Gray, B.A. and W.S. Marras. 1989. An experimental analysis of railroad spike maul methods. Human Factors: The Journal of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society. 31 (3): 335-344. doi:10.1177/001872088903100307.
This study investigated differences in railroad spike maul methods between experienced track workers and novice subjects. Differences were analyzed by developing a quantitative measure of the orientation of the spike maul path during spiking. The relationship between spiking motion pattern and spiking performance in both novice and experienced subjects was also investigated. Subjects were videotaped…
Jimenez, R. and J. LoPresti. 2004. Performance of Alternative Tie Material Under Heavy-Axle-Load Traffic. Railway Track and Structures. 100: January, pp. 16-18.
The Railway Tie Association, (RTA). 2008. RTA TieReports. The Railway Tie Association, Feyetteville, GA.
Federal Railroad Administration, (FRA). 2014. Analytical Tool for Track Component Response Measurement (I-TRACK), Vol. 2, Ch. 9, DOT/FRA/ORD-14/05. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Prause, R.H., H.D. Harrison, J.C. Kennedy and R.C. Arnlund. 1977. An Analytical and Experimental Evaluation of Concrete Cross Tie and Fastener Loads, FRA/ORD-77/71. US Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
This report had been prepared as part of the Improved Track Structures Research Program sponsored by the Office of Rail Safety Research of the Federal Railroad Administration. The report covers a reviews and evaluation of track analysis models and predicting tie and fastener loads. The principal track analysis model selected includes the effects of tie…
Venuti, W.J. An Investigation of Concrete Ties and Rail Fasteners. San Jose State College, Department of Civil Engineering, San Jose, CA.
During the past four years, the Department of Civil Engineering, San Jose State College, San Jose, California, has assisted in an extensive research and development program for the Ben C. Gerwick Company, Sand Francisco, California, in the development of mass transit and main line railroad prestress concrete ties. The program included the following: Rail seat…
Zarembski, A. 2010. Assessment of Concrete Tie Life on US Freight Railroads. ZETA-TECH, A Harsco Rail Business Unit, Cherry Hill, NJ.
Dean, F.E. 1981. Concrete and Wood Tie Performance, 425 MGT, FRA/TTC-81/06. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
This study is the third in a series which has reviewed the performance of concrete and wood tie track at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). It presents an evaluation of both types of track through 425 million gross tons (MGT) of service in the FAST Track at the Transportation Test Center (TTC), Pueblo,…
Dean, F.E. and R.H. Prause. 1980. Concrete and Wood Tie Track Performance through 150 Million Gross Tons, FRA/TTC-80/02. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
This report has been prepared as part of the Improved Track Structures Research Program sponsored by the Office of Rail Safety Research of the Federal Railroad Administration. The report presents an evaluation of concrete and wood tie track performance from test data taken at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). The evaluation examines track…
Harrison, H.D., E.T. Selig, F.E. Dean and H.E. Stewart. 1984. Correlation of Concrete Tie Track Performance in Revenue Service and at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing. Volume I - A Detailed Summary, FRA/ORD-84/02.1. Battelle Columbus Laboratories, Columbus, OH.
This report is the first of three volumes which describe a comparative study of concrete tie track in the U.S. revenue service and at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). The work was undertaken to develop an understanding of the degree to which FAST represents the “real world” of revenue service. The loading environment,…
Stewart, H.E. and E.T. Selig. 1984. Correlation of Concrete Tie Track Performance in Revenue Service and at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing. Volume II - Predictions And Evaluations of Track Settlement, FRA/ORD-82/44.2. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Predictions and evaluations of settlement were made for revenue and the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) track, both containing concrete and wood tie sections. The ballast physical states were investigated by field tests done before and after track maintenance. Borings were also taken to identify the subgrade conditions. The stress-dependent elastic and inelastic ballast…
Ahlbeck, D.R., J.M. Tuten, J.A. Hadden and H.D. Harrison. 1986. Development of Safety Criteria for Evaluating Concrete Tie Track in the Northeast Corridor - Remedial Projects Assessment (Volume 1), FRA/ORD-86/08.1. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Minor problems with the performance of some track components have been noted in Northeast Corridor concrete-tie track. Performance-related events have been caused primarily by short-duration impact loads due to wheel tread or rail running surface roughness. To reduce these occurrences, remedial projects were initiated by Amtrak. These included the development of a wheel impact load…
Banerjee, A., D.D. Davis, I. Aragona, M. McHenry and R.B. Wiley. 2017. Effects of Crossties and Fasteners on Rail Wear and Gage Strength in Heavy Axle Load Service, TD-17-006. Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, CO.
