RT&S May 2017

May 2017 | www.rtands.com

NRC Directory Inside

NRC project of the year

Expo Line Phase 2 PLUS NRC Small project of the year: Walong to Marcel 2nd Track Project State of the NRC and also AREMA News p.33

Contents May 2017

News

4

Features

18

Industry Today 4 Supplier News 11 People

State of the NRC NRC staff partners with its membership to promote and protect member interests.

Columns

Expo Line Construction Authority

24

24

NRC 2016 Large Project of the Year Skanska-Rados Joint Venture tapped innovation and a cooperative spirit to build the new Expo 2 lightrail line for the L.A. region.

28

NRC 2016 Small Project of the Year Granite Construction had to overcome many technical challenges to construct one-mile of mainline for Union Pacific.

18 Departments 13 TTCI R&D 33 Arema News 40 Calendar 40 Products 41 Advertisers Index

3

On Track Contractors as industry partners

Expo 2 construction on Pico Blvd. Bridge.

Photo by Expo Line Construction Authority. Story on page 24

12

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

NRC Chairman’s Column ASLRRA and auction recap, looking ahead

41 Sales Representatives 42 Classified Advertising 43 Professional Directory FOLLOW US on Twitter LIKE US on Facebook

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granite construction

NRC Directory: Walong to Marcel Second Track project.

Photo by Granite Construction. Story on page 28

28

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 1

On Track

RAILWAY TRACK AND STRUCTURES

Vol. 113, No. 5 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 Maggie Lancaster/Assistant Editor, mlancaster@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 Wendy Williams/Creative Director Maureen Cooney/Circulation Director Michelle Zolkos/Conference Director

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.

Pricing: Qualified individual and railroad employees may request a free subscription. Non-qualified subscriptions printed and/or digital version: 1 year Railroad Employees (US/Canada/Mexico) $16.00; all others $46.00; foreign $80.00; foreign, air mail $180.00. 2 years Railroad Employees US/Canada/ Mexico $30.00; all others $85.00; foreign $140.00; foreign, air mail $340.00. Single Copies are $10.00 ea.

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POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Railway Track & Structures, P.O. Box 3135, Northbrook, IL 60062-3135.

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Contractors as industry partners

S

pring has officially arrived and for the railroad industry that means one thing: it’s time to get dirty. Construction season has begun and we at RT&S have put together a May issue focused on the industry’s contractors, who make a lot of our jobs easier.

If you’re marveling at the sudden thickness of the current issue, may I point your attention to the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Annual Membership Directory and Railroad & Transit Buyer’s Guide that is bound into the magazine.

The directory, which is also available online, serves as a one-stop-shop for all your contracting needs. It includes listings of contractors, suppliers, engineering and associated firms that comprise the membership of the NRC. Membership in the NRC has more than doubled during the past decade, proving the value of this association and the importance of contracting to the business of railroading.

We have also included our annual “State of the NRC” feature on page 18. The article provides more detail about how the NRC works day-in and day-out to provide value to its members, develop advocacy efforts to improve safety within the contracting sector and ensure its members voices are heard as it pertains to legislative issues.

RT&S May features two contractor-focused articles of note. Both of these articles highlight the 2016 NRC Projects of the Year. Skanska-Rados Joint Venture was recognized in the large category, p.24, for its work on the Exposition Light Rail Transit Phase 2 Design-Build (Expo 2) that added seven stations and 6.6 miles of urban light rail to the Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s rail system. The project accumulated more than 2.8 million man hours, many spent on bridge and trench work, with a Lost Time Accident Rate of 0.07.

The project also incorporated construc-

tion innovations and developed a barsetting community outreach program.

While this project has many interesting construction elements, the take away is how the JV incorporated the many requirements from various stakeholders into a successful project that has transformed a community.

In the small category, Granite Construction took home the award for the Walong to Marcel 2nd Track project, p. 28. Union Pacific tasked Granite Construction with the project, which included clearing, excavation, embankment, drill and shoot rock, rock anchors, storm drain culverts, headwall structures and sub ballast to create approximately one mile of roadbed for a second mainline track. Granite Construction dealt with challenging topography, construction issues and a dry, fire-prone environment with the project. This project speaks to the importance of a contractor’s ability to adapt and remain flexible in the face of technical challenges in order to deliver a quality project.

When the both of the above projects were announced as Project of the Year winners, the NRC said both illustrated “flexibility in complex environments, safety records and a commitment to exceeding customer expectations.”

The right contractor can bring a level of expertise and innovation to a project it may not otherwise see. However, the right contractor also serves as an invaluable partner to the client; helping advance the client goals as if they were the contractor’s own.

Here’s to all of you working on the contracting side of the industry. Happy reading, get out there and get dirty and please be safe in all you do.

Mischa Wanek-Libman, Editor Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 3

INDUSTRY TODAY Supplier News OmniTRAX, Inc., an affiliate of The Broe Group, named A&K

Railroad Materials, Inc., as its second annual Supplier of the Year Award.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation purchased 20 new remote-control steel ballast cars. The cars were sold by

FreightCar America for US$3.2 million.

Halmar InternationaL has an approved contract for the design and construction of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Metro-North Railroad Prospect Hill Road Bridge.

Siemens launched Digital Rail Services, a new business that will use software to put intelligence behind billions of data points created on the country’s rail systems.

UP outlines more than half a billion in capital investments across six states Union Pacific (UP) provided details about the approximately $555 million it plans to spend to maintain its infrastructure in California, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oregon, Nebraska and Nevada in 2017.

The Class 1 will spend the majority of the six state total, $447 million, to maintain track while it plans to spend $51.4 million to maintain bridges across the states.

In California, UP plans to spend $180 million with $149.6 million going toward track maintenance and $20.7 million slated for bridge projects. Additional investments include $12.5 million in the line between Visalia and Delano to replace 28 miles of rail, $7.9 million in the line north of Winterhaven to replace 18 miles of rail and $9.1 million to progress the West Colton Bowl Track project.

The railroad plans to spend $135 million in Arkansas, which includes $119 million for track maintenance and $7 million for bridge maintenance. Additional projects planned in the state include $20 million to replace 47 miles of rail in the rail line between Rison and Camden and a $14-million investment in the rail line between Little Rock and Benton to replace 61,005 crossties and install 16,838 tons of ballast.

Union Pacific plans to spend $79 million on infrastructure in Louisiana including $58 million to maintain railroad track and $18 million to maintain bridges in the state. Key projects that are also slated to advance this year include $19 million to replace 149,125 crossties and install 76,150 tons of ballast between Alexandria and Shreveport and $11 million to replace 90,659 crossties and install 35,093 tons of ballast between Alexandria and Iowa.

Oregon will see a $77.1 million program with $44.7 million going toward track maintenance and $3.2 million for bridges. UP plans to replace 21 miles of rail between Klamath Falls and Chemult with a $9.3 million investment, replace 87,978 crossties between Huntington, Ore., and Caldwell, Idaho with a $12.1 million investment and replace 102,683 crossties between Oakridge and Portland with a $14.3 million investment.

The Class 1 will spend $57 million in Nebraska including $53 million to maintain railroad track and $721,000 to maintain bridges. The railroad will also advance a $6-million project to undercut 43 miles of track between Gibbon and Overton and an $8-million project to replace 51,488 concrete crossties between Alexandria and Hastings.

Finally, Nevada will see a $26.8-million investment this year, which includes $22.7 million to maintain railroad track and $1.8 million to maintain the state’s bridges. Key projects planned include $7.5-million investment to replace 60,854 crossties in the rail line between Elko and Winnemucca, $2.2 million to replace 15,406 crossties between Floriston, Calif., and Sparks, Nev. and $2.1 million to replace 12,190 crossties between Verdi and Reno.

The state plans are part of Union Pacific’s 2017 capital program worth an approximate $3.1 billion.

Pre rehab, NYCT to perform critical Canarsie Tunnel repairs Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) says New York City Transit will conduct critical repairs to the Canarsie Tunnel in order to ensure the tunnel can remain open until the tunnel’s planned April 2019 closure for full rehabilitation from the damage cause

by Superstorm Sandy. The tunnel suffered extensive damage to tracks, signals, switches, power cables, signal cables, communication cables, lighting, cable ducts and bench walls.

Crews will replace ties from 8 Av to Broadway Junction and install continuously welded rail. Communications systems will be inspected along the line and main-

4 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

tenance will be performed on other track and tunnel infrastructure. The preparatory work includes surveys of the tubes, tracks and other areas within the track tunnel, which cannot be performed while trains are in service and the third rail is energized.

In addition to assuring safe, reliable service through the Canarsie Tunnel, MTA says work performed during the two scheduled weekend service outages will allow crews to begin prep work for the full-scale $477 million in planned repairs in 2019. Work will be performed on weekends due to lower ridership and a holiday weekend, which will result in one less weekend outage needed.

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INDUSTRY TODAY BNSF greenlights second Lake Pend Oreille bridge in Idaho Preparation for a long-anticipated second bridge across Lake Pend Oreille at Sandpoint, Idaho, has been given the go-ahead by BNSF. Stretching roughly 3/4-mile in length, the new bridge will stand parallel to an existing single-track bridge built in 1904.

By double-tracking its crossing of the lake, BNSF will alleviate a chokepoint where BNSF and Montana Rail Link main lines converge. It’s a vital component in BNSF’s Northern Corridor connecting Chicago, Texas and the Midwest with cities and seaports in the Pacific Northwest.

BNSF initially announced in 2014 its intention to add a second bridge, but the project was put on hold the following year due to declining freight traffic. The current single-track bridge handles 50 to 60 trains per day. That figure can swell to nearly 70 trains per day during the end-of-year peak traffic season.

Having a second bridge in service over Lake Pend Oreille would also allow BNSF to perform periodic maintenance on its existing bridge with minimal impact to traffic flow. In

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Supplier News

2008, at the bridge’s railroad east (geographically northwest) end, BNSF replaced 12 of the existing concrete piers with steel piers. In 2009, the same was done to 16 piers at the railroad west (southeast) end. Both projects included installation of new deck spans.

Predecessor Northern Pacific Railway (NP) initially crossed the lake on a mile-long wooden trestle built in the 1880s before replacing it with the steel-on-concrete bridge that’s in service today. Those concrete piers have stood on timber pilings driven roughly 50 feet into the lakebed. NP later refit several of the piers to have longer steel piles beneath them. The new piers, which BNSF installed during 2008-09, are supported by steel piles driven more than 100 feet below the lakebed.

BNSF plans to drive two test piles at the site and perform load testing in May and June.

Beyond that, BNSF said the project must still go through the appropriate permitting and review process before moving forward. No construction is scheduled for this year.

SNC-Lavalin has reached an agreement with WS Atkins to acquire the company for US$2.71 billion.

National Safety Council recognized tKDA for completing more than 3 million work hours without an occupational injury or illness resulting in days away from work.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority awarded

tutor perini

a $291.5-million contract for the MidDay Storage Yard

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 5

INDUSTRY TODAY Supplier News portion of the East Side Access Project.

TNW Logistic Services, LLC, partnered with the Perry County Port Authority to expand economic development opportunities in the Tell City River Port area in Indiana.

Veolia Transportation Maintenance and Infrastructure, Inc., chose Dewberry to perform services under its design-build contract for new rail

6 Railway Track & Structures

Pennsylvania approves $40 million for freight rail projects Pennsylvania’s State Transportation Commission approved more than $40 million through two state programs to help fund freight rail projects across the state.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said the funding toward the 34 projects would support an estimated 375 jobs statewide.

The $40 million approved includes nine projects funded through the Rail Transportation Assistance Program (RTAP) and 25 projects funded through the Rail Freight Assistance Program (RFAP).

Half of the total amount approved, $20 million, will go to Norfolk Southern to alter bridges by raising overhead clearances or lowering track to accommodate double stack train cars.

Additional large awards include: • Central New York Railroad, $3 million to rehabilitate the Starrucca Viaduct and Bridge.

• Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad Co., $1.86 million to rehabilitate about 220 miles of track by rail grinding and

May 2017

replacing more than 2,700 crossties and 35,000 feet of rail.

• Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway, LLC, $1,799,000 to install 14 miles of continuous welded rail.

• R.J. Corman Railroad Co., Pennsylvania lines, $1,071,485 to rehabilitate 65 miles of track including ties and ballast.

• Allegheny Valley Railroad Co., $1,032,168 to rehabilitate the 36th Street Trestle bridge to increase capacity by eliminating weight restrictions.

• York Railway Co., $735,875 to repair three bridges and rehabilitate about 14 miles of track.

