Both conference participants and sponsors were glad to return to meeting in person at the 2022 International Crosstie and Fastening System Symposium. This event was held on 24-25 May 2022 on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus. The 2020 conference, which was postponed due to COVID, was held virtually in 2021.
One hundred and twenty attendees from four different countries and 29 states were able to hear the 33 presentations which focused on the state of the art in timber, concrete, steel, and composite crosstie and fastening system design, performance, research, modeling, and inspection. Participants were also pleased to hear two keynote speakers. The Class 1 Keynote speaker was John Cech, Vice President of Engineering, BNSF Railway. The title of his presentation was “Engineering a Resilient Supply Chain.” The Rail Transit Keynote was given by Robert Powers, General Manager, Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), who discussed “BART: Keeping the Bay Area Moving.”
Five platinum sponsors (Loram Technologies Inc., Pandrol, Railmetrics, Vossloh North America, and voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak) and five sponsors (BASF, Holland, Lewis Bolt & Nut Company, Progress Rail, and TieTek Global) rounded out the symposium. The objective of the symposium was to further international communication and collaboration on design and performance challenges and solutions for crossties and fastening systems.