The effects of crosstie and fastener configurations on rail performance in heavy axle load service was evaluated in a controlled experiment. Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) has conducted rail wear analysis on a variety of tie and fastener test zones on Section 25 at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). The performance of this…
Allen, L. 2008. Evaluation of Tie Plate Cracking on Composite Ties, RR08-21. US Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), in Pueblo, Colorado, conducted a study to determine the effect of tie stiffness on the durability of tie plates mounted on plastic and wood ties on the High Tonnage Loop (HTL) at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST). Recently, several tie plates mounted to plastic ties have failed under…
Federal Railroad Administration, (FRA). 1976. FAST Instrumented Crossties. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Venuti, W. 1970. Field Investigation of the Gerwick RT-7 Prestress Concrete Tie. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA, USA.
Association of American Railroads, (AAR). 1965. Hold-Down Fastening for Tie Plates, Including Pads Under Plates: Their Effect on Tie Wear, ER-54. Association of American Railroads Research Department, Engineering Research Division, Chicago, IL.
Akhtar, M.N., D.D. Davis and J.A. LoPresti. 2012. Improving Performance of Crossties and Fasteners, TD-12-013. Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center, Inc., Pueblo, CO.
In a three-phase program, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. is comparing the performance of various crossties and fastener designs under heavy axle loads to identify problems with current design and materials (Phase 1), to quantify the load environment (Phase 2), and to recommend design guidelines (Phase 3).
Dean, F.E., H.D. Harrison, R.H. Prause and J.M. Tuten. 1983. Investigation of the Effects of Tie Pad Stiffness on the Impact Loading of Concrete Ties in the Northeast Corridor, FRA/ORD-83/05. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
This investigation was conducted in response to the discovery in June 1980, that rail seat bending cracks had developed in many concrete ties which has been in service on the Amtrak Northeast Corridor track for periods of a few months. The study was initiated by the Federal Railroad Administration to investigate the cause of the…
Knoblock, O.W. 1977. Laboratory Investigation of Prestressed Concrete Crossties and Fasteners Manufactured in the U.S.S.R., LT-431. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Soviet manufactured prestressed concrete crossties and fasteners were tested using AREA Bulletin 655 as a guide. The ties were subjected to the following tests: Rail Seat (Positive and Negative moment) Rail Seat Repeated Load Tie Center (Positive and Negative moment) Rail Seat Ultimate and Tendon Anchorage Fastener Uplift Fastener Repeated Load Fastener Longitudinal Restraint Electrical…
Bowman, D.L. 1986. Laboratory Investigation of the Nucor Two-Block Steel and Concrete Tie with Viseking Fastening System, LT-617. Nucor Corporation, Norfolk, NE.
A series of tests were conducted on two-block concrete ties and their associated fastening systems, as supplied by the Nocur Corporation. These ties and fastening systems were tested in accordance with the requirements of the American Railway Engineering Association (A.R.E.A) specifications. The Nucor Concrete Tie and associated Viseking Fastening System met the requirements of the…
McHenry, M., S. Roybal and M. Brown. 2014. Laboratory Measurement of Ballast-Tie Interface Pressures using Matrix Based Tactile Surface Sensors, TD-14-006. Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center Inc., Pueblo, CO.
In order to understand the load environment of the ballast and tie, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), in cooperation with the University of Kentucky, used matrix based tactile surface sensors (MBTSS) to study the pressure distribution at the ballast-tie interface. MBTSS technology allows the loads generated from individual ballast particle contact points to be measured…
Dean, F.E. and H.D. Harrison. 1982. Laboratory Study to Determine the Effects of Tie Pad Stiffness on Attenuation of Strain in Concrete Ties, FRA/ORD-82/19. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Research & Development, Washington, DC.
