Week 12: Construction/operations cost and techniques

Text (13 pages)
• Ch. 3 (46-54, track)

Supp. Text:
• Ch. 3 Operations Costs (27-49)
• Ch. 5 Construction costs and Operating Expenses (59-68)
• Ch. 17 subgrade construction and maintenance (299-323)
• Ch. 18 subgrade construction costs (324-332)
• Ch. 21 ballast compaction and maintenance (419-435)
• Ch. 29 Maintenance (675-713)
• Ch. 30 ROW and Maintenance of ROW (714-721)

• All materials used in ballasting must conform to the regulations noted on the plans, and in other sections of the contract documents
• The track structure should be ballasted in at least three intermediate lifts and one final lift with no more than 4" of ballast per lift. The final lift shall be no more than 2" of compacted thickness and is intended to be primarily a smoothing lift
• Before ballasting begins, the track shall be brought in to approximate alignment. The final lift shall result in the true alignment, correct in plan, profile, and cross-leveling with the plans.
• Superelevation is to be accomplished by raising the outside of the track by a prescribed amount. The additional ballast needed for superelevation should be distributed throughout the lifts appropriately.
• For each lift, the track shall be raised and ballast distributed under the full length of the tie. Satisfactory compaction is required from the end of the ties to 15" inside either base of the rail. Both rails shall be lifted at the same time
• After the track has been finally surfaced and lined, the ballast shall be dressed in accordance with the drawings. All excess ballast shall be removed, and deficiencies shall be corrected.
• Payment will be based on measurements in track feet, regardless of the rail weight.
• Question: should the ballast be compacted under the center of each tie?
• Question: why remove excess ballast?

• The subgrade and subballast are to be completed and approved by the owner before turnout assembly begins. The turnout subballast may be used as a roadway for distribution of materials; however, the contractor is responsible to repair any disturbances caused by his operations.
• All materials shall conform to the requirements in the plans as well as in other sections of the contract document.
• The switch ties are to be distributed and spaced according to the plan for the entire length of the turnout. The end of the tie on the through track side of the turnout shall be placed 4'3" from the centerline of the through track. All ties shall be placed square to the centerline of the through track, and the wider heartwood face shall be placed down on the subgrade. All handling of treated wood is to be done with the proper tools. Peavys, pike poles, pick axes, and other sharp-pointed tools are prohibited.
• Switch, frog, turnout and tie plates shall be places squarely on the ties in accordance with the plan. Each plate shall be individually inspected. Any removal of tie material to fit the plan shall be treated with preservatives prior to final placement of the tie.
• The switch points shall be assembled, positioned and fastened according to the plan. A visual inspection shall be made to insure full contact between the plate seats and the stock rail and the switch point bases.
• The assembled frog shall be placed on the frog plates in accordance with the plans. The base of the frog shall be visually inspected for a flat lie on the plates. Situations requiring correction shall be decided by the owner's engineer.
• The remainder of the rail shall be positioned on the remaining plates and joined as indicated on the plans.
• Gage on both tracks shall be 4'8.5". Gaging shall be performed in the following sequence:

  - Line the strait rail on the through side of the turnout. This is the rail that does not have the frog in it. Fully spike this rail throughout, this will now become the reference rail.

  - Set the switch to gage, both at the points and the heel, and install the clips, rods and braces as indicated on the plans.

  - Continue gaging the strait closure rail through and beyond the frog, by setting gage off the reference rail. At this time the entire through side of the turnout should be in gage.

  - Refer to the table of offsets appropriate to the turnout being constructed.

  - Spike the curved closure rail down at the various offsets for the associated distances from the P.S. This ties the curved closure rail from the switch to the frog. The rail beyond the frog on the turnout side should be lined and fully spiked at this time.

  - Gage the curved rail on the turnout side from the P.S. on the bent stock rail through the limits of the turnout.

  - Lastly the remainder of the turnout should be fully spiked, the rail anchors and guard rails installed and the turnout lined, as shown on the plans.

• All spikes shall be driven vertical to the face of the tie, and square with the rail. Spikes which are bent during driving shall be withdrawn and a tie plug and new spike placed.
• Bolted joints shall be made with a pair of joint bars, bolts with nuts and spring washers and the proper size expansion shims. All bolts shall be tightened snug when assembled, and retightened three times. First after track has been brought to an approximate true alignment. Second after it has been given the second raise on the ballast; and finally immediately before final inspection of the work. For the final tightening of the joint bolts, a wrench not less than 36" and not greater than 42" in length shall be used by a "man of average strength".
• Cutting shall be accomplished by sawing or abrasion wheel cutting. Bolt holes, where required, shall be drilled, and no holes may be drilled between existing holes at the end of the rail. Oxy-Acetylene torch equipment shall not be used to cut or burn holes in the rail.
• Damaged materials will not be used in the work, and the contractor shall remove and replace any damaged material when requested to do so. No additional payment will be allowed to the contractor for the removal and replacement of damaged materials.
• The number of turnouts paid will be the number to be determined as acceptably installed, measured by frog size and rail weight. Length considered shall be the length from the end of the turnout to the point of the switch plus the length of the turnout.

