U of I to test high-speed rail components

Written by jrood

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign is conducting a $3.3 million study on the performance of certain track components of shared passenger and heavy-axle-load corridors to make them both safer and more efficient. The research to improve concrete crossties and fastening systems will be undertaken by the university's Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC), part of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CEE) at Illinois. It is sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration, which contributed approximately $2.4 million to perform the research. Industry partners will contribute the remaining $900,000. "These joint corridors present unique challenges in terms of the design and maintenance of infrastructure. This research project is aimed at improving concrete tie and fastener design in order to increase safety and reliability and lower their life cycle cost," said CEE faculty member J. Riley Edwards, who is leading the study. During the two-and-a-half-year study, researchers will conduct laboratory and field testing to compile empirically gathered performance data. Improved understanding of the tie and fastening system is expected to facilitate the development of performance requirements and design recommendations for concrete ties and fastening systems in the United States, specifically those used in joint passenger-freight railway infrastructure. They will also develop a centralized knowledge and document depository about concrete ties and fastening systems. In addition to Edwards, the research team includes CEE professors Bassem Andrawes, Daniel Kuchma and David Lange and Research Engineer Marcus Dersch, a CEE alumnus. The industry partners involved in the project include: Amtrak, BNSF, GIC Ingenieria y Construccion S.A. de C.V., Hanson Professional Services Inc., LB Foster Company, CXT Concrete Ties, Union Pacific and Unit Rail Inc./Amsted Rail Inc.

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