wide loads would traverse the bridge on Track No. 2 while the tower scaffolding was in place.

Not a repair but a transformation At first this was to be a standard counter replacement. Remove the counters and replace them with a combination of hairpins, forked yoke plates, counter plates, bearing 22 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

blocks, and 150-ksi high-strength rods for adjusting the tension in the replacement counters. But implementing this replacement would require both tracks to be out of service for an extended period to remove and replace the new counters. This was unacceptable. Even with one track out of service, live load crossing on the adjoining track distributes 28% of its load to the near truss. Allowing live load traffic to traverse the span on the adjacent track would cause irreparable damage to the counter-less truss. Given these facts an innovative way to repair or replace the counters had to be devised.

1. Could trains run uninterrupted?

2. Could the truss be transformed safely?

3. Could the work be performed exclusively by CSX bridge forces?

Uninterrupted train operation was the question that would make or break the

The left view shows the drilling jig in position and a work team of two drilling holes horizontally in a pair of eyebars. The right view shows a pair of eyebars after hole drilling operations. rtands.com

Photo Credit: CSX Transportation

View on the left shows erected tower scaffolding. View on the right shows the tight clearance between the active track and trackside scaffolding.

The truss span is essentially a Pratt truss with inclined upper chord members combined with a parallel upper chord spanning the center truss panels and is known as a Camelback truss. In a Pratt truss, the interior diagonal web members are tension members under the effects of dead load, live load, and impact. When a Pratt truss uses counters, U3L2 and U3L4 are active under live and impact loading only and act as a secondary truss system. The main diagonal web members, U2L3 and U4L3, do not resist compressive forces. These compressive forces occur when the truss panel under consideration is subjected to negative shear and tensile forces when the truss panel is under positive shear.

A truss member, capable of handling both compression and tension forces, stress reversals, is typically designed in a boxed shape.

If the main eyebar pairs in U2L3 and U4L3 could be tied together, forming a box shape capable of handling stress reversals, the counters could be removed. Removal of the counters is no longer a repair but a transformation of the truss to a truss without counters. Now, theoretically, truss transformation was feasible. However, the following three questions needed answering:

Photo Credit: CSX Transportation

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

project. Transforming a pair of eyebars into a boxed section would require drilling holes into the existing eyebars and allow freight trains to cross the truss at 60 mph during non-working hours with reduced section in the eyebars. The first item to be determined was the tensile capacity of the existing 2~2 1/8-in. x 8-in. eyebars.

The eyebar steel specified on the original truss design drawings was Structural Open Hearth with a tensile stress range of 55-65 ksi; however, the material’s specified yield strength was not given. Existing plans indicate that the bridge was designed and constructed to the 1904 Atlantic Coastline Railroad Co. specification. Since that specification was unavailable, the allowable yield stress was researched in the 1903 Carnegie Pocket Companion and the 1907 Cambria Steel Handbook, the year the bridge was fabricated. Both the Pocket Companion and Cambria Steel Handbook gave the elastic limit (steel for railway bridges) of not less than one-half the ultimate strength. Using an average tensile strength of 60 ksi gives an allowable yield stress of 30 ksi, which aligns with the allowable tensile and yield stresses given in AREMA Manual for Railway Engineering, Chapter 15—Steel Structures.

Since there would be no modifications to the truss pin or eyebar pinholes, only the eyebar body would be a concern regarding allowable axial tension. Proposed eyebar conversion cross-sections determined that boxing the eyebars would require two rows of bolt holes, with each row being in line with one another. The holes would be drilled into the eyebar at 7-in. spacing.

Analysis of the section yielded an allowable axial tension force of 280.50 kips per bar, or 561 kips per pair. From the plan set stress sheet, the applied dead load in U2L3 and U4L3 is 39 kips, reducing the live load capacity of the eyebar pair to 522 kips.

Applying the Cooper E80 Load to the proposed converted truss yielded an axial tensile force plus impact in U2L3 and U4L3 of 453 kips and a compressive force equal to 196 kips. Since the rail line is rated for 286-kip rail traffic, a 286k-unit load train also was applied to the proposed converted truss to determine the applied tensile and compressive forces. The unit train produced axial tensile and compressive forces of 234 kips and 95 kips, respectively, for live load plus impact. Since the applied axial tensile load for both the Cooper E80 Load and 286k-unit trains did not exceed the eyebar pair’s capacity, train operation at full speed was allowed throughout the rtands.com

The left photograph shows the ATV winch attached to the bottom of the upper truss chord. The right photograph shows the drilling jig being moved into position for the drilling of the next set of 56 holes.

truss conversion.