“Keeping our extensive rail freight system in good shape is a common-sense way to ensure a sound foundation for the state’s economy,” said Gov. Wolf. “Pennsylvania is ranked first when it comes to operating railroads and we are committed to working with this vital industry to serve the state’s business community and keep our job picture bright.”

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INDUSTRY TODAY Port of Everett begins rail siding construction at South Terminal Construction has begun on a rail siding that is part of the Port of Everett’s South Terminal Intermodal Modernization Project in Washington state.

Granite Construction, which was awarded the $3.4-million contract to complete the second phase of the modernization project, will build the new 3,300-lineal-foot double rail siding.

The port says it utilizes rail to support U.S. exports and imports, including the aerospace, construction, manufacturing, energy, agricultural and forest products industries. The project allows the port to safely and efficiently transport goods from ship to shore, with cargo arriving and departing the terminals utilizing rail, as well as trucks. The port explains that the use of rail service for the cargo shipments has the potential to eliminate at least 429-million commercial truck miles off of the local roads and highways. Additionally, this project allows the port to efficiently and

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Supplier News

safely serve larger vessels, in particular Panamax class ships carrying containerized aerospace cargo.

The port says the project will improve transportation choices for freight and improve the mobility of the local and regional population. This rail option provides shippers with a cost-effective transportation option not currently available at the South Terminal.

This $55.5-million modernization project was awarded a $10-million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant during the 2016 round. The project will increase the port’s current on-terminal rail footprint from 9,200 lineal feet to 12,500 lineal feet, and it is slated for completion in November. The project also provides a connection that allows BNSF easier ingress and egress to the port’s shipping facilities, reducing congestion on the mainline from Seattle to Canada and east along the northern corridor.

connections between the Florida East Coast railway and the South Florida Rail Corridor in West Palm Beach and Miami, Fla.

Wabtec Corp. aquired Thermal Transfer Corp., a supplier of industrial heat exchangers.

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Transit Safety Programs partnered with the navigation app WAZE to provide railcrossing safety alerts for drivers.

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 7

INDUSTRY TODAY

canadian pacific

Canadian Pacific takes on significant rail project to serve new potash mine in Saskatchewan

Canadian Pacific joined K+S Potash Canada (KSPC) to celebrate the opening of the Legacy Project mine on May 2.

CP says the mine is the first of its kind built in Saskatchewan in more than 40 years, and the rail infrastructure built to serve it is the most significant engineering project undertaken by railroad since the mid-1980s.

“We are incredibly proud to have collaborated with K+S Potash Canada on this project and look forward to delivering their product to international markets for years to come,” said CP President and CEO Keith Creel. “Building 30 km (18.6 miles) of new rail through a rural area, including a river valley, is no easy

8 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

feat and I want to congratulate all those who invested their time and energy in bringing this project to a successful conclusion.”

CP says the 18.6-mile route to the mine site was a geotechnical challenge as grading through the valley required the movement of 9.7 million cubic meters of earth. Adding to the scope of the project was the construction of a 137-meter (449-foot) bridge and 70-meter (229-foot) tunnel. The rail project featured nearly 50,000 crossties, 30.4 km (18.8 miles) of track, 4,500 metric tons of steel (plates, rail, bolts), 90,000 metric tons of ballast and thousands of hours of work.

“KSPC needed to ensure that transportation of product from our mine to our port facility would be both secure and competitive,” said Dr. Ulrich Lamp, president and CEO, KSPC. “When we signed the contract with Canadian Pacific in 2013, we knew we had found the perfect partner and strategic fit for those needs.

We are so pleased to see the finished rail infrastructure.”

CP will primarily use unit trains to ship the potash products to KSPC’s handling and storage facility in Port Moody, B.C. then on to overseas market. These unit trains will be approximately a mile and a half long, consisting of 177 rail cars and four locomotives.

The mine will have marketable product by the end of Q2 2017 and will reach a production capacity of two million metric tons of potash by the end of 2017.

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INDUSTRY TODAY Tunnel boring for LACMTA LAX/Crenshaw Line complete; TBM to be retired

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Jose Ubaldo/LACMTA

Excavation of twin tunnels that will eventually ferry future Los Angeles County Transportation Authority (LACMTA) Crenshaw/LAX trains wrapped up in early April.

Harriet the tunnel boring machine (TBM) completed its second mile-long tunnel on April 6 when it broke through at the Leimert Park Station. Excavating for the twin tunnels began April 27 of last year and progressed at about 60 feet per day through soil and rock. The first tunnel was completed in the fall, and the second tunnel began construction on Nov. 20. Installation of rail tracks has begun in the southbound tunnel. The tunnels began at the future Expo/Crenshaw Station at Exposition and Crenshaw boulevards to the Leimert Park Station at Crenshaw and 43rd.

The one-mile tunnels connect the project’s three underground stations: Expo/Crenshaw, Martin Luther King Jr. and Leimert Park.

“The end of tunneling is a major milestone for the project and I look forward to this new rail line helping residents from the Crenshaw community travel by transit to destinations across the county,” said LACMTA Board Chair John Fasana. “That will soon be possible thanks to the fine work of the crews who manned Harriet over the past year.”

LACMTA said the 950-ton, 4,000-pound TBM, which

was named after Harriet Tubman, will be retired.

The Crenshaw/LAX Line will run for 8.5 miles between the Green Line and the Expo Line and includes eight new stations serving the communities of Crenshaw, Inglewood, Westchester and LAX. The project is projected to open in the fall of 2019.

“Harriet, our tunnel boring machine, has done her job, so well, that in 2019, Angelenos will be able to travel from Exposition Boulevard to Leimert Park within a few short minutes,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor and LACMTA Board Member Mark Ridley-Thomas.

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 9

Amtrak talks Penn Station improvements Amtrak President and CEO Wick Moorman detailed several initiatives aimed at strengthening the infrastructure and operations at New York Penn Station. The initiatives include four bullet points that include an infrastructure renewal program; a passenger concourse coordination review; development of a joint station concourse operations center and safety and security improvements.

Moorman pointed out that the tracks in service at Penn Station were built in the 1970s when the railroad handled only half the number of trains and a third of the customers as it does today. Amtrak has scheduled renewal work to occur at the station during the next several years, but Moorman said that is not longer possible.

“We can’t wait that long. This work needs to be done now,” said Moorman.

He continued, “After only a short time here at Amtrak it has become apparent to me that we need to accelerate major renewal work in New York Penn Station. Using our limited resources, we have made this renewal project a priority to ensure the continuity of travel in the region. Without these improvements, Amtrak, [New Jersey] Transit and the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) could continue to see major disruptions, which could also have an impact on passenger safety.”

Amtrak will undertake a series of major track and switch renewal projects in Penn Station, beginning with the western portion of the station area. Work planned for the next several years will be compressed to a May 2017 to Fall 2017 timeframe.

Amtrak has commissioned former Metropolitan Transportation Authority CEO and Chairman Tom Prendergast to independently review the interaction, coordination and collaboration between the railroads’ various passenger concourses within Penn Station. Prendergast will review these relationships and develop recommendations on how the three railroads, working with other relevant parties, can improve the passenger experience, signage and wayfinding, video and communications and incident response across the entire station.

Amtrak is proposing that the three railroads serving Penn Station develop a joint station concourse operations center that brings together the managers of the various Penn Station concourses and technology to strengthen coordination, enhance the passenger experience and improve joint responses to disruptions, incidents and other events that occur anywhere in the station.

In the next several weeks, Amtrak will assemble a task force with its partner railroads, first responders, law enforcement and other stakeholders to review protocols relating to disabled trains and ensure that adequate procedures are documented, trained and exercised. The task force will also examine the need for additional equipment and technology and review the functions of personnel during an incident to ensure that existing protocols are comprehensive and appropriate.

Moorman said, “We at Amtrak understand the steps that must be taken to ensure a safe and reliable railway and will be working throughout the summer and beyond to make the required improvements. We will be collaborating with our partners at NJ Transit and the LIRR to plan this work in order to minimize disruptions and inconvenience for our customers who rely on us for service.”

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May 2017

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PEOPLE AECOM named Paul Praylo chief operating officer of its Construction Services business.

After five years of service as CEO, Jeff Morales will step down from the California High-Speed Rail Authority.

HNTB Corporation named Jacob Argiro as the Connecticut office operations manager and associate vice president; Francesco Cantatore as senior program director of Rail Systems and Robert James as a senior project manager for electrical engineering.

Tom Harding will lead Metrom Rail’s engineering operations as the company’s new vice president of engineering.

Janno Lieber will join the senior ranks of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority as chief development officer.

Michael Baker hired Ted Coffey as VP to oversee East Coast railroad and transit operations.

Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Marta R. Stewart will retire Aug. 1, 2017, after a 34-year career.

Julie Tufte, a certified safety professional, recently joined

TKDA as safety manager.

TranSystems Corp. welcomed Alistair Sawers as leader of its Public-Private Partnership Advisory Services.

Vossloh appointed Peter Urquhart as regional president of Vossloh North America and CEO of Vossloh Fastening Systems America, Inc.; Eliseo Bandala CEO of Cleveland Track Material, Inc. and Vossloh Track Material, Inc., and he will serve as executive vice president of sales for Vossloh North America. Tilo Brandis was named president and CEO of Rocla Concrete Tie, Inc.; Brett Urquhart named vice president of Class 1 sales and retains his title of vice president of sales and marketing with Rocla Concrete Tie, Inc. Christian Renners will serve as chairman of Vossloh Fastening Systems America, Inc., and Laurent Savornin was named vice president of sales and internationalization for Vossloh AG.

WSP | Parsons Brinckerhoff named veteran railroad signal engineer Keith Holt as director of engineering for the company’s Railroad Systems; Jeff Goodling named senior rail project manager for the West region; Samrithy Thlang was named senior managing overhead contact system engineer; Rameshwar Godara named senior supervising engineer; Thomas Gibson named vice president and western regional manager of its Transit and Rail practice and Fred Tallarico will become regional director of Design-Build for the company’s Northeast and Central regions. www.rtands.com

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 11

NRC CHAIRMAN’S COLUMN

ASLRRA and auction recap, looking ahead It has been another fantastic month. We had two outstanding industry events and the railroad construction and maintenance business is going strong. The American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association (ASLRRA) hosted its annual conference from April 22-25 in Grapevine, Texas. It was, as always, a great conference with a busy program.

The ASLRRA did impress with its selection of venues this year - the Gaylord Resort was a top-notch choice that was perfect for this event.

Among many other panels, the ASLRRA presented its safety awards at the conference. The NRC would like to congratulate the ASLRRA’s Safety Professional of the Year, Ron Sparks, the director of Safety, Training, Legal Affairs and chief of police for the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad, and also the Safety Person of the Year, Keith LaPorte, the Bridge Program manager for the Old Augusta Railroad. The NRC joins the ASLRRA and these two gentlemen in an absolute commitment to prioritizing safety on the railroad.

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

12 Railway Track & Structures

The other event this month was the evergrowing NRC Rail Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction. This was the 14th consecutive year that the NRC has hosted an equipment auction, and every year the auction seems to get bigger and better. It is not just an auction anymore, it has become an event for contractors, suppliers, railroads, transit agencies and anyone in the industry to meet up, discuss business and buy and sell equipment.

We at Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey had the honor to host the event at our East Yard in Paulsboro, N.J. The auction this year saw more than 250 pieces of equipment sell for a total of $1.25 million to bidders both on-site and online. It

May 2017

raised more than $58,000 for the NRC’s Safety and Education Training Program through consignments and donations. A huge thank you to Balfour Beatty Rail, Delta Railroad Construction and Encore Rail Systems for donating equipment to the NRC. The NRC Safety and Education Fund receives 3 percent of the proceeds from the consigned equipment and 100 percent of the proceeds from the donated equipment.

Also, I would like to thank the NRC Auction Committee, Danny Brown of V & H Trucks, Deric Berry of Herzog, Daniel Daugherty of Progress Rail Services, Mark Gaffney of Stacy and Witbeck, Jay Gowan of Harsco, Matt Harbison of Danella, Paul Laurello of Delta Railroad Construction and Greg Spilker of Encore Rail Systems.

They work so hard every year to make this auction a success and without their effort it would not be what it is today. Lastly, I would like to thank our friends at Atlantic Track & Turnout for sponsoring the food truck at the auction - it was local favorite Chickie’s & Pete’s, and those crabfries were a big hit!

We’re all looking forward to the big show this fall - Railway Interchange in Ind., Sept. 17-20. If you’re an avid reader of RT&S and this article, the 2017 AREMA Annual Conference is really a must-attend.

Also, don’t forget to mark your calendars now for the 2018 NRC Conference and NRC-REMSA Exhibition, which will in Los Angeles, Calif. from Jan. 10-13, 2018.