The effect of tie pad stiffness on the bending moments produced by impact loading of concrete railroad ties was investigated in laboratory tests. Controlled impact loads were applied to a one-tie test arrangement in which the pads were interchanged. Beginning with a rigid plastic pad currently in use on the Northeast Corridor track, the test…
National Transportation Safety Board, (NTSB). 2014. Materials Laboratory Factual Report, 14-052. National Transportation Safety Board, Office of Research Engineering, Materials Laboratory Division, Washington, DC.
Dean, F.E., E.T. Selig, H.D. Harrison, D. McMahon and R.H. Prause. 1979. Measurement and Correlation Analysis Plan for Concrete Tie and Fastener Performance Evaluation, FRA/ORD-79/51. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
This report was prepared as part of the Improved Track Structures Research Program sponsored by the Office of Rail Safety Research of the Federal Railroad Administration. The report presents an experiment plan and a correlation methodology through which the long-term performance of concrete tie track will be evaluated. The experiment plan defines test segments, instrumentation…
Dean, F.E. 1981. Measurements of Rail/Tie Clip Strains at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing, FRA/TTC-81/03. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Measurements of rail-to-tie deflections and fastener clip strain were made on both concrete and wood tie track at the Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST) in October 1980. These measurements were made to provide a data base for duplicating, if possible, these deflections and strains in a laboratory. The laboratory tests would serve as the…
Prud'homme, A., J. Erieau, M. Tena Bernal and R. Téllez Gutiérrez. 1979. Modern Concrete Crosstie Practice in France and Mexico, FRA/ORD-79/02. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
(1) Considered briefly is the history of concrete crosstie development in France. Failure of some crossties in 1973 led to determination of the failure modes and a rigorous analysis of the service load limits to be taken into account. New crosstie designs evolved from this investigation. Technical specifications and acceptance tests for crossties fabricated according…
El-Sibaie, M. 1990. On the Component of Track Damping Resistance and Related Damping Measurements, R-753. Association of American Railroads, Technical Center, Chicago, IL.
This paper present analytical equations for estimating the damping resistance of railway tracks based on the model of a single infinite beam supported by a Kelvin foundation. Considering practical range of speed and track parameters, a simplified formula for estimating the damping resistance was obtained. Using this formula, graphs were presented of the damping resistance…
National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), . 2006. Railroad Accident Brief, DCA-05-FR-010. National Transportation Safety Board, Washington, DC.
On April 3, 2005, about 9:35 a.m., westbound Amtrak (National Railroad Passenger Corporation) passenger train No. 27, consisting of a single locomotive unit and four passenger cars, derailed at milepost (MP) 58.562 on the BNSF Railway Company’s (BNSF’s) Northwest Division. The train was traveling 60 mph on single main line track when it derailed as…
Association of American Railroads, (AAR). 1972. Static, Dynamic and Spike-Pull-Out Tests on Concrete Bridge Ties, LT-327. Association of American Railroads Research and Test Department, Chicago, IL.
AREA Committee 8 – Masonry – requested the testing and evaluation of 9 in x 10-1/2 in. cross section prestressed concrete bridge ties by the Association of American Railroads Research and Test Department. The work was done by the AAR in cooperation with the Portland Cement Association and AREA Committee 8 studies on design of…
Venuti, W.J. 1990. Structural Response of the BART Concrete Ties. Bay Area Rapid Transit District, Oakland, CA.
The primary objective of this project is to obtain an indication of the structural response of five concrete ties instrumented with electrical resistance strain gages, when subjected to moving loads from BART trains. In preparation for the collection of field data from strain gage readings of the ties in track, five concrete ties were removed…
Dean, F.E. 1981. The Effect of Service Loading on the Bending Strength of Concrete Ties, FRA/TTC-81/11. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Washington, DC.