Enacting the plan With trains approved to run uninterrupted throughout the truss conversion, the next question that needed answering was: Could CSX bridge forces safely convert the trusses?

To ensure that question was answered in the affirmative, the next step was developing a detailed construction sequence.

To assure the safety of everyone involved in the truss modification, tower scaffolding was erected on both sides of both trusses, allowing every location along the eyebars to be accessible. Additionally, anyone involved with working on the trusses would be required to wear the appropriate fall protection before climbing into the tower scaffolding. Lifelines were run down the center of the trusses at each scaffolding story, allowing each work team member to tie off their fall-protection harness when working, including walking from one location to another. A vertical ladder with multiple vertical lifelines and rope grabs was installed inside the tower scaffolding to access one level of scaffolding to another level.

Before starting the workday, the Employee-in-Charge conducted a safety job briefing and provided pertinent train schedule information. Following the safety briefing, a project-specific job briefing took place. Additional briefings took place when work conditions changed and when others joined the group.

The truss conversion sequence ensured

a safe load path through the truss with the counters remaining in place until the transformed eyebars could carry the compressive load. To modify the eyebars, 4~L4 x 4 x 3/4 and 3/8-in.-thick stay plates top and bottom were used. Stay plate widths varied due to the splay in the eyebars from the upper chord to the lower chord.

Each eyebar required two lines of 68 bolt holes drilled, 136 holes per eyebar for a total of 1,088 horizontally drilled holes. Additionally, the holes had to hold a line spacing of 7 in. center-to-center and a 5-in. row spacing. Holes were drilled horizontally through the existing 2 1/8-in.-thick eyebars before installing the angles and stay plates.

Bolts were 7/8 in. diameter with 15/16-in.diam. holes. CSX bridge forces utilized two custom drilling jigs to expedite drilling and ensure consistent quality.

Magnetic drills were used for the hole drilling which had a gravity-fed lubrication system. This works well when drilling holes in the vertical position, however, it struggles in the horizontal position. Hand pump sprayers were used to overcome this difficulty and provide a continuous cutting lubricant flow to the annular cutting bits.

Replacing the sprayer hose with a smaller diameter hose line allowed the line to be plumbed directly into the drill. Pressuring the spray tank and opening the hose value kept a constant, pressurized, cutting lubricant flowing to the annular cutters and eyebar cutting face.

Given the tower scaffolding would be adjacent to the eyebars’ exterior faces, May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 23

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

the eyebars with ease and erect other steel components. Each winch was mounted to the bottom of the trusses’ top chord and provided a pulling capacity of 3,000 lb.

While working one truss at a time, bolthole drilling began in both sets of eyebars.

After completing the hole drilling, the eyebar conversions began. The eyebar field transformation consisted of three sections: Section 1 being the lower 19 ft 2 ¼ in. of the eyebars, Section 2 the center 6 ft 5 in., and Section 3 the upper 19 ft 2 ¼ in.

Connecting the 4~L4 x 4 x 3/4 to the eyebars was the first step in the alteration of the eyebars. Employing the winches allowed getting the longer and more cumbersome angles hoisted to the upper portion of the eyebars (Section 3). After bolting the angles into position, the stay plates were then installed in Sections 1 and 3 only. Section 2 was left open purposely as this is where the counter intersected the eyebar pair. Before cutting the counters, it could be seen, under rail traffic, that the truss was beginning to alter its load path. Counter side sway oscillation subsided to a slight vibration, and the new stiffer, modified, main eyebars were

The left view shows tying off the counter before cutting. Note the counter is in Section 2 of the eyebar conversion. The right view shows the counter in the process of being cut.

steel pieces, ATV winches were innovatively used as small cranes. Attaching the ATV winch hook to the drilling jig pivot link allowed the jigs to move up and down

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Photo Credit: CSX Transportation

fabricated steel erection took place within the space between the existing eyebars. To move the jig assemblies up the eyebars, lift and erect the more substantial fabricated

BRIDGE MAINTENANCE

taking both compressive and tensile forces.

The next step was to cut the counters.

Before cutting the counters they were rigged and tied off to the upper chord and vertical truss members to prevent rotation around the pin, movement that could damage the scaffolding and other truss members or pose a safety risk to any personnel. During a natural work window, the counters were cut. After the initial counter cuts occurred, the truss conversion to a Camelback truss without counters was effectively complete. The remaining counter pieces were cut into manageable sizes and removed. Stay plates in Section 2 were installed, and all the bolts fully tightened.