Finally, I wish everyone a safe and successful month.

by Chris Daloisio, NRC Chairman

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TTCI R&D Effects of short cars on bridges TTCI investigates the effects of heavy-axle-load traffic on bridges.

by Anna M. Rakoczy, Ph.D., principal engineer I Duane Otter, Ph.D., P.E., principal engineer II Transportation Technology Center, Inc.

T

ransportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI) recently investigated the effects of heavy-axle-load (HAL) traffic on bridges, with

emphasis placed on understanding the effects of car length on bridge structural response. Specifically, this article reports findings from investigating the structural response of bridges under load from

minimum-length interchange cars.1, 2, 3, 4 The areas of focus in this investigation are those effects that might be different for cars of minimum interchange length (about 42 feet long) as compared to the common, 53-foot coal cars that have been used in past HAL studies.

Summary of results to date

Figure 1 Shows the 200-foot span with train load – 43-foot cars (top) and 53-foot cars (bottom).

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Findings from investigating the effects of HAL traffic on bridges are as follows: • On longer span bridges, 42-foot

cars can create a 25-percent

increase in load on the span

as compared to common coal

cars; the stress increases in the

bridge members vary depend

ing upon the geometry and lo

cation of the member.

• The analysis of various span

lengths shows that shorter

cars cause larger maximum

bending moment on bridge

spans of 60 feet and longer.

The test data on the relatively

short spans at FAST measur

ing 24, 32, 55 and 65 feet con

firmed the analytical prediction.2 • Short cars have higher equivalent

Cooper Loading compared

to standard rotary-dump coal

cars for spans longer than

60 feet. For spans longer than Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 13

TTCI R&D Figure 2 presents typical stress histories for a train with 42foot cars and a train with 53-foot cars.

As predicted by analysis, the 42-foot cars caused higher stresses in the main components of trusses. The 42-foot cars produced stresses 29-31-percent higher than 53-foot cars in top and bottom chords; and stresses 20-21-percent higher on the end post and primary diagonal on the 200-foot span. Short cars caused a 30-percent increase in stress in both the top and bottom chords of the 110-foot span. The end post experienced an 18-percent stress increase due to short cars.

Figure 3 illustrates the increase in peak stresses caused by unit trains of 42-foot cars on the top, bottom and diagonal members of both trusses when compared to peak stresses caused by unit trains of 53-foot cars.

The effect of short cars is most prominent on the primary members such as end posts, primary diagonals and top and bottom chords. These members govern the overall load capacity of the bridge.

Note that the cyclic stress ranges in Figure 2 are small, thus fatigue is not an issue.

Deck plate girder tests

Figure 2 Stress histories in 200-foot span – upper chord (top) and end post (bottom).

225 feet, equivalent Cooper Loading for 42-foot short cars exceeds E60.1 • The 42-foot cars produced stresses up to 30-percent higher than 53-foot cars in main components of 110-foot and 200-foot trusses and at mid-span of a 115-foot deck plate girder (DPG).3, 4 • In terms of fatigue stress ranges, short cars caused similar effects to standard 53-foot cars.

Tests on truses

A two-span, ballasted deck truss bridge, with spans of 200 feet and 110 feet, was instrumented and observed for two months to determine structural response under typical 53foot coal cars and shorter cars; such as cement trains and rock trains. The study bridge, Bridge 93.94, is on Track 2 of the Colorado Springs Subdivision owned by Union Pacific (UP) and spans the Fountain River.3, 4 The photographs in Figure 1 show that the span length accommodates five 42foot cars and only four 53-foot cars.

Based on the results from a finite element analysis, several members of both truss spans were selected for measurements.4 Strain gauges were installed on the bottom chords, top chords and diagonal members on each span of the bridge to evaluate stresses under train traffic. In addition, strain gauges were installed on selected stringers of the 200-foot span to evaluate bending stresses.

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To assure that the car length effect is visible on all type of bridges, a second test was performed on a deck plate girder (DPG) span. The steel DPG bridge is located in Pueblo, Colo. over the Fountain River on the BNSF Pueblo Subdivision, just east of Pueblo Junction. The bridge has five ballasted deck spans with north girders (G1) of 113 feet, 10 inches overall length (111 feet, 6 inches between bearing centers) and outside south girders (G2) of 115 feet overall length (112 feet, 8 inches between bearing centers).

Strain gauges were installed at several locations on each of the girders to evaluate bending stresses: at mid-span, at 40 feet from the end and at three cover plates terminations.

The test data was collected for 53-foot cars of coal train, 45-foot tank cars and a mixed freight that had a block of four short, 42-foot cars. The effect of car length on the DPG is most prominent at the mid-span location, up to approximately 26-percent higher due to 42-foot cars when compared to 53-foot cars at mid-span of G1 and approximately 20-percent higher at mid-span of G2. Stresses were also compared for 45-foot tank cars, which caused a 17-percent

Figure 3 Graphs the increase in stress peaks due to short cars.

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TTCI R&D increase in stress at mid span of G1 and a 14-percent increase in stress at mid span of G2. The stress comparison is presented in Figure 4.

Conclusion

The analytical calculations indicated that the effect of short cars was most prominent on the primary members such as end posts, primary diagonals and top and bottom chords of longer trusses.

The test data confirmed that short cars produce higher stresses on longer bridge spans, as follows: • The test data indicated that the 42-foot cars

produced stresses approximately 30-percent

higher than 53-foot cars in top and bottom chords

on both truss spans.

• Short cars caused approximately 20-percent higher

stresses on the end post and primary diagonal on

the 200-foot span and an 18-percent stress increase

on the end post of the 110-foot span.

• Similar findings were reported on a DPG bridge. The

test data indicated that the 42-foot cars produced

stresses 20-26-percent higher than 53-foot cars at

mid-span of a 115-foot DPG.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank Union Pacific for allowing the TTCI team to work on its bridge and for its valuable support; particularly, Jeff Mancuso, Daniel Smith and David Zwick. Also, BNSF, in particular Ron Berry, is gratefully acknowledged for allowing the TTCI team to work on the DPG Bridge over the Fountain River on the BNSF Pueblo Subdivision.

References 1. Rakoczy, A., Otter, D. and Dick, S. April 2016. “Short Heavy Axle Load Cars: Analysis.” Technology Digest TD-16-013, Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, Colo.

2. Rakoczy, A., Otter, D. and Dick, S. May 2016. “Short Heavy Axle Load Cars: Bridge Test at FAST.” Technology Digest TD-16-014, Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, Colo.

3. Rakoczy, A., Otter, D. and Dick, S. November 2016. “Short Heavy Axle Load Cars: Analysis of Longer Bridge Spans.” Technology Digest TD-16-047, Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, Colo.

4. Rakoczy, A., Otter, D. and Dick, S. November 2016. “Short Heavy Axle Load Cars: Testing of Longer Bridge Spans.” Technology Digest TD-16-048, Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, Colo.

Figure 4 Comparison of stress peaks due to cars with various lengths.

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The National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association continues to advocate for its members through strong safety and legislative efforts.

Safety, advocacy and growth propel the

state of the NRC

R

ailway Track & Structures (RT&S) National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association (NRC) Chairman Chris Daloisio of Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey, NRC President Chuck Baker, NRC Vice President of Operations and Events Matt Bell, NRC Vice President of Grassroots Advocacy and Events Lindsey Collins and NRC Vice President of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs Matt Ginsberg about the past year and what they believe is in the future for the NRC. RT&S: Chris, you are in your second year as NRC Chairman. Are you making progress towards the goals you have established for your tenure?

Chris Daloisio: The past year was a great one for the NRC. With the support and leadership from my fellow NRC Board of Directors and our NRC staff, the NRC has grown in membership, our safety initiatives and programs have served our association well and we have continued to be a strong advocate for the rail industry in the legislative arena in Washington, D.C. The membership has more than doubled in the past 10 years, from 184 Member Companies in 2006 to more than 400 in 2016. The NRC is committed to bringing its members the most up-to-date safety information available and recognizing companies and individuals who advance safety in the railroad construction industry. We are currently working to educate our members on two new Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) regulations, Part 219 Drug & Alcohol Testing and Part 243 Minimum Training Standards, and ensuring that all members will be compliant with the new federal regulations as they go into effect.

This past March, the NRC co-sponsored Railroad Day on Capitol Hill, a fantastic annual tradition. NRC members, along with hundreds of shortline railroad executives and Class 1 railroad representatives, met with more than 370 U.S. Congressmen, Senators and their staffers. The unified effort showed our federal elected officials how contractors and suppliers work hand-in-hand with the railroads to ensure an efficient and safe system that operates day in and day out.

In April, the NRC hosted our 14th annual Rail Construc18 Railway Track & Structures

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tion & Maintenance Equipment Auction at my company’s yard in Paulsboro, N.J. We were honored to host this great event for the industry and pleased that the auction sold more than 300 pieces for about $1.25 million.

The 2017 NRC Annual Conference in Boca Raton broke records with more than 1,300 conference attendees and more than 165 exhibit booths. I am proud of the record attendance, great speakers and programing, and I hope to continue the success at the 2018 NRC Conference upcoming next January in downtown Los Angeles.

RT&S: You mention the growing membership. What benefits does the NRC offer to its current members, and potential new ones?

Daloisio: The NRC membership committee, along with our Washington, D.C., staff, has done an excellent job of identifying and recruiting companies that will benefit by joining the NRC. The NRC exists to support and promote rail contractors and suppliers within the rail industry. Our primary goals are to expand and broaden our member companies’ business opportunities and protect them from harmful laws and regulations while promoting safe practices on the job.

The NRC is the only organization dedicated to this purpose and we will continue to stay on top of all legislative issues that could adversely affect our membership or the rail industry in general.

Matt Bell: We have a long list of specific benefits we provide to our members, which are detailed on our website at www. nrcma.org. I would break down the benefits of NRC membership into three categories – safety, government affairs and legislative advocacy and industry networking events.

There are a variety of programs and resources available to NRC members created to promote railroad construction safety, including access to FRA Part 219 Drug & Alcohol Testing, more than 100 safety tool box talks and the ongoing series of NRC Safety Training videos, of which we have produced 22 and counting. In addition, all member companies can participate in the NRC Safety Committee and are eligible for the annual Railroad Contractor of the Year Safety Awards. The NRC is also www.rtands.com

a voting member of the FRA Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC) and several individuals of NRC member companies sit on RSAC working group committees.

The second component of NRC membership is regulatory and legislative affairs. NRC works to promote and support legislation that furthers the railroad construction business climate and protects the railroad construction industry from becoming overregulated. NRC member companies receive updates on federal and state transportation infrastructure spending and regulatory changes and access to a complete network of railroad executives and key government officials. In the past year, the NRC has worked to encourage transit agencies to contract out more track maintenance, construction and signaling work to private outside companies, as opposed to doing this work inhouse. In addition, the NRC has supported the shortline railroad 45G tax credit bill, supported full funding for the TIGER and FASTLANE programs, opposed any legislation that would lead to larger or heavier trucks on America’s interstate highways and supported maintaining a balanced regulatory environment for freight railroads.

The industry networking events include discounted registration at the annual NRC Conference and Exhibition and a full company listing in both the printed and online versions of the NRC membership directory, which is distributed to Class 1, shortline and regional railroads, as well as executives at rail transit and commuter rail agencies throughout the country. In addition, membership includes access to the NRC Bulletin, which is full of useful information for rail contractors and suppliers and participation in the Rail Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction and Railroad Day on Capitol Hill.

At the moment, 425 rail construction, supply and professional service companies are members of the NRC, which as Chris said, has more than doubled over the past ten years.

We attribute most of that growth to word of mouth, the NRC Membership Committee and our board members who have been the NRC’s best evangelists. We have an impressive group on the board, and they have the credibility with their colleagues to convince them to join the NRC and support our industry.

Chuck Baker: I’d like to specifically thank each of our board members. First off, I would like to thank our three departing board members - Rick Ebersold of Herzog Services, Inc., Mark Snailham of Balfour Beatty Rail and Stephanie Freeman of Coleman Industrial Construction – for their years of service to the NRC Board. With big shoes to fill of those departing board members, the NRC welcomes Danny Brown of V&H Trucks, Dave Bergstrom of Ragnar Benson and Kevin Riddett of RailWorks Corp. as the newly elected board members in 2017.

Other than Chris, the NRC Board’s executive committee of Mike Choat of Wabtec (Vice Chairman) and Jim Hansen of Herzog (Secretary/Treasurer) have done a great job leading the association this past year and we still rely on past Chairman Bill Dorris of J-Track for sage counsel. A few NRC Board members also chair NRC committees and I would like to give a special thanks to Steve Bolte of Danella (Chairman of the NRC Scholarship Committee), Danny Brown of V&H Trucks (Chairman of the NRC Auction Committee), Larry Laurello of Delta Railroad Construction (Chairman of the NRC Transit Committee), Jody Sims (Chairman of the NRC Membership Committee) and Daniel Stout of STX Railroad Construction Services (Chairman of the NRC Education Committee).