Concrete tie bending strength tests were conducted by Battelle-Columbus Laboratories at Columbus, Ohio, as part of the Tie and Fastener Verification Studies contract (DOT-FRA-1652) sponsored by the FRA Office of Rail Safety Research. The object of the testing was to determine the effects of service loading on the strength of concrete ties to formulate assumptions…
Knoblock, O.W. 1982. Tie Wear Machine Tests of Portec, Incorporated's Gang-Nail Portec-tion Wear Plate, LT-539. Portec, Inc., Oak Brook, IL.
Portec, Incorporated submitted a “Portec-tion Wear Plate” to the AAR Technical Center for tie wear machine tests to three million cycles, in order to determine the amount of tie plate cutting with and without their wear plate under a standard tie plate.
Jimenez, R. and D. Davis. 2007. Update: New Crosstie and Fastening System Test at FAST, TD-07-027. Association of American Railroads, Transportation Technology Center Inc., Pueblo, CO.
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. has been evaluating and reporting on the evolution of premium railway crossties and fastening systems designed for heavy axle loads since the beginning of the Heavy Axle Load Program in 1988. During that time, suppliers have developed components that help extend the life of the ties and provide increased overall track…
Gitlin, I. 1982. Withdrawal Resistance of Cut Track Spikes in Wood Railroad Crossties, R-523. U.S. Department of Transportation, Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, MA.
This report presents the procedure and results from the tests or withdrawal resistance of cut track spikes driven into wood crossties. The tests were performed using conventional track spikes and chemically treated wood crossties, both solid and prebored. Five different, by common, crosstie materials were used, which included three hardwoods and two softwoods. Each test…
Zhao, W., B.T. Beck, R.J. Peterman, R. Murphy, C.H.J. Wu and G. Lee. 2013. A Direct Comparison of the Traditional Method and a New Approach in Determining 220 Transfer Lengths in Prestressed Concrete Railroad Ties. In: Proceedings of the 2013 Joint Rail Conference. Knoxville, TN, pp. V001T01A012. doi:10.1115/JRC2013-2469.
This paper presents the detailed analysis of surface strain data obtained at six prestressed concrete tie plants in the United States. These data were obtained by the authors by conducting a total of 220 transfer length measurements on prestressed concrete railroad ties with different concrete-mix designs and reinforcement variations. The surface strain profiles of the…
Albahttiti, M.T., A.A. Ghadban, K.A. Riding and D.A. Lange. 2015. Air Entrainment and the Fabrication of Concrete Railroad Ties. In: Proceedings of the 2015 Joint Rail Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), San Jose, CA, pp. V001T01A012. doi:10.1115/JRC2015-5671.
Handling and vibration can affect the air content of prestressed concrete railroad ties. The amount and variation in vibration experienced in concrete railroad ties were investigated to determine the concrete fabrication conditions typically used. Two methods of fabrication were investigated by measuring the concrete properties and vibration exposure during placement at two concrete tie manufacturing…
Keogh, T., D.E. Mesher and T.R. Keegan. 2006. An Integrated System for Accurate Tie and Ballast Condition Assessment. In: Proceedings of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association Annual Conference. Louisville, KY.
With trends in increasing rail traffic and the related increases in total annual tonnage hauled, the ability to apply consistent and regular maintenance procedures for the efficient management of track infrastructure in the context of diminishing track access times, and limited maintenance budgets is becoming increasingly more difficult. The historical approach of scheduling large consolidated…
Weber, J.W. 1968. Concrete Crossties in the United States. In: Proceedings of the Symposium on Prestressed Concrete Railway Sleepers. Madrid, Spain.
Haenny, S. and J. Bosshart. 2003. Concrete Maintenance Ties: Interspersal in Existing Wood Track. In: Proceedings of AusRAIL Plus 2003. Sydney, Australia.
Cross ties are a constant focus of track maintenance programs as railroads continually strive for improvement. Cross ties are not the most expensive track structure component, yet their performance plays a vital role. Traditionally the wood cross tie has been the predominant cross tie of choice, however, increasing economic, environmental, and performance pressures have led…
Gauntt, J.C., T.L. Amburgey and J.C. Kitchens. 2005. Decay in Wood Ties………… Problem Solved!. In: Proceedings of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.