The first two trains traversed the converted truss at 10 mph to settle the truss into its new configuration. After that, the train speed increased to 25 mph and then resumed full speed. The bridge was coated, and the scaffolding tower disassembled and moved to the opposite truss and the process repeated.

Conclusion CSX’s Bridge A605.25 Camelback truss

View showing the completed conversion of the main eyebar members U2L3 and U4L3 into stress reversal members, transforming the Camelback truss with counters to a Camelback truss.

conversion was not without its challenges.

The primary engineering challenges were contending with approximately 50 trains per day traversing the truss span, converting the trusses between trains within natural work windows, and ensuring

everyone’s safety. Overcoming the many project challenges with a detailed design and construction sequence that everyone understood kept the entire CSX team engaged and committed to completing the truss transformation successfully.

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May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 25

Message From The President

I

VICTOR R. BABIN AREMA President 2020-21

n 2014, a European rail operator made the untimely discovery that new train sets scheduled for delivery in 2016 would be too wide to pass by 1,300 boarding platforms on the intended system. It also was determined that trains would not be able to pass on adjacent tracks at some locations, presumably curves.

Ultimately, platform widths were narrowed, tracks were shifted and wayside appurtenances were relocated.

The owners and operators of the system were widely criticized in the media for the engineering failures that resulted in a substantial increase in project costs, which were ultimately funded by taxpayers.

As engineers, we should acknowledge that both the problem and the solution lay at the feet of our profession. How do we prevent similar conf licts and incompatibilities in the future? How do we ensure interoperability within and between internal systems and between our railroads and external systems?

We must strive for improvement and continually promote safe and wellplanned introduction of changes into our railways.

Practices for systematically managing change to military hardware were developed by the U.S. Department of Defense in the 1950s.

These techniques have evolved and are embodied in Configuration Management (CM) standards promulgated worldwide by numerous standards organizations. CM processes are now 26 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

applied within the electronic and information technology disciplines as well as industrial and civil engineering fields.

In the year 2000, AREMA Committee 37 - Signal Systems, developed Communications & Signals Manual Part 17.5.1 Recommended Configuration Management Program for Electronic and/or Software-Based Products Used in Vital Signal Applications to assist railroads in addressing anticipated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) standards for processor-based signal and train control systems. The recommended program and the FRA rule are applicable today to both railway signal and Positive Train Control systems. Efforts should not be limited to vital electronics and software; engineers should consider the benefits of expanding formal CM methodologies to other railway components, systems and projects in our quest for ever safer and more efficient railways.

Implementation may appear daunting at first, but CM may be scaled and prioritized to meet critical needs first and then expanded as expertise grows and benefits are realized.

A CM program provides technical and administrative direction and oversight of assets and contains the four basic tasks of Identification, Control, Status Accounting and Auditing. The program starts with Identification.

Configuration Items (CIs) are system components that can be appropriately identified and designated for separate procurement and configuration control.

A CI is characterized by its fit, form and function, including interfaces, and assigned a unique identifier associated with the technical documentation that defines its configuration.

CIs may be either software, hardware or aggregations of either or both. A system may be described as an organization of CIs into a hierarchical structure to achieve a given purpose. It follows that a smaller system may be described as a single CI within a larger system in yet another hierarchy.

CI technical documentation is compiled into a formally controlled and maintained set of approved data defining a system’s configuration Baseline.

Once established, the Baseline can only

be revised through a formal closed-loop process with clearly defined procedures.

Configuration Control manages changes of the CIs from the time of release to the end of their useful life. When the need for a change arises, a formal request is issued documenting the need and thoroughly describing the proposed change. A unique identifier is assigned to the request and provides a means of tracking to ensure the proposed change process is methodically and completely brought to conclusion. The request is then submitted for technical review by appropriate members of a multidiscipline review board. The need for the proposed change is assessed, the effects on interfaces are considered, and the need for changes to other CIs are evaluated.

Thus, a review of a single desired change may trigger a chain of reviews, which leads to a more thorough understanding of the effects of what may have initially been perceived as a minor modification.

Once all known effects have been considered and addressed, the change may be approved for implementation.