You can go to www.nrcma.org/committees to view all the ways to get involved in a NRC committee or just reach out to one of the committee chairs or me at cbaker@nrcma.org. www.rtands.com

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State of the NRC Additionally, thanks to Joe Daloisio of Railroad Construction Co., Clayton Gilliland of Stacy & Witbeck, Scott Goehri of HDR Engineering, Marc Hackett of Loram Maintenance of Way, Nathan Henderson of R.J. Corman, Greg Lippard of L. B. Foster, Scott Norman of Herzog Contracting Corp., Bill Reimer of R&R Contracting and Wiggie Shell of Georgetown Rail for your service to the NRC Board. These ladies and gentlemen do an extraordinary amount of work to support the NRC and the rail construction industry.

Daloisio: The NRC will continue using a variety of methods to stay in touch with our membership to get our messages out, including our website www.nrcma. org and email bulletins. If you would like to be added to our email list please email mbell@nrcma.org. The NRC also continues association and industry conversations online through Twitter. The NRC’s Twitter account gained more than 400 followers over the past year. For those of you that utilize a Twitter account, I recommend following @theNRC to keep up with the association and the day-to-day rail industry happenings. Social media has become a big part of how our messages

are getting out to our members and our industry audience.

RT&S: What is the NRC doing to promote safety?

Matt Ginsberg: We have a very active Safety Committee, which includes some highly experienced safety professionals.

The interest in the committee and its membership continues to grow, which we feel is a great reflection on the good work that the committee is doing. Our current chair is Trey Rowe of Herzog Railroad Services.

The Safety Committee oversees the Safety Training video program, the NRC’s participation in the FRA’s RSAC process, the Contractor Safety Award contest, the Pocket Safety Manual, our Tool Box Talks and all of the NRC’s other safety programs. In the past year, the NRC has been hard at work helping contractors comply with two major FRA regulations in particular, Part 219 Drug and Alcohol Testing for maintenance-ofway employees and Part 243 Minimum Training Standards. For Part 219, NRC has established relationships with two well-regarded third party administrators (TPAs), DISA and Midlands Testing Ser-

vices, to help our contractor members comply with this rule. For Part 243, the NRC has hired John Zuspan of Track Guy Consultants to develop a number of model program templates for our members to help them comply with this rule.

The continuing series of safety training videos is led by Safety Committee member John Zuspan. This year, we also moved all the videos from DVDs to USBs so NRC members are now able to get all 22 videos on one USB flash drive. The two most recent videos in this series, #21 Safety Around Hi-Rail Trucks and #22 Safety with Defensive Driving, were unveiled at the Conference in January 2017. The entire series has received excellent reviews and is available at no cost to NRC members. The previous 20 videos are listed on pg. 9 of the NRC Directory within this issue of RT&S. As previously mentioned Safety Committee members, along with NRC staff, represent the NRC’s interests through FRA’s RSAC. RSAC membership and participation enables the NRC to provide input to the FRA as it creates regulations dealing with such key issues as minimum training standards for railroads and contractors performing maintenance-of-way work, drug and alcohol testing policies, bridge safety, roadway worker protection regulation updates, roadway maintenance machine operating rules, rail integrity testing, Positive Train Control implementation, hours of service and track safety standards.

Bell: Safety Committee member David Armstrong of Commercial Insurance Associates takes the lead for the NRC on organizing the very competitive “NRC Safe Contractor of the Year” award contest. RT&S also sponsors this contest and helps to publicize the winners, which is much appreciated. Safety must, and does, come first for rail construction and maintenance contractors and this award is a valued acknowledgement of the hard work and dedication of the leadership and safety managers of our member companies. The 2016 contest had a record 51 companies receive awards. The winners were announced at the conference in January and are published in the NRC Directory on pg. 8.

RT&S: Your annual conference took place in early January in Boca Raton, Fla., and set another attendance record. To what do you attribute the success of your conference?

Daloisio: The membership growth in our organization in just the past decade of serving on the NRC Board has been tremendous. I believe that membership growth,

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State of the NRC the quality resorts where we hold our conferences and the generally favorable weather in January are all driving forces behind our continued success. And, of course, the guest speakers we bring to our conferences, rail industry leaders representing the Class 1’s, shortlines and transit agencies, are the key draw. Our conference attendees hear firsthand what the railroad and transit agency capital spending programs for the coming year will be and what future projects are on the horizon. Our conferences are very informative - if you are a rail industry professional, you should plan to attend in January 2018.

Baker: Several other industry associations and companies hold meetings in conjunction with our conference, such as the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association’s Legislative Policy Committee, Railway Interchange, REMSA’s Board of Directors, the Railway Tie Association’s Executive Committee and the Railroad Maintenance and Industrial Health and Welfare Fund.

And multiple seminars were offered at the conference, including “Overview of FRA Part 243 Minimum Training Standards Final Rule,” by Rob Castiglione,

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staff director of Human Performance Program in the Office of Railroad Safety at FRA, “Overview of FRA Part 219 Drug & Alcohol Regulation for Maintenanceof-Way Workers Final Rule,” by Jerry Powers, staff director of the Drug & Alcohol Program in the Office of Railroad Safety at FRA, “Means and Methods for Direct Fixation, Low Vibration Track & Embedded Track,” by John Zuspan of Track Guy Consultants, and “Overview on Doing Business Abroad and How U.S. Commercial Services Can Help,” by Lesa Forbes, senior international Trade Specialist at U.S. Commercial Service.

These meetings and seminars bring a new group of executives to the NRC Conference, adding to the appeal for NRC members. It also allows many folks to attend the conference and deal with other important business issues in a single trip, making the most effective use of people’s limited time. This has worked well and we invite other rail associations, committees, railroads, transit agencies and state departments of transportation reading this interview to consider coordinating their meetings and seminars with the NRC Conference.

Lindsey Collins: The NRC Special Awards have become a highlight at the conference, as well. These awards give NRC members an opportunity to recognize their colleagues for exemplary work in the industry. This year, three awards were presented.

The 2016 Large Project of the Year award went to the Exposition Light Rail Transit Phase 2 Design-Build (Expo 2) project by Skanska-Rados Joint Venture (SRJV), which is featured on pg. 24 of this magazine.

The 2016 Small Project of the Year Award went to the Walong to Marcel 2nd Track project by Granite Construction, awarded by Union Pacific Railroad. This project is featured on pg. 28 of this magazine.

Greg Dunn, project manager for Herzog Contracting Corp., was awarded the 2016 NRC Field Employee of the Year.

Greg has more than 30 years of railroad experience, working his way through the ranks from a heavy equipment operator and mechanic to his most recent position as project manager of the $158 million Pier E project in Long Beach, Calif., a multi-award winning project including

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State of the NRC the 2015 NRC Project of the Year. Greg has also managed 15 other successful rail and heavy civil projects. During his tenure with Herzog, his clients have included Amtrak, North County Transit District, the Southern California Regional Rail Authority and the San Diego Association of Governments. With his thorough construction knowledge and exceptional leadership abilities, Greg has ensured that all of his jobs have been ontime and under budget.

Baker: We were also honored to induct three extraordinarily deserving gentlemen into the NRC Hall of Fame: Rick Ebersold, formerly the president of Herzog Services, Inc., and a past NRC Board Chairman, Ronald Brown, founder of Annex Railroad Builders, which later became part of RailWorks, and John Zuspan, president of Track Guy Consultants and a very active NRC Safety Committee Member.

Bell: Lastly, our conference would not be possible without the support of our valued sponsors. The NRC offers its members the opportunity to sponsor specific conference functions, such as sessions and receptions, as well as general gold and silver level sponsorships. An NRC Conference sponsorship is a unique marketing opportunity to showcase a company’s products and services in front of an audience of Class 1’s, shortline railroads, rail contractors, rail suppliers and professional service firms. More information on 2018 Conference Sponsorships opportunities will be announced this summer in the NRC Bulletin.

RT&S: Your conferences are generally held in warm locales, which provide a nice break for those of us coming in from the frozen north.

Daloisio: The location and the time of year make attending our conference an easy decision, without a doubt. We hold our conferences in south Florida or southern California in alternating years, in early January. This time of year is typically the slowest part of the construction and maintenance season, which makes it easier for the majority of us to schedule such a trip. It’s the perfect time of year for many of us to get away, have some fun with colleagues and friends in the industry and still get some work done - it’s all good!

RT&S: Where will the next NRC Conference be in January 2018?

Baker: We’re all set for January 10-13, 2018, at the JW Marriott LA Live, Los Angeles, Calif. We’ll notify members this summer via email when conference and exhibit booth registrations are available and also when the hotel room block opens and, of course, we’ll advertise the event right here in RT&S. For more information, visit: www.nrcma.org/2018conference.

RT&S: Aside from the Annual Conference, are there other NRC sponsored activities during the year?

Daloisio: Yes, the NRC equipment auction and Railroad Day on Capitol Hill are the other two major events each year.

The NRC Railroad Construction and Maintenance Equipment Auction is held in early spring. My family and company employees were honored to host this year’s NRC auction April 6 at our Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey/Railroad Constructors facility in Paulsboro, N.J. Bell: This year’s NRC Auction was one of the best of all time, with a total sale of more than $1.25 million.

Three percent of the proceeds from the consigned equipment at the auction goes to the NRC Safety, Training, and Education Fund, which benefits our membership and the industry as a whole and is the main source of funding for 22 Railway Track & Structures

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the Safety Training video program. In addition, some of the equipment is actually donated to the NRC, with 100 percent of those proceeds going to the safety program. We are extremely grateful to our Class 1, shortline, contractor and supplier partners who have donated pieces to the NRC auction over the years. Donations this year came from Balfour Beatty Rail, Delta Railroad Construction and Encore Rail Systems. Balfour Beatty in particular has been a very generous donor over the past few years, including a bulldozer this year. Thanks also to Atlantic Track for its sponsorship of the event. And a special thanks to Chairman Daloisio and to Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey/Railroad Constructors for hosting this year’s auction.

Baker: The Auction Committee has been doing great work on this event and at the previous auctions. The key committee members are Danny Brown of V & H Trucks, Deric Berry of Herzog Contracting Corp., Daniel Daugherty of Progress Rail Services, Mark Gaffney of Stacey & Witbeck, Jay Gowan of Harsco Rail, Matt Harbison of Danella, Paul Laurello of Delta Railroad Construction and Greg Spilker of Encore Rail Systems.

Blackmon Auctions has been our auctioneer every year and they do a great job. The equipment at the auction typically includes air compressors, ballast regulators, brush cutters, spikers, pickup trucks, Hi-Rail trucks, cranes, rail threaders, spike pullers, tie inserters and removers, tampers, crib consolidators, log loaders, adzers, pre-gaugers, speedswings, anchor and clip applicators, rollers, cribbers, swing loaders and more.

Daloisio: The NRC is a major sponsor and organizer of Railroad Day on Capitol Hill. NRC members, along with representatives from the ASLRRA, AAR, REMSA, RSI, RSSI and RTA all converge on D.C. to get our message out and be heard by our elected officials. Each year, dozens of our member companies are represented at meetings with members of Congress and their staff in order to present our concerns on major issues affecting the railroad industry. There are many issues in Washington, D.C., that can directly affect our businesses.

It’s extremely important that the NRC have the representation provided by Chuck Baker and the NRC’s government affairs staff at Chambers, Conlon & Hartwell, but it’s equally important for each of our contractor and supplier member companies to keep up on the issues, as well. Please contact your Representatives and Senators and let them know that their constituents care and are deeply concerned about legislative issues that could adversely affect our industry and business opportunities. If you need any help finding the best way to get in touch with your Representatives, the NRC staff will be more than happy to help you.

This year’s Railroad Day was another successful one. The event occurred on March 2 and representatives from the railroad industry met with more than 375 U.S. Senators and Congressmen. Many NRC member companies found that the event provided them with an excellent opportunity to spend time with their railroad customers and speak directly with their congressional representatives. If you were not able to make this year’s event, I encourage you to participate at the next Railroad Day on Capitol Hill in the spring of 2018.

RT&S: Speaking of Congress, tell us more about the NRC’s Grassroots Program and why a railroad contractor or supplier would want to host their Member of Congress for a visit?