• Materials used for grade crossing construction shall be as shown on the plans and in other sections of the contract documents.
• The contractor shall furnish a detailed plan of the crossing timber framing and layout plan to the owner's engineer. This plan shall be developed from the general plan of grade crossing shown in the contract documents. No orders for timber shall be placed prior to the owner's engineer's approval.
• Construction of the solid timber grade crossing shall not begin until the tack assembly and the ballasting work herein specified have been completed through the area where the crossing is to be installed. Accurate spacing of cross ties through this area is necessary for later construction.
• Timbers will be machined in accordance to the framing and layout plan. Filed cutting, boring or sizing of timbers is to be avoided and shall only be done at the direction of the owner's engineer. Areas that are field machined shall be treated with chemical preservatives.
• Prior to assembly, the contractor shall assure the cross ties are properly located to permit successful fastening of the timbers. Assembly shall consist of placing the timbers, pilot boring the crossties, and placing the attaching hardware.
• Asphalt fills adjacent to the track rails are to be placed after the timbers are attached.
• Other types of grade crossings shall be constructed with respect to the appropriate specification.
• The finish surface of all grade crossings shall be true to the plan, provide a smooth riding surface and be pleasing to the eye.
• Payment for crossings shall be measured in linear feet with respect to the type of construction. Distance will be measured along the centerline of sections acceptably completed.

• Some costs vary w/ # of trains (variable)
• Some costs do not (fixed costs)
• Some are only partly variable
  • repair & maintenance (80%)
  • train crews (100%)
  • signals and switching (50%)
  • bridge repair (30%)
  • accounting and finance (5%)
• Cost per ton mile (1978) ~ $0.01
• Cost per train mile (1978) ~ $45

  

• 1978 cost per mile avg. = $100,000 not including land

• Gross Revenue - a common yardstick
• The Gross Ton Mile (includes weith of train), net ton mile, revenue ton mile and non-revenue ton mile
• The Equated Gross Ton Mile (passenger trains are faster, so multiple is 3, for locomotives that do more damage than cars, multiply by 2)
• Cost per Thousand Ton Miles (used to account for damaging effects of different types of traffic)
• The cost per revenue ton mile (better measure of productivity)
• The Train Mile (one train running one mile)
• Cost per Train Mile (comparing effects of gradient, etc.)
• Cost per Track Mile Maintained (used to compare maintenance strategies)

• Accelerated track testing @ Pueblo, Colorado allows for studying affect of many loadings over a short period of time (15X mainline?) but does not test effect of speeds, time, consists, and weather
• Train dynamics very important (e.g., effects of low joints on rock & roll or cars causing wheel lift derailments)
• Railroads may not build all cars & locomotives from scratch but do retain capability to modify, build from kits, etc
• Mainline maintenance is highly automated with most maintenance occurring between trains -- a benefit of tie-rail-ballast type design
• Bridge load ratings
• Tie and surface gangs - liner tamper! slow orders
• Rail gangs
• FRA Standards Class I - VII (VI for freight mainline, VII for high speed passenger)
• Bridge types - benefit of ballast deck bridges
• Swing nose frog:
  
  (obtained from Rock Island Technical Society site)
• Track geometry car now at 125 mph
  rail head wear

  guage/dynamic guage widening

  alignment

  pinpoint accuracy

• Rail Construction Costs: Railway Technical Web Pages: Railway Finance
• Engineering News Record: COVER STORY (7/27/98): RAIL
• ENR Feature Story (8/31/1998): With Fast-Track Design-Build, CSX Upgrades Line in No Time - The railroad upgrade after CSX and Norfolk Southern acquired Conrail.
• Del-Jen, Inc. Constuction Photos: Railroad Construction - Contain pictures of the construction of concrete culvert underneath a railroad.
• Pacific Northern Rail Contractors Corp.- Construction Photos: PNRail - Construction - Contains some pictures of railroad construction
• Engineering News Record" (X) Laser Polishing Cuts Rail Wear - Reduce rail friction by new laser printing technology.
• ENSCO Inc.: Railroad Track Visual Inspection System (VIS)

• Click here for simulation of heavy rail transit operations (locations of trains in compressed time)
• Train Operations
  
• NCDOT: NCDOT - Rail Division - North Carolina's Station Improvement Program

• E&E Industrial Services, Inc
• Del-Jen, Inc. (DJI)
• Railroad Consulting Services, Inc.
• The Blue Book of Building and Construction
• Railroad Track Construction
• Railroad Construction Company, Inc.
• Railroad Construction Company, Inc.
• Railroad Construction Co. of South Jersey, Inc. @ http://www.railnj.com/
• Toils Induced by Weak Soils: A Photo Essay @ http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/schwert/stockwd/stockwd.htm
• Atlas Railroad Construction Co @ http://www.atlasrailroad.com/
• Condon Brothers Inc. @ http://www.condonbrothersinc.com/
• Delta Railroad Construction @ http://www.deltarr.com/
• Alaska Railroad @ http://www.akrr.com/
• Alaska Railroad History @ http://www.akrr.com/History/timeline.html
• Railroad Construction Equipment @ http://www.westsidetractor.com/rail.html
• Railroad Construction & Maintenance (Library of Congress) @ http://rs7.loc.gov/lexico/tgm1/r/Railroad_construction___maintenance.html
• Railway Track and Structures (RT&S) @ http://www.rtands.com/

Model Railroad Links:

• Rail Serve: Model Layouts and Design Data @ http://www.railserve.com/Models/Layouts/
• Lockheed Martin Recreation Association (LMRA) @ http://www.lmtas.com/LMRA/
• Layout Design Primer @ http://www.vetmed.auburn.edu/~smithbf/BFSpages/LDSIGprimer/TOC.html
• National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) Directory ~ of ~ World Wide Rail Sites @ http://www.rrhistorical.com/nmra/mancust.html
• Model Railroading with Digital Command Control (DCC) @ http://pages.sssnet.com/donc/layout.html