Status Accounting tracks changes to their conclusions. A tracking system is implemented identifying required changes to all affected CIs and their locations, and the changes are communicated to all known users of the affected CI(s). Emergency changes may immediately be made in the interest of safety but a formal change management process must be executed as a follow-up. Whether routine or emergency, after all changes have been implemented, tested, approved and confirmed for all locations and all affected CI documentation is accordingly revised, a new Baseline is established and the previous Baseline is archived.

These Baselines are maintained in a library that is the designated and only acceptable reference for present status and for future changes.

The integrity of these references must be safeguarded through periodic safety and quality audits. Records of the entire change management process are maintained with the CM library.

Today, several computer tools for managing CM are available to assist you. Consider how CM could have saved the day in Europe and how it might help you in the future. rtands.com

FYI

AREMA is going virtual. Registration opens June 1 for the AREMA 2021 Virtual Conference, Sept. 26-30. For the latest information about the conference, keynote speakers, technical presentations and the schedule, visit www.conference.arema.org.

Order the 2021 Manual for Railway Engineering now. With more than 40 new or revised Parts, it’s the perfect time to get the 2021 Manual. Order online now at www. arema.org or contact publications@arema. org for more details.

Call for Entries for the 2021 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence. The selection process for the 23rd Dr. W.W. Hay Award has begun. Entries must be submitted by May 21, 2021. Please visit www.arema.org for more information.

Leverage the power of your trusted

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

Did you miss the AREMA 2020 Virtual Conference & Expo? The platform will be open through Sept. 15, 2021, for you to review all of the presentations and learn on the go. Purchase now at www.arema.org.

AREMA has 29 Technical Committees sure to fit your area of railway expertise.

Maximize your membership investment by building your network, sharpening your leadership skills and learning from other members. Join now at www.arema.org and enjoy lifelong growth in the industry by joining a technical committee.

N ot a n A R E M A m e m b e r? J o i n n ow to get exclusive rates on prod ucts and educational courses, committee opportunities, access to the directories, subscriptions to your favorite magazine, and much more.

Help support the next generation of railway engineers by donating to the AREMA Educational Foundation. Your generosity helps provide scholarships and build programs to lead students to the profession. Donate now at www. aremafoundation.org.

NOT AN AREMA MEMBER? JOIN TODAY AT WWW.AREMA.ORG FOLLOW AREMA ON SOCIAL MEDIA:

UPCOMING COMMITTEE MEETINGS 2021 MEETINGS MAY 18-19

JUNE 3-4

SEPT. 14-15

SEPT. 28

Committee 15 - Steel Structures Virtual Meeting

Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations Kansas City, Mo.

Committee 15 - Steel Structures Virtual Meeting

Committee 13 Environmental Virtual Meeting

MAY 26

JUNE 9

SEPT. 16-17

SEPT. 28

Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals Virtual Meeting

Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures Virtual Meeting

Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations Sandpoint, Idaho

Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment Virtual Meeting

2022 MEETINGS FEB. 8-9

MAY 17-18

JUNE 9-10

SEPT. 27-28

Committee 15 - Steel Structures Fort Worth, Texas

Committee 15 - Steel Structures Chicago, Ill.

Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations Anchorage, Alaska

Committee 15 - Steel Structures Virtual Meeting

Join a technical committee Joining a technical committee is the starting point for involvement in the association and an opportunity for lifelong growth in the industry. AREMA has 29 technical committees covering a broad spectrum of railway engineering specialties. Build your network of contacts, sharpen your leadership skills, learn from other members and maximize your membership investment. If you’re interested in joining a technical committee or sitting in on a meeting, please contact Alayne Bell at abell@arema.org.

For a complete list of all committee meetings, visit https://www.arema.org/events.aspx.

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May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 27

GETTING TO KNOW

Committee 16 Chair Michael Couse signals and communications supervisors and their workers, along with division engineers and their staff on their day-to-day operations, special and seasonal projects such as rail, tie, surfacing and ballast gangs, and structures’ replacements and emergency management.

MICHAEL K. COUSE Roadway Worker Protection Services Twin Cities & Western Railroad

A

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

COUSE: Railway engineering has always had an indirect and direct impact on my career and career choices.

I began my railroading career with Canadian Pacific (CP) in Toronto, Ontario, in train service as a yardman/trainman and later a conductor. I was always interested in transportation, and particularly railways. I was fortunate to start my work life in an industry that I had a strong interest in and offered career opportunities for its Operations and Maintenance employees. I am now semi-retired and work providing roadway worker protection services for the Twin Cities and Western Railroad on the Metropolitan Council’s Green Line Southwest Light Rail Extension project. Railway engineering, safety and accident prevention are still an important part of my life.