Collins: Because it’s more effective to “show and tell” than simply “tell,” the NRC’s Grassroots Program was created to invite Members of Congress to visit NRC member www.rtands.com

State of the NRC facilities and construction project sites. These visits give the congressmen firsthand knowledge of the rail industry and demonstrate how rail contractors and suppliers are positively affecting the rail industry and the local and national economy. NRC member companies gain positive publicity, foster good relationships with their congressional members and build strong contacts for the NRC to utilize when advocating for rail industry issues on Capitol Hill. It’s a win-win-win!

These congressional visits are coordinated and executed by the NRC staff with little work required by the host company.

If your company is interested in hosting your member of Congress for a visit, please contact me at lcollins@nrcma.org or 202-715-2916.

RT&S: What are the NRC’s legislative priorities right now?

Baker: It’s certainly an interesting time to be working in D.C. right now! We’re working on making sure rail (freight, intercity and transit) is well-represented in a potential infrastructure bill, encouraging transit agencies to do more of their work via competitive bid as opposed to in-house, making the shortline tax credit permanent and fighting off increases to truck size and weight laws.

We’re trying to get a permanent extension of the 45G shortline railroad rehabilitation tax credit to provide the long-term planning certainty necessary to maximize private-sector transportation infrastructure investment. This is a crucial piece of legislation to help maximize rehabilitation spending in the shortline industry – it provides a 50 percent tax credit to shortline railroads for investing in their infrastructure, capped at $3,500 per track mile owned. This results in more than $300 million per year of additional capital investment by shortline railroads, much of which is contracted out to NRC members or spent on materials and equipment from NRC suppliers.

The NRC also continues to make the case to Congress against an increase in the size and weight of trucks that are allowed on the highways. We were pleased that the FAST Act surface transportation reauthorization bill passed in late 2015 made no such changes. Heavy trucks are already subsidized and increasing their weight and length would increase that subsidy and allow them to compete unfairly against the privately-funded freight railroads. Bigger and heavier trucks are unsafe and unwise – they’re bad for the roads and bad for the rail industry.

The American public is solidly against them and Congress was wise to not support bigger and heavier trucks.

We are also actively supporting efforts by the freight railroads to maintain the existing reasonable and balanced economic regulation of their business, and we will argue forcefully against legislation or regulation that would needlessly complicate rail service or cap rates. Reregulating the railroads is a sure-fire way to reduce much needed capital investment in the national railroad network.

And we’re always focused on the annual appropriations bills, which have billions of dollars at stake for rail-related investments, including for the Northeast Corridor and the intercity passenger rail “National Network,” the Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements (CRISI) program, TIGER and rail transit New Starts.

RT&S: How does the NRC attempt to accomplish its legislative goals on Capitol Hill?

Baker: As Chris mentioned earlier, the key to the NRC’s legislative success in D.C. is the active participation of our membership. Congressmen only care what I have to say because I am representing their constituents. Hearing frequently and forcewww.rtands.com

fully from those constituents directly is by far the most effective way to get our messages across.

Also, in addition to our own direct legislative efforts, the NRC is a member of the OneRail Coalition, with APTA, the AAR, ASLRRA, Amtrak, NARP, RSI, the States for Passenger Rail Coalition and other key rail industry groups. When all of those groups can agree and go to Congress with a coordinated message, we’re a powerful force, representing hundreds of thousands of workers and tens of billions of dollars of economic activity.

RT&S: Beyond the immediate priorities of the infrastructure bill, transit contracting, tax credits, guarding against increased truck size and weights, and increased regulation of the freight railroads, and the annual appropriations bills, what are the NRC’s other legislative and policy priorities?

Baker: The NRC also advocates for improvements to the RRIF loan program, some of which were achieved in the FAST Act. RRIF is a $35-billion infrastructure loan program that is underutilized by the railroads, but we are seeing a recent pick-up in activity, at least on the application side. RRIF provides low interest (around 2.9 percent currently), 35-year loan money for railroad rehabilitation and construction. Since 2002, the FRA has approved 36 RRIF loans for a combined total of approximately $5.1 billion.

The NRC will work with our railroad customers to protect and expand the Section 130 Grade Crossing Program, which has a long record of success in improving public safety, but only funds a small fraction of the documented needs.

The NRC will work with APTA and other rail transit advocacy support groups to make sure that Congress continues the meaningful rail transit investments of the past decade. More and more U.S. cities are realizing the economic and environmental benefits provided by constructing and expanding light rail and metro systems, and we are seeing a shift in travel patterns across the country. However, this momentum is at risk as the funding for the mass transit account of the highway trust fund is no longer sufficient to expand and maintain the system.

Simply put, more funding needs to be dedicated to rail transit investments and the NRC will work hard in D.C. every day to get that message across to Congress.

And the NRC will continue work with passenger rail advocacy groups to aggressively support and fund a meaningful investment into the national intercity passenger rail network.

RT&S: Do you have any closing thoughts?

Daloisio: I would like to thank all the NRC member companies and my fellow board members for supporting me in my position as Chairman of the Board. We have continued to grow our membership, set new conference attendance records and get a greater participation in our “Safe Contractor of the Year” contest along with our equipment auction and Railroad Day on Capitol Hill. These are all positive signs of a healthy and growing organization. Our committee members and Directors of the Board will remain active and engaged. All continue to get a high level of support from their respective employers, as well. I would like to thank the NRC member companies that support those who serve on the board and on the committees for allowing us to dedicate some of our very valuable time to this great organization.

The state of the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association is stronger than ever. God bless the United States of America and the NRC. Have a safe day.

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The Skanska-Rados Joint Venture discovered the secret to a successful, innovative and safe project: Quality partnerships.

by Mischa Wanek-Libman, editor Photos courtesy of The Expo Line Construction Authority

NRC Large Project of the Year:

LA Metro Exposition Light Rail Phase 2

T

he National Railroad Construction and Maintenance Association awarded its 2016 Large Project of the Year to the LA Metro Exposition Light Rail Transit Phase 2 Design-Build (Expo 2) project by Skanska-Rados Joint Venture based on the project’s complexity, the JV’s ability to stay flexible in the face of challenges and project team’s commitment to safety.

The Skanska-Rados team was responsible for the construction of 6.6 miles of urban light rail including seven stations that connected Santa Monica to Culver City and Downtown Los Angeles for the first time in 60 years.

Systems and electrical work included a low-profile overhead catenary system (OCS), train control and signals, crossing protection, traction power and communications. Three park-and-ride lots and bike facilities rounded out the project. The project’s urban location required extensive maintenance of traffic planning for vehicles, public transit commuters, pedestrians and cyclists.

24 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

Additionally, area residents, high profile theaters and recording studios expressed worries about noise levels.

“From the start, it was important that Skanska-Rados JV was aligned with the owner, the Exposition Construction Authority. Because we had the same goals, we developed a partnership that steered the project in a cooperative direction.

Together, we recognized the community as a major stakeholder in a project like Expo 2. This light-rail line transforms the way the community travels, changes the way that local businesses can draw customers, improves access to the neighborhoods, reduces air pollution from vehicles and, thereby, improves community health and sustainability,” explained Patrick Bifone, senior project engineer.

Promoting good partnership practices and executing meaningful communication throughout the project didn’t just contribute to its overall success, as Bifone details, this approach reinforced safety, encouraged innovation and enhanced trust between the various stakeholders.

“We stressed open, transparent communication and collaboration from the beginning. Initial partnering sessions established partnering goals, and ongoing sessions kept JV, owner and stakeholder goals in alignment,” said Bifone.

Innovations

“Our early partnering and open collaboration efforts laid the foundation to overcome challenges by establishing positive working relationships among the team, owner and stakeholders based on mutual respect. As partners, we made choices to best advance the project and finish this complex design-build early and within budget,” said Bifone.

The urban setting made verifying and rearranging utilities and structures particularly challenging to the project.

The JV utilized 3-D modeling in the western-most miles of the project to visualize the relocation of utilities.

“Because this section was street running (as opposed to a dedicated rightof-way), we had to relocate almost all utilities under the street, but outside the www.rtands.com

NRC large project of the year OPPOSITE PAGE: A test train traversing the Expo 2 alignment.

This page: Welding rail in the I-10 box.

light-rail guideway limits. The 3-D modeling was an effective method to prove the relocation concept worked and it allowed our crews to move forward with installation,” said Bifone.

The JV also issued iPads to each team leader, at the foreperson level or above, to enhance communication and collaboration. According to Bifone, using the iPads ensured that each team member was operating using the most recent and up-to-date versions of all plans and specifications and facilitated real-time, accurate document control and record keeping, complete with photo and video capabilities.

When it came to verifying utilities, the team implemented hydro-vacuum excavation, which utilizes pressured water and a vacuum, to cut a total of 6,300 feet in multiple six-foot deep by nine-

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inch wide trenches.

“Without damaging any utilities, we discovered 337 new utilities and revised 50 known utilities from relocations to protect-in-place or no action,”

said Bifone. “To manage this utility work, the team convened all involved parties to verbally agree on solutions addressing scope, deadlines, responsible parties and costs.”

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May 2017 25

NRC Large project of the year Bifone also credits the partnership between the JV team and its client for several design innovations.

One such example can be found in the new Pico Boulevard Bridge. The alignment traveled under the existing I-405 overpass and over vehicular traffic on Sawtelle Boulevard at the Pico Boulevard Bridge, and all clearances were minimal. The conceptual design required lowering Sawtelle Boulevard, which would have significantly impacted the public and utility owners. Bifone explains that after collaborative and indepth structural analysis, the Expo 2 team identified a bridge type with a slimmer profile, allowing for the required clearances without additional roadwork.

Non-traditional practices were incorporated to falsework staging and erection to maintain traffic patterns and the bridge structure itself was set in place using hydraulic jacks.

Efforts to curb the negative effects of noise also required several different techniques including ambient noise surveys, sound blankets and replacing back-up

alarms with spotters.To mitigate vibration and noise emitted by light-rail vehicles, the team constructed a GERB system.

“The GERB is a ‘floating’ track section that is supported by heavy-duty springs. It was utilized in two locations on the project where more conventional noise and vibration mitigation measures were not enough, including an area adjacent to the music recording studios and the home of the Grammy Awards,” explained Bifone. “While it sounds simple enough, implementation with the track, train control, communications and other systems proved challenging. We relied heavily on input from our engineer and collaboration from the manufacturer of the technology and, at the end of the day, multiple contractors worked together to successfully install the first and second GERB in the country.”

Another first for the Expo 2 team was meeting numerous technical challenges to become the first transit project in the United States to achieve Envision™ Platinum certification from the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure.

“As communities seek to increase their sustainability and resiliency, Envision provides a meaningful roadmap for infrastructure projects the way LEED has done for buildings,” said Bifone. “In California, where economic and environmental sustainability are significant concerns, Envision helps show that major infrastructure projects can have a measurable effect on resiliency. In Los Angeles, I think that fact alone has opened the eyes of many owners and agencies to the benefits of using the Envision model and going forward we will see that as a requirement. The initiative shown by the project team at Expo 2 is a trendsetter.”

Safety, communication

A project of this size required a safety effort that not only encompassed the work crews, but the general public, as well.

Skanska’s Injury Free Environment™ (IFE) initiative provided a foundation to build the project’s safety culture by granting all employees stop-work authority should unsafe conditions arise.

The JV team gave detailed site safety

NRC large project of the year plans and comprehensive daily and pretask briefings to ensure all workers had a clear understanding of expectations.

New apprentices wore blue hard hats for the first 90 days so more experienced workers could pay extra attention.

By the project’s end, the team had accumulated more than 2.8 million man hours, many on 25-foot bridges or in 20foot deep trenches. The project’s OSHA Recordable Incident Rate was 1.42 with a Lost Time Accident Rate of 0.07.

“To work with the challenges of public exposure to the rail project and active rail line, we implemented a significant outreach program and numerous safety innovations,” said Bifone.

He explains that the team went beyond simply holding outreach events for the public, but truly listened to the concerns presented in an effort to find resolution. The Expo 2 team hosted more than 130 presentations to 5,700 stakeholders and distributed more than 290,000 copies of construction notices.

“To ensure community safety, we installed construction fencing to securely

delineate construction work areas. Careful maintenance of traffic plans minimized disruption to the traveling public, while weekend closures minimized the need for motorists to navigate unfamiliar detours or travel through construction during peak commute hours.

Where sidewalk access was impacted, we provided alternative ADA-compliant, covered walkways separated from passing traffic by walls,” said Bifone.

Despite the dedicated outreach efforts, the project team faced a significant challenge in the form of lawsuit filed against the owner by a group of determined residents. They believed the project’s Environmental Impact Report required updating and sought to move the project to an underground alignment— an option that wasn’t only cost prohibitive, but would have ended the project.

“As a result of the legal proceedings, construction in some areas was halted under court injunctions, and the project as a whole progressed under limited notice to proceed for many months.