Zhao, W., B.T. Beck, R.J. Peterman, C.H.J. Wu, G. Lee and N.N.B. Bodapati. 2013. Determining Transfer Length in Pre-Tensioned Concrete Railroad Ties: Is a New Evaluation Method Needed?. In: Proceedings of the 2013 Rail Transportation Division Fall Technical Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Altoona, PA. doi:10.1115/RTDF2013-4727.
The transfer length is perhaps the most significant KEY indicator of the bond quality between reinforcing wire/strand and concrete, and its measurement in pre-tensioned concrete railroad ties can enable concrete tie producers to identify problem ties before they are put into service. The 95% AMS method is the traditional method used to determine the transfer…
Kennedy Jr., J.C. and R.H. Prause. 1978. Development of a Multilayer Analysis Model for Tie/Ballast Track Structures. In: Proceedings of the 57th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. Washington, DC.
A multilayer analysis model for tie/ballast track structures has been developed. The model includes the effects of rail bending, rail fastener stiffness, tie bending, variable ballast and subgrade material type, and variable tie spacing and ballast depth. Predicted results from the model are compared with experimental results and excellent agreement is shown. The model offers…
Edwards, J.R., Y. Liang, J.C. Bastos and M.S. Dersch. 2019. Development of a Parametric Model for Prediction of Concrete Railway Crosstie Service Bending Moments. In: Proceedings of the 98th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. Washington, DC.
Concrete crosstie usage in North America continues to increase for rail transit and heavy axle load (HAL) freight railroad applications. As such, it is important to design optimized crossties to save both capital and maintenance funds. Recently, a method for quantifying concrete crosstie bending moments using concrete surface strain gauges has been developed, deployed, and…
Koh, T., S. Han and M. Sagong. 2011. Development of Eco-Friendly PC Sleeper Using Slag. In: Proceedings of the 9th World Congress on Railway Research. Lille, France.
Cement is one of the main construction ingredients. On the other hand, it causes the environmental impacts. In other words, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the cement production have been recently one of the main social issues. In Korea, five types of Portland cement are defined and standardized by the KS (Korean Standards), especially high-early-strength…
Bodapati, N.N.B., R.J. Peterman, B.T. Beck and C.H.J. Wu. 2014. Effect of Concrete Properties on Transfer Lengths in Concrete Rail-Road Ties. In: 2014 Joint Rail Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Colorado Springs, CO, pp. V001T01A028. doi:10.1115/JRC2014-3859.
This paper presents findings from a current research project titled “Quantifying the Effect of Prestressing Steel and Concrete Variables on the Transfer Length in Pretensioned Concrete Crossties” that is funded by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Specifically, the paper focuses on the effect of concrete properties on the resulting transfer lengths. These properties include concrete…
Riding, K.A., R.J. Peterman, S. Guthrie, M. Brueseke, H. Mosavi, K. Daily and W. Risovi-Hendrickson. 2018. Environmental and Track Factors that Contribute to Abrasion Damage. In: Proceedings of the 2018 Joint Rail Conference. American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), Pittsburgh, PA, pp. V001T01A009. doi:10.1115/JRC2018-6166.
Sites with known occurrences of mud pumping or other track concerns were investigated to determine the prevalence of concrete bottom tie abrasion and environmental and track conditions that could contribute to its occurrence. Field investigations showed that it occurs in diverse geographic locations around the U.S. and is a source of continued maintenance concern for…
Williams, B.W., J.R. Edwards, M.S. Dersch, C.P.L. Barkan and R.G. Kernes. 2014. Experimental Field Investigation of the Effects of Lateral Load Distribution on Concrete Crosstie Track. In: Proceedings of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association Annual Conference. Chicago, IL.
Increasing freight train axle loads and continued development of high speed rail has placed significant demands on North American rail infrastructure. To adequately address these demands, concrete crosstie and elastic fastening system design and performance must be improved. Field experimentation was conducted at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) by researchers from the University of Illinois…
Gao, Z., H. Wolf, M.S. Dersch, Y. Qian and J.R. Edwards. 2016. Field Measurements and Proposed Analysis of Concrete Crosstie Bending Moments. In: Proceedings of the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association Annual Conference. Orlando, FL.
As the use of concrete crossties increases for heavy-haul freight