AREMA: How did you get started?

COUSE: When I was in train service, I worked a lot of work trains and snowplows, so I got to see railway engineering and the workers who make it happen from the ground up. I developed an interest and appreciation for the railway’s infrastructure, and what must be planned, executed, and maintained so that trains can operate safely and efficiently over it.

Later as an Accident Prevention Coordinator, Trainmaster and Assistant Superintendent I worked very closely with division Roadmasters, bridge and building supervisors and 28 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

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

COUSE: I applied and became a member of Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations shortly after attending my first AREMA Conference as a member in Salt Lake City in 2008. I wanted to be involved more with AREMA, its membership and its activities. I felt that Committee 16 would be a good “home” for me with my rail and transit rail operations and maintenance and hands-on engineering backgrounds.

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

COUSE: I enjoy all types of gardening, walking, cycling, travel, fishing, reading, and listening to and collecting music of many genres.

AREMA: Tell us about your family.

COUSE: My wife is a paraprofessional for students with special needs in our local school district. Our son is in his early 20s, is a community college student, and works part time during his school year. We are looking forward to family travel again when our current pandemic situation changes for the better.

AREMA: If you could share one interesting fact about yourself with the readers of RT&S, what would it be?

COUSE: When I was 15, I moved with my family from Toronto to Cambridge, England, for my Dad’s one-year sabbatical at Cambridge University. We lived in residence on the university campus and I went to high school there. We travelled extensively throughout Great Britain and Europe when on breaks and weekends.

For me it was a positive and unique experience living with and learning about different people, cultures, history, and places around the world.

AREMA: What is your biggest achievement?

COUSE: My family. I am also proud and amazed that I am coming up to 48 years in the rail industry; and I am still passionate about

the industry and glad to be part of it.

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

COUSE: Continually develop and maintain a network of those within and outside your chosen field such as other railroaders, clients and suppliers, and those others supporting your work. Most railway industry functions are interrelated and cannot exist nor prosper without the input and cooperation of others.

Internal and external networking is a critical activity in the industry.

Ask questions. Most railroaders and others in our industry are very willing to share their knowledge and experiences with those who want to gain knowledge.

Railways are built on traditions but are continually making significant changes and improvements throughout their businesses.

Make sure you keep current on the technological and other changes that are occurring and moving the industry forward. Be a part of this movement.

Accept challenges willingly and execute them to the best of your ability.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AREMA is focused on your education and helping you advance in the railway industry. AREMA’s convenient we bin a rs p rovid e Professio n al Development Hours (PDH) to serve your educational needs.

Welded Wire Reinforcement Webinar Date: Tuesday, June 1 Time: 2-3 p.m. ET PDH: 1 Retaining Wall Design for Railroad Application Webinar Date: Wednesday, June 9 Time: 2-3:30 p.m. ET PDH: 1.5 For more information on our educational programs and to register, please visit www.arema.org.

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BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

WATERPROOFING A PRECAST CONCRETE RAIL BRIDGE IN LOUISIANA Modified specification highlights areas of the maximum potential weakness

L

ast year Canadian National replaced a wooden trestle bridge with a precast concrete bridge in the state of Louisiana.

The scope of the waterproofing work was as follows: • Seal longitudinal and transverse rtands.com

joints in the precast concrete panels; • Fill longitudinal joint between panels to avoid collection of moisture and debris; and • Waterproof the bridge deck to meet owner expectations without a completely lined monolithic coating

system.

The scope was chosen because the proposed systems offered a very fast return to service and allowed for making up time in the midst of a hurricane season in Louisiana, which was fully expected to impact the project’s schedule.

May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 29

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS

A pre-formed geo-membrane utilizing P480 and a woven textile fabric was placed over the peel-and-stick and tacked into place.

The concrete deck was pressurewashed to remove all laitance, debris and oils and grease. The longitudinal joint was primed with PolyPrime LV, a twocomponent urethane primer that can be sprayed or roller applied. PolyPrime LV sets within 20 minutes and has an eighthour open time. Using the WVCO Railroad Solutions meter for a clean, efficient and labor-saving method, FastPatch 30 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

5000, a two-component polyurethane with a high compressive strength (to match the precast panels) and a low tensile strength to offer movement capability between the two rigid panels, was installed. By filling this mile long, 3-in. x 3-in. channel, the ingress of debris and water was avoided. FastPatch 5000 cures within 10 minutes and so was not impacted by sudden rain squalls that

were always a threat on this project. This process was created by the contractor, Protective Coatings, with the manufacturer, WVCO Railroad Solutions, and is known as a Weld Joint procedure.