Our team collaborated closely with the

owner during this time to adjust staging, work phasing and scheduling, as well as maintenance of traffic and other associated planning, so that we could progress the project as much as possible. This required careful coordination with suppliers, subcontractors and craft unions to ensure that appropriate crews, equipment and materials were available when needed,” said Bifone.

Bifone says that Expo 2 will be used as a model for future projects, not just because of its successes, but because of the lessons learned when things didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

“Recognizing these are important, so that we can build on those lessons to strengthen future projects, as well,” said Bifone. “ The ultimate takeaway is seeing riders on the train whose lives change as a result of the new line. Instead of facing unpredictable traffic snarls on the I-10 freeway, Angelinos have a dependable connection from downtown to Santa Monica and points in between. It’s amazing to see how what we build really does matter.”

Granite Construction crews worked on the Walong to Marcel Second Track project for about ten months.

Construction finished in March 2016.

All photos courtesy of Granite Construction.

WALONG TO MARCEL Second Track Project

by Maggie Lancaster, assistant editor

DESPITE A FEW SETBACKS, GRANITE CONSTRUCTION FINISHED THE WALONG TO MARCEL SECOND TRACK PROJECT FOR UNION PACIFIC AHEAD OF SCHEDULE WHILE KEEPING SAFETY A PRIORITY.

G

ranite Construction was awarded the Walong to Marcel Second Track project, an $8.1-million contract, by Union Pacific Railroad in April of 2015. The scope of work included clearing, excavation, embankment, drill and shoot rock, rock anchors, storm drain culverts, headwall structures and sub ballast to create approximately one mile of roadbed for a second mainline track. Additionally, six 48-inch steel pipes were bored and jacked under the live track to facilitate drainage flow. Instead of widening an existing century-old tunnel to create room for a second track, Granite excavated to create the second track alignment around the tunnel. The one-mile segment included in this project had double track segments on either side; the widening of the bottleneck increased train capacity.

The project site was surrounded by the Tehachapi Loop, commonly referred to as one of the seven wonders of the railroad world. Not only did the area’s steep terrain pose opportunity for issues, but also the work zone was very close to the in-service track, which sees up to 35 trains each day.

Granite’s portion of the project finished in March 2016 after about ten months of work. Finalization of the project occurred in November 2016 when the track work was slated for completion.

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Budget and time

John Van Lenten, Granite’s project manager for the project, credited the success of the budget and timing of the project to the critical path method schedule the team adhered to. The team built the project on paper first, and then compared it with its critical path to be sure that all steps were included.

At the beginning of construction, the team knew it would bore culverts as one of its first steps. Van Lenten made sure that the critical path was always advancing, even when it was difficult to concentrate on the task at hand due to complications or interference. Van Lenten said that he never doubted whether the job would be finished on time or ahead of schedule because of the critical path.

Due to the project’s complexities, a rigorous series of cost control methods were implemented and reviewed consistently by the construction crew and UP project team. This consistent reviewing allowed the status of the project to be understood at each step of the critical path.

Although the project was close in proximity to in-service tracks, no delays or impacts were experienced. Due to the track’s gradient, if a train had to make an unscheduled stop,

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May 2017 29

NRC SMall project of the year Project statistics •

•

• • • •

134,000 CY of excavation - drilled and shot approximately 16,000 cubic yards (CY) - ripped remainder with D10 and10,000-pound

hydraulic breakers Cuts in variable hardness rock nearly 100 feet high - installed rock dowels to stabilize excavated rock slope face Narrow fills constructed with excavated rock slope face Total of 1,450 lineal feet (LF) of 48-inch culvert pipe including 850 feet of bore and jack 8 each cast in place inlet/outlet structures 7,000 CY of sub ballast

restarting could have been problematic. Granite worked closely with UP flaggers to ensure stable traffic flow. Project activities with a higher likelihood of impacting the track and traffic flow were scheduled for lower volume train days.

“Despite significant extra work related to the slip-out, the project stayed within the original budget and contingency,” said James Mross, manager of construction projects for UP.

Obstacles

Granite did experience a few issues while working on the project. Due to variable rock types including hardness and consistency, crews had to excavate with caution. After exca-

30 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

Above: Granite Construction crews prepare a roadbed for the second track to be added to the Walong to Marcel.

vating nearly two-thirds of the large cut, a slip plane became visible. Once Granite realized that some of the cracks that had developed were widening, it made the decision to stop putting crews in at the face of the cut. Shortly after, a large slip out occurred resulting in an additional 12,000 CY of excavation.

Crews had to return to the top of the cut and lay the slope back more flat than before.

In addition to the slip out, Granite experienced another

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nrc small project of the year

Above: One of Granite’s drills breaking up rock to be cleared along the roadbed. Right: Crews lay pipes under live track to facilitate drainage.

obstacle: the discovery of a fiber optic line that impeded its work on drainage boring.

“Union Pacific owned the line,” said Van Lenten. “But they were unable to have an engineer come out to move it for a few months, so to save time, we moved it ourselves.”

This resulted in what Van Lenten approximates to be another 500-800 cubic feet of earth that had to be relocated.

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NRC SMall project of the year Safety

“Safety was of the utmost concern for this project,” said Van Lenten. “A dedicated commitment by all project team members was the culture needed to achieve zero injuries during this complex and challenging project.”

Between the high desert environment, steep terrain and the need to excavate directly above live tracks, the Granite crew had a lot to handle. With a safety goal of zero injuries, the crew used a variety of project-specific safety tools including daily briefings and jobsite inspections, hazard analysis, work plans, safety stand downs and near-miss reporting to keep its goal a reality. At the end of the project, the team succeeded; its goal of zero injuries was attained.

At an elevation of 4,000 feet, Granite crews faced a high fire hazard during summer months. Due to the project’s need for extensive welding, Granite set up an adapted welding tent for work in the trench box. A limited water supply due to drought meant the team had to be innovative in its planning. They developed an internal hot work approval process that was required before any hot work could begin. Granite also created a water agreement with an adjacent rancher to help aid the balancing of water supply rates and construction demand during an extensive drought.

The work site’s steep terrain included grades up to 30 percent on the narrow access roads. To help prevent the risks of incident and injury, Van Lenten made sure to have a CAT equipment professional evaluate the site and offer economical and safe equipment recommendations. Van Lenten said that they chose to use CAT 735 and 740 articulating haul trucks for their en-

32 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

Above: Granite installed storm drain culverts as a part of its contract with Union Pacific.

gine retardance to help slow the trucks without solely relying on the breaks. The trucks had to have four-wheel drive in order so the crew could reach the cut safely. Van Lenten and the Granite crew also made sure that all operators were properly trained to use the equipment.

Finally, what might have been the most dangerous part of the job, excavating directly over live track, ended with zero rocks falling onto the tracks. Granite proactively had crews install a rock fall fence, something that was not a part of its contract. UP even elected to leave the fence in place after construction.

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AREMA NEWS Message from the President

Professional Development

Innovation & improvement for the future of the industry Continuous innovation and improvement driven by necessity has been a hallmark of the North American railway industry since the start of significant operations in the 1830s. Starting with a basic “rail-way” created from thick wooden planks anchored to stone blocks, improved upon by adding iron straps to the wear surfaces of the planks and then fully transformed by the development of solid iron rails affixed to wooden crossties, a progression of research and development into the science of the wheel-rail interface was set in motion that continues to this day.

It is readily acknowledged that, in terms of total volume and axle loadings, today’s North American freight railway operations are unlike anything else in the world. The ability to efficiently handle ubiquitous 286K car loading, and now the routine use of 315K car loadings on many core routes, has only come about through steady improvements to basic steel rail technology and an improved understanding of maintenance practices. In the past decade, widespread use of high tractive effort AC locomotive technology enabled the train length and trailing tonnage envelope to be pushed ever higher. This introduced yet another stress vector to the wheel-rail interface equation that must be understood and managed.

Nowhere is the continuing spark of innovation and improvement to help address these issues better witnessed than at the Association of American Railroads’ (AAR) Transportation Technology Center, Inc., (TTCI) located near Pueblo, Colo. Best known for its Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) loop, the TTCI facility is unlike anything else in the world. This facility, and its staff, truly highlights the best aspects of the North American railway industry with proactive research being performed in a collective manner to address the real world needs of the AAR member roads. TTCI also serves the industry’s suppliers by administering privately-funded material and equipment test programs to validate new products for potential industry usage.

In late March, I had the pleasure of attending the annual TTCI Research Review and participated in the FAST loop track-walk for the first time. Over the years, I have frequently read about the facility and kept abreast of the research being performed in areas I had professional contact with, but I never had the opportunity to visit the facility in person. Now I can say without hesitation that should an opportunity arise for you to visit the site, take full advantage of it and go.

The Research Review and TTCI site visit also made it more apparent to me how uninformed the general public is, or even rail sector policy experts are, about the extent of active materials and equipment research that occurs on a daily basis to improve the safety and efficiency of North American railways.

Recently, several public-facing media articles have been published that highlighted incidents involving rail or track component failures.

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Upcoming Bridge Inspection & Streambed Scour

Seminar June 12-15, 2017 Québec City, QC, Canada Public Private Partnerships (P3) in Rail Transportation, Funding for the Future

David A. Becker, PE AREMA President 2016–2017

Webinar June 21, 2017 2:00 – 3:30 p.m. EST

AREMA 2017 Annual Conference Seminars Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering (IPRE) September 15-17 FRA 213: Track Safety Standards September 20-22 Track Alignment Design September 20-22 Intermodal Terminal Engineering September 20-21 Railroad Bridge Load Rating Steel Structures September 21 To help your advancement, AREMA offers seminar and webinar programs that will extend our ability to serve the educational needs of our railway engineering community with PDH accredited web based courses as well as classroom setting seminars.

For more information on upcoming seminars and webinars, please visit www.arema.org.

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 33

Upcoming Committee Meetings May 10-11 Committee 18 - Light Density & Short Line Railways

Cedar Rapids, IA

May 18-19

Committee 8 - Concrete Structures & Foundations

Buffalo, NY

May 16-17 Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems Oakland, CA

June 7-8

Committee 9 - Seismic Design for Railway Structures

Denver, CO

May 16-17

Committee 15 - Steel Structures

Buffalo, NY

July 26-27

Committee 7 - Timber Structures

Omaha, NE

May 16-18

Committee 5 - Track

Pueblo, CO

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, including those being held in conjunction with the AREMA 2017 Annual Conference, please 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.

FYI…

Registration is open for the AREMA 2017 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange, September 17-20 in Indianapolis, Ind. Visit www. arema.org to register. For more information on Railway Interchange, visit www.railwayinterchange.org.

Be sure you’re in the hands of all AREMA 2017 Annual Conference attendees by advertising in the AREMA Conference Proceedings. Visit www. arema.org for more information on advertising rates.

Get Noticed! Do you want to generate leads, promote a product and reach a target audience? Sign up for sponsorship of the AREMA 2017 Annual Conference in conjunction with Railway Interchange.

Contact Lindsay Hamilton at lhamilton@ arema.org for more information!

Call for Entries The 2017 Dr. William W. Hay Award for Excellence selection process has begun. Entries must be submitted by May 26, 2017. 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 candidates with the training and education needed for long-term success. Visit www. arema.org/careers to post your job today. Use code EMPLOYERS to receive a discount.

Not an AREMA Member?

Join today at www.arema.org 34 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

The following committee meetings will take place in Indianapolis, Ind. during the 2017 AREMA Annual Conference: September 16: Committee 5 - Track, Committee 24 - Education & Training, Committee 27 - Maintenance of Way Work Equipment September 17: Committee 5 - Track, Committee 10 - Structures, Maintenance & Construction, Committee 11 - Commuter & Intercity Rail Systems, Committee 12 - Rail Transit, Committee 14 - Yards & Terminals, Committee 16 - Economics of Railway Engineering & Operations, Committee 17 - High Speed Rail Systems, Committee 24 - Education & Training, Committee 33 - Electric Energy Utilization, Committee 42 - Bridge Maintenance, Committee 43 - Signals Maintenance September 18: Committee 13 - Environmental, Committee 33 - Electric Energy Utilization September 20-21: Commttee 39 - Positive Train Control

In my opinion, these articles give the public the impression that problematic conditions are the norm and that the industry has little interest in using innovation to improve track-related safety. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is unfortunate that media outlets don’t highlight the hardworking researchers and scientists working behind the scenes to help establish the root causes and understand the failure mechanisms, so the next generation of rail and track components can be developed.

I close out this month’s column by briefly speaking to the future direction of AREMA. During my term as president, I have sought to drive home the point that AREMA and its predecessor organizations have been the professional organization of choice for those in the railway engineering sector for more than a century, and we must strive to remain relevant in this regard going forward.

A key initiative currently underway to help ensure AREMA’s relevancy is an update of the organization’s strategic plan. While this plan is multi-faceted, a major element relates to addressing the simple question, “Why join AREMA?” I believe that education and professional growth are two drivers. We need to provide informational resources so members may perform their work more effectively. AREMA also needs to provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning and networking. Currently on a monthly basis, AREMA members have access to information on a variety of technical matters and maintenance practices via articles published in Railway Track & Structures. Peer-topeer professional interactions are a key reward for Technical Committee participation, and opportunities abound for professional networking at major events like the 2017 AREMA Annual Conference.

At its heart, AREMA remains a member-driven organization. It is critically important that member needs are understood and being met. Please feel free to reach out to me at dabecker@nscorp.com with your thoughts and ideas on how AREMA might serve you more effectively. Your insight as a member will help shape the future of the organization.

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AREMA NEWS

Getting to know Sean Woody Each month, AREMA features one of our committee chairs or members. We are pleased to announce that the May featured member is Sean Woody, chair of Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems.

AREMA: Why did you choose a career in railway engineering?

WOODY: I had a family connection to the railroad industry. My grandfather was a 40-year N&W man. My father did not inherit the railroading bug since he chose to work in another industry (for 50 years! I guess he had to outdo my grandfather). So to plagiarize Jimmy Buffett, I am the son of a son of a railroader.

AREMA: How did you get started?

WOODY: After I graduated with a degree in Metallurgical Engineering, Norfolk Southern (NS) contacted me about a materials engineer position in the Research and Tests Laboratory. At the time, NS still operated a foundry, a blacksmith shop and a fabrication shop, which made it an exciting place to work for a metallurgist. NS also offered to pay me to break things, so how could I refuse? Since then, I have held various positions within R e s e a r c h a n d Te s t s , w h i c h h a s allowed me to work with all of the different NS departments.

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

WOODY: Chuck Slater at Industry Railway suppliers persuaded me to join AREMA Committee 5 - Track because my job at the time involved track tool evaluations. I later moved to Committee 2 - Track Measurement and Assessment Systems when I became the manager of the NS track geometry group. The folks in Committee 2 convinced me to put my name in the hat for committee secretary. It seems like yesterday, but now I find myself as committee chair.

Committee 2 has a great group of folks and some real characters, so I have

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SEan Woody CHAIR, committee 2 - Track measurement & assessment systems

Manager, Technology Department Norfolk Southern Corporation

enjoyed my time there.

AREMA: What are your hobbies outside of your work?

WOODY: My youngest daughter will finish college in the next month so I am looking forward to being able to afford a hobby. Seriously, I enjoy hiking with my wife and reading.

AREMA: Tell us about your family.

WOODY: I am for tunate to have been married to my lovely wife April for 25 years. We have two wonderful daughters. My older daughter Grace is a nurse in a neonatal intensive care unit. My younger daughter Hope will g raduate soon with a communications arts degree.

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

WOODY: David Copperfield once chose me to go onstage for one of his mag ic shows. I do not know why he chose me; I was the only person in the entire theater that did not raise their hand to volunteer.

He complained that I kicked his

magic box too hard when he asked me to verify it was not a trick box.

AREMA: W h at i s yo u r b i g g e s t achievement so far?

WOODY: Somehow convincing my wife that I am the man of her dreams.

I am still not sure how I pulled that off. Professionally, I am most proud of the unique career path I have enjoyed.

I like to say that I have never had the same day twice. I’ve worked with some fantastic people while contributing to both NS and the industry.

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

WOODY: Ask questions and never stop learning. Someone can always answer your questions. And the best answers always come from the people who crawl under freight cars or walk track with you [in order] to explain the answer. The trick is finding that person. AREMA can be a great place to start. I have been blessed with a multitude of people willing to answer my questions. I thank all those people for their time and patience.

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Railway Track & Structures

November 2016 41

AREMA NEWS

RailTEAM established for new UTC program by: John G. Green, PhD, PE

The United States Depar tment of Transpor tation (USDOT) promotes transpor tation research and technology through its University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program, which awards and administers grants to consortia of colleges and universities across the United States. The UTC Program advances transpor tation technology working to improve the safety and efficiency of our nation’s movement of people and goods. Each UTC is made up of a group of several colleges and universities that work together on a specific research topic.

In December of 2016, the “Rail Transpor tation Engineering and Advance Methodology (RailTEAM)” consortium was established as the University Transportation Center on Improving Rail Transportation Infrastructure Sustainability and Durability, with University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV) leading the UTC. University of Delaware, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia

Hualiang Teng with middle school students, and their advisor, who won the Garrett Morgan Sustainable Transportation Competition.

Tech) were its partnering universities.

Dr. Hualiang (Harry) Teng sat down with AREMA Committee 24 - Education and Training to discuss the new UTC. Dr. Teng will lead the UTC at UNLV, where he is a professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, directing the university’s Railroad Engineering program. Additionally, Dr. Teng is a commissioner with the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority.

AREMA: Dr. Teng, please describe the mission and research focus of the University Transportation Center on Improving Rail Transportation Infrastructure Sustainability and Durability.

TENG: In the next 30 years, the U.S. will experience significant growth in people and freight travel, within and between cities. This will cause transpor tation systems, including railroads, to deteriorate faster and be

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further congested. Building more durable transportation systems, monitor ing and maintaining the systems effectively, advocating the use of public transportation and developing high-speed rail systems can be solutions to the critical transpor tation problems. The Tier 1 University Transportation Center RailTEAM that is focused on improving rail transportation infrastructure sustainability and durability will develop advanced approaches for managing “big data” that results from high-tech inspection systems to improve the performance and maintenance of critical railway components and provide timely and effective in situ monitoring of railway and rolling stock components that most frequently lead to derailments, slow orders and other events that pose safety risks or interrupt operations. The RailTEAM will also explore new materials and technologies for maintaining well-surfaced track, based on applying the science and physics of tribology, surface chemistry and advanced grinding techniques and finally, provide guidelines for high-speed rail infrastructure by bringing together global knowledge, with the geological and topological information specific to the location of each railway, for such critical infrastructure as tracks and bridges.

AREMA: What talents and strengths do each of the three universities - University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Delaware and Virginia Tech - bring to the research effort?

TENG: Dr. Mehdi Ahmadian will lead the team from Virginia Tech. He is an internationally-recognized leader in the field of Rail Vehicle System Dynamics. He is recognized as one of the most influential transportation research leaders through his service as editor for three international journals. Dr. Ahmadian is fellow and associate fellow for three professional societies. Virginia Tech has a Railway Technologies Laboratory (RTL), an AAR-Affiliated Lab, that is one of only three laboratories in the country that have such a distinction. RTL has had a long history of productive and collaborative research with the U.S. Class 1 railroads, their suppliers and government agencies like the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA).

Dr. Allan Zarembski, the lead at Univer sity of Delaware, is an internationally-recognized authority on rail maintenance management and engineering, encompassing the full range of railway and transit infrastructure activities. Dr. Zarembski’s expertise has been recognized by the railway industry in his election as an Honorary Member of AREMA, a rare distinction bestowed to only 62 individuals (only 12 of whom are living) over the entire history of AREMA, dating back to 1883. Dr. Zarembski is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He is a recognized expert in railroad and transit engineering not only in the U.S., but also

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 37

AREMA NEWS in Europe, Asia and Australia. Dr. Zarembski and his team are active in the use of “big data” analyses techniques to improve track maintenance planning, forecasting and management. Univer sity of Delaware's annual “Big Data in Railroad Engineering” conference is widely attended by railroads, suppliers and academia, and has been supported by AREMA. The faculty at UNLV has taken a leading role in transportation research concerning high-speed rail. As director of the Railroad, High-Speed Rail and Transit Initiative at UNLV, I am proud of what our university has accomplished. We established the first AREMA student chapter in the southwest U.S. We initiated the first workshop on HSR, at which former USDOT Secretary Ray LaHood and FRA Administrator Joseph C. Szabo provided keynote speeches. I am grateful to have been appointed by the Nevada governor as a commissioner to the Nevada High-Speed Rail Authority, because this position allows me and the railroad program at UNLV to have first-hand knowledge of the plans to construct a high-speed rail passenger service from Las Vegas, Nev. to Los Angeles, Calif.

AREMA: Stretching maintenance budgets is always a concern of railways.

What are some research projects that the consortium will pursue to improve the life of railway infrastructure?

TENG: This subject is a key area of our research. Here is a list of the projects to be conducted under this center: 1. Real-time monitoring of

coupler forces using low-cost,

low-energy accelerometers 2. Real-time monitoring of

switches and frogs using rail-

embedded sensors 3. Top-of-rail (ToR) lubricity

assessment using laser optic

reflective sensors 4. Track maintenance planning

and forecasting using big

data theory 5. Development of new

generation rail wear

and fatigue life forecasting 6. Track Maintenance Planning

Models using big data theory

38 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

7.

Risk-based management of rail defect testing 8. Development of

performance-based seismic

design method for

the girder bridge in high-

speed rail considering the

near-fault earthquake effects 9. Develop smart bridge bearing

system for high-speed rail 10. Rail-flaw detector at high

speed (>70 mph) AREMA: If only one trend can be said to have never changed in the long history of railroading, it is that trains continue to get heavier. What research projects will the UTC undertake to find ways to improve the durability of track and structures to deal with heavier trains?

TENG: There are many ways to accommodate the increasing weight of trains, such as harder wheels and rail, stronger ties and thicker track sections. Research will be conducted to find the most cost-effective solutions.

In addition, a new generation of analysis tools are being developed, such as improved rail wear and fatigue life forecasting models, which look at factors like increased axle loads as key inputs. The effects of heavier locomotives and heavier freight cars can be examined within the context of other improvements in component quality, strength and performance (e.g. improved rail hardness, fatigue strength, etc.).

AREMA: With UNLV’s location in the desert southwest region of the U.S., the UTC will be in the perfect position to research the durability of railway equipment in a hot and dr y environment. What research could the UTC pur sue to make full use of the benefits of UNLV’s natural environment?

TENG: Heat causes expansion in key railway infrastructure materials, like steel and concrete. The impact of extreme heat on these cr itical system components is recognized as an impor tant railway safety issue.

With UNLV’s ideal location in the M o j ave D e s e r t , t h e R a i l T E A M UTC will conduct comprehensive s t u d i e s o n t h e r e l e va n t s y s t e m components, making sure they have

Dr. Mehdi Ahmadian, the Dan Pletta professor and director, Railway Technologies Laboratory (RTL) at Virginia Tech, and Dr. Andrew Peterson, lab manager and senior research scientist, discuss recent tests on state of the art roller rig at RTL.

the same safety performance as in the regular environment.

AREMA: The UNLV Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering offers many educational opportunities for studying Railroad Engineering.

Could you please provide some details of the UNLV Railroad Program?

TENG: The railroad program at UNLV offers six courses on railroading: Introduction to Railroading, Railroad Engineering, Railroad Operations, F r e i g h t Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n , P u b l i c Transportation Systems and HighSpeed Rail. These courses deal with planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance of railroad systems that transport both people and freight. These courses are available to undergraduate and graduate students.

By taking these courses, students gain a basic understanding of railroad systems. Undergraduate students can choose railroading topics for their senior design project, which can prepare them for railway careers. We also organize field trips and seminars on railroading, so that students can keep abreast of the current practices and issues in the railway industry.

Railway research opportunities are provided to graduate students who are interested in careers in railroading.

Other consortium members also

www.rtands.com

AREMA NEWS

Dr. Allan Zarembski, professor at the University of Delaware, and honorary member of the AREMA.

offer a range of courses and programs.

Virginia Tech has educational courses and undergraduate and graduate research programs that are aimed at better preparing students for the railway industry. A graduate course on Rail Dynamics and a newly developed course in Machine Learning applications for rail data analysis are among the railway course offerings at Virginia Tech. Additionally, more than 25 graduate and undergraduate students interact with the Railway Technologies Laboratory at Virginia Tech on projects related to rail e n g i n e e r i n g . T h e va s t m a j o r i t y of these students find their way to railway engineering companies when they graduate.

The University of Delaware offers four undergraduate and graduate courses, as well as a specialized Graduate Cer tificate in Railroad Engineering that can be obtained by taking online courses or traditional courses located on campus. Courses include Introduction to Railroads for undergraduates and Railroad Engineering, Railroad Safety and Derailment Engineering and Railroad Geotechnical Engineering for seniors and graduates. A fifth course in Railroad Construction Management for seniors and graduates is being planned for next year.