Numerous spalls in the precast panels that were adjacent to the joints (typical corner breaks) were instantly repaired using the same FastPatch 5000 material.

P480, 100% solids and VOC-free polyurea, was sprayed over the FastPatchfilled channel with an overlap of 1 ft on either side of the channel, providing a completely waterproof barrier over the seam between the concrete panels. P480 gels within seconds and cures within a couple of minutes allowing almost instantaneous return to service and the re-entry of other trades. P480 and FastPatch polyurethanes are compatible chemistries.

The transverse joints were treated by applying a peel-and-stick membrane over the steel cover plates to provide a base that the waterproofing system would not adhere to, thus creating a slipsheet that would continue to allow for extreme movement without compromising the expansion joint design. A preformed geo-membrane utilizing P480 and a woven textile fabric was placed over the peel-and-stick and tacked into place onto the surrounding concrete using P480. The P480 polyurea embedded the membrane into place forming another waterproof protective barrier.

The advantage of using pre-formed membranes is that they are easier to manipulate into place and provide a consistent thickness in the vulnerable joint areas. No protection board is necessary when using P480 at 120 mls thickness as it is ballast resistant.

Normally specifications call for completely coating the concrete bridge deck. This modified specification highlights the areas of the maximum potential weakness that are often left unaddressed.

The contractor used both attention to detail and creative detailing to overcome present and potentially future challenges ensuring that the bridge deck is waterproofed where it matters most.

In-depth discussions about the products, systems and procedures were held between the engineers, contractors and the manufacturer to reach a comfort zone with the proposed applications.

Full details and pictures can be viewed at www.fastpatchsystems.com. rtands.com

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May 2021 // Railway Track & Structures 31

AD INDEX

COMPANY

PHONE #

FAX #

E-MAIL ADDRESS

PAGE #

AREMA Marketing Department

301-459-3200

301-459-8077

marketing@arema.org

2,C3

Hiab USA, Inc.

419-482-6000

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11

Hougen Manufacturing, Inc.

866-245-3745

800-309-3299

info@trak-star.com

25

Koppers Railroad Structures

800-356-5952

608-221-0618

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C4

Racine Railroad Products, Inc

262-637-9681

262-637-9069

custserv@racinerailroad.com

19

RCE Equipment Solutions Inc.

866-472-4510

630-355-7173

dennishanke@rcequip.com

7

Railway Education Bureau The

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb-com

18,24

WVCO Railroad Solutions

541-484-9621

541-484-1987

wvcorailroadsolutions@wilvaco.com

16-17

MARKETPLACE SALES

JENNIFER IZZO P: 203-604-1744 F: 203-857-0296 jizzo@mediapeople.com

ALL MAJOR CREDIT CARDS ACCEPTED

Advertising Sales MAIN OFFICE JONATHAN CHALON Publisher 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7224 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jchalon@sbpub.com AL, KY, JONATHAN CHALON 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (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 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com AR, AK, AZ, CA, CO, IA, ID, IL, IN, KS, LA, MI, MN, MO, MS, MT, NE, NM, ND, NV, OK, OR, SD, TN, TX, UT, WA, WI, WY, CANADA – AB, BC, MB, SK HEATHER DISABATO 20 South Clark Street, Suite 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 (312) 683-5026 Fax: (312) 683-0131 hdisabato@sbpub.com THE NETHERLANDS, BRITAIN, FRANCE, BELGIUM, PORTUGAL,

SWITZERLAND, NORTH GERMANY, MIDDLE EAST, SOUTH AMERICA, AFRICA (NOT SOUTH), FAR EAST (EXCLUDING KOREA / CHINA/INDIA), ALL OTHERS, TENDERS JEROME MARULLO 88 Pine St., 23rd Floor New York, NY 10005 (212) 620-7260 Fax: (212) 633-1863 jmarullo@sbpub.com

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 JENNIFER IZZO 800 Connecticut Avenue Norwalk, CT 06854 (203) 604-1744 Fax: (203) 857-0296 jizzo@mediapeople.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.

32 Railway Track & Structures // May 2021

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Environmental Permitting for Railroad Project Managers May 19, 2021 2:00 - 3:15 PM ET • 1.25 PDH

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