AREMA: UNLV hosts an AREMA Student Chapter to help advance college students’ interest in pursuing careers in railroading. Can you please tell us about some of the activities that the student chapter has done and some

www.rtands.com

upcoming events?

TENG: Both UNLV and Virginia Tech have AREMA student chapters, which were established about the same time. Since the UNLV student chapter’s establishment in 2011, railway industry speakers, both local and inter national, have presented seminars. Railway workshops have been hosted by UNLV, like the AREMA Introduction to Practical Railway Engineering three-day seminar and the National Transit UTC-suppor ted “Public Tr a n s p o r t a t i o n S y s t e m s ” t w o day seminar. Our AREMA Student Chapter member s have received s c h o l a r s h i p s t o at t e n d r a i l r o a d conferences and workshops. Our railroading graduates have gone to work for Class 1 railroads like BNSF, and agencies such as the California High-Speed Rail Authority. We are proud to be one of the few universities to teach vital railroading software tools such as the RTC simulation software and utilize it in research.

The UNLV faculty and students participate in railway research that is suppor ted by esteemed railway industry sponsors, such as USDOT UTC programs.

Middle school and high school students also have oppor tunities to lear n about careers and issues in railroad eng ineer ing , through summer camps and design competitions. The recently awarded U T C w i l l a l s o a l l ow U N LV t o conduct research and develop courses specifically for education and training on high-speed rail. A two-day seminar on high-speed rail is in the planning stages to be held later this year. Additionally, the UTC will be periodically hosting high-speed rail industr y exper ts to speak on the subject in order to spread knowledge about the subject and current HSR issues.

Similarly, the AREMA student chapter at Virginia Tech has been quite active since its establishment in 2010.

The student chapter has collaborated with Class 1 railroads, such as Norfolk Southern, and Amtrak to bring in key industry professionals to speak at monthly meetings. It has also arranged

Order the 2017 Manual for Railway Engineering today!

AREMA is pleased to announce the 2017 Manual for Railway Engineering!

There are over 55 new, revised, and reaffirmed Parts. Downloadable Chapters can be purchased and downloaded from the AREMA online store when the Manual arrives in May. Our committees have worked diligently over the past year to update all four volumes of the Manual. Although "Revision" sets will be available, there have been so many changes that you should consider purchasing the full 2017 Edition.

Order online now!

Contact Morgan Bruins today for more details. mbruins@arema.org

field trips to rail car repair shops and rail yards. These activities have raised student awareness of the rail industry and in railroading careers. This has lead many Virginia Tech graduates to seek out and enter into careers in the railway industry.

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 39

PRODUCTS Satellite lubricant storage

CALENDAR

Whitmore is offering a solution to sticky situations regarding lubricant storage: the OilSafe Satellite Lube Room. For when lubricants are subject to remote or extreme conditions and interior space is limited, the lube room offers a stand-alone system with placement flexibility and state-of-the-art features.

The lube room’s sturdy steel structure establishes a safe and efficient remote base of operations for storing, dispensing and managing industrial lubricants. The room is completely customizable and comes complete with a work table, interior-exterior and emergency lighting, A/C system, container ventilator cover, exhaust fan, fire suppression tank, siren, cord reel, carbon monoxide alarm, 200 amp service panel, spill containment drainage, electrical shut-off, emergency exit and secondary emergency exit. The Satellite Lube Room supports all the essential features of an OilSafe lubrication setup and packages them into a fully selfcontained, regulation compliant structure that can be loaded onto a flatbed tow truck (20ft model) and moved easily with a forklift (20ft and 40ft models). E-mail: sales@whitmores.com

Low viscosity epoxy

Master Bond has a new two-part epoxy that cures somewhat hard, but has notable toughness along with high elongation.

Master Bond EP29LPHE’s epoxy can be used for bonding, coating, sealing and encapsulation. This low viscosity system has a forgiving mix ratio of 100 to 80 by weight. The working life of a 100 gram mass is exceptionally long, between 12 and 24 hours. Master Bond sayd the EP29LPHE epoxy will cure at ambient or elevated temperatures. The epoxy’s optimum cure schedule is 12-24 hours at room temperature, followed by four to five hours at 140 to 180 degrees Fahrenheit. Upon curing, Masterbond promises this system’s strength and toughness. The system bonds well to a wide variety of substrates including metals, ceramics, glass, optical fibers, polyimide, graphite and many rubbers and plastics.

Although the EP29LPHE cures relatively hard, it has high elongation that imparts good impact and shock resistance; this also allows it to be used in applications where thermal cycling is important. EP29LPHE epoxy resists exposure to chemicals including water, acids, bases, oils and fuels. EP29LPHE is available for use in 1/2 pint, pint, quart, gallon and 5-gallon container kits. Website: www.masterbond.com/tds/ep29lphe

40 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

MAY 15-17. Railroad Bridge Inspection Workshop. Knoxville, Tenn. Phone: 865-974-1812 E-mail: dclark e@utk.edu.

We b s i t e : h tt p : / / c t r. u t k . e d u / C T R r a i l c o u r s e s / r a i l c l a s s . php?id=332&loc=1.

22-25. North American Rail Shippers Association 2017 Annual Meeting. Parc 55 Hilton. San Francisco, Calif.

Phone: 331-643-3369. E-mail: nars@railshipers.com. www. railshippers.com.

JUNE 6-7. Rail Insights. Union League Club of Chicago. Chicago, Ill. E-mail: conferences@sbpub.com. Website: www.railwayage. com/index.php/conferences/rail_insights.html.

11-14. American Public Transportation Association (APTA) 2017 Rail Conference. Hilton Baltimore. Baltimore, Md. Website: www.apta.com.

18-21. 2017 American Railway Development Association Annual Meeting. The Peabody Hotel. Memphis, Tenn. Phone: 202-715-1259. E-mail: staff@amraildev.com. Website: www. amraildev.com.

18-21. 2017 RICA Annual Conference. Renaissance Esmerelda Indian Wells Report & Spa. Palm Springs, Calif. Website: www. rica.org/events/EventDetails.aspx?id=839799&group=.

20-21. 2017 Rail Infrastructure and Vehicle Inspection Technology Conference. University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign. Urbana, Ill. E-mail: rivit-con@illinois.edu. Website: http://railtec.illinois.edu/RIVIT/rivit.php.

JULY 10-11. Midwest Association of Rail Shippers (MARS) Summer Meeting. Grand Geneva Resort. Lake Geneva, Wis. Phone: 630-513-6700. E-mail: mars@mwrailshippers.com.

Website: www.mwrailshippers.com/upcoming_meetings.asp.

26-28. 2 4 t h A n n u a l Ra i l r o a d L i a b i l i t y C o n f e r e n c e .

Worthington Renaissance Hotel. Fort Worth, Texas. Phone: 817-763-8297. E-mail: pah@fwwr.net. Website: www. e v e n t b r i t e . c o m / e / 2 4 t h - r a i l r o a d - l i a b i l i t y- c o n f e r e n c e registration-28015725790?aff=es2.

31-Aug. 3. 2017 Railway Tie Association (RTA) Tie Grading Seminar. Guthrie, Ky. Phone: 770-460-5553. E-mail: ties@rta. org. Website: www.rta.org/grading-seminar.

SEPTEMBER 17-20. Railway Interchange 2017. Indiana Convention Center. Indianapolis, Ind. E-mail: info@railwayinterchange. org. Website: www.railwayinterchange.org/.

17-20. Intermodal EXPO 2017. Long Beach Convvention Center. Long Beach, Calif. Phone: 301-982-3400, ext. 354.

E-mail: shanelle.casey@intermodal.org. Website: www.

IntermodalEXPO.com.

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Ad Index Company

Phone

Fax#

A&B Rail Services Ltd. 800-661-5645

E-mail address

Page #

isabellirvine@universalrail.com

NRC14

Amtrac Railroad Contractors of Maryland, Inc. 301-797-3730

cchaney@amtracmd.com

NRC15

AREMA Marketing Department 301-459-3200

301-459-8077

marketing@arema.org

Cover 3

Aspen Equipment Co.

952-656-7132

952-656-7157

bmarini@aspeneq.com

NRC14

Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc.

888-250-5746

904-378-7298

info@bbri.com

29

Birmingham Rail & Locomotive Co.

205-424-7245

205-424-7436

bhamrail@aol.com

8

Commercial Insurance Associates LLC

615-515-6048

darmstrong@com-ins.com

NRC12

Danella Rental Systems, Inc.

610-828-6200

610-828-2260

pbarents@danella.com

8

Dixie Precast, Inc.

770-944-1930

770-944-9136

fbrown142@aol.com

11

Encore Rail Systems, Inc.

303-956-3796

gs@encorers.com

NRC15

ESCO Equipment Service Co.

847-758-9860

gehr@escoequipment.com

NRC16

Hamilton Construction Company

541-746-2426

bhirte@hamil.com

NRC13

Herzog Railroad Services, Inc.

816-233-9002

816-233-9881

jcole@hrsi.com

NRC17

HiRAIL Corporation

800-274-7245

319-455-2914

info@hirail.com

10

Holland Co.

708-367-2987

708-672-0119

ptenhoven@hollandco.com

19

Hougen Manufacturing, Inc.

866-245-3745

800-309-3299

info@trak-star.com

30

L.B. Foster Co.

412-928-3506

412-928-3512

glippard@lbfosterco.com

9

Landoll Corp.

785-562-5381

Deb.Landoll@Landoll.com

NRC13

Michigan State University

517-353-5663

517-353-0796

littlen@broad.msu.edu

11

Moley Magnetics

844-662-4638

716-434-5893

sales@moleymagneticsinc.com

20

National Compressor Exchange, Inc.

800-225-7381

compressors@nationalcompressor.com

NRC16

North American Rail Products, Inc.

604-946-7272

888-692-1150

cerhart@narailproducts.com

9

Neel Company, The

703-913-7858

703-913-7859

jlewis@neelco.com

5

Omega Industries, Inc. OMNI Products, Inc.

360-694-3221 815-344-3100

360-694-3882 815-344-5086

omegaxings@aol.com bcigrang@omnirail.com

25 21

Orgo-Thermit, Inc.

732-657-5781

732-657-5899

georgeanne.tutunjian@orgothermit.com

Cover 2

Racine Railroad Products

262-637-9681

262-637-9069

custserv@racinerailroad.com

RailCet

866-724-5238

217-522-6588 grif1020@yahoo.com

Rail Equipment Services, Inc.

318-995-7006

barbarastokes@railwayequipmentservices.net

NRC12

Railway Education Bureau, The

402-346-4300

402-346-1783

bbrundige@sb-reb.com

6,32

RailWorks Corporation

866-905-7245

952-469-1926

ksimpson@railworks.com

26-27

R.J. Corman Railroad Group, LLC

800-611-7245

859-885-7804

www.rjcorman.com

NRC Cover 4

voestalpine Nortrak

307-778-8700

307-778-8777

gord.weatherly@voestalpine.com

Cover 4

Western-Cullen-Hayes, Inc.

773-254-9600

773-254-1110

cp@wch.com

15

31 7

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.

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.

Advertising Sales general sales OFFICE AL, KY Jonathan Chalon Publisher (212) 620-7224 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 633-1165 New York, NY 10014 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 (212) 620-7260 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 633-1863 New York, NY 10014 jmarullo@sbpub.com

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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 (312) 683-5026 20 South Clark St. Fax: (312) 683-0131 Ste. 1910 Chicago, IL 60603 hdisabato@sbpub.com

RH16 3LB, UK Louise Cooper International Sales Manager Suite K5 &K6 The Priory +44-1444-416917 Syresham Gardens Fax: +44-1444-458185 Haywards Heath, RH16 3LB United Kingdom lc@railjournal.co.uk

Responsible for advertisement sales in all parts of the world, except Italy, Italian-speaking Switzerland, Japan, and North America.

Suite N2, The Priory, Syresham Gardens, Haywards Heath, West Sussex

Italy and Italian-speaking Switzerland Dr. Fabio Potesta Media Point & Communications SRL Corte Lambruschini Corso Buenos Aires 8 +39-10-570-4948 V Piano, Int 9 Fax: +39-10-553-0088

16129 Genoa, Italy info@mediapointsrl.it Japan Katsuhiro Ishii Ace Media Service, Inc. 12-6 4-Chome, +81-3-5691-3335 Nishiiko, Adachi-Ku Fax: +81-3-5691-3336 Tokyo 121-0824, Japan amskatsu@dream.com Classified, Professional & Employment Jeanine Acquart (212) 620-7211 55 Broad St., 26th Fl. Fax: (212) 633-1325 New York, NY 10014 jacquart@sbpub.com

Railway Track & Structures

May 2017 41

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44 Railway Track & Structures

May 2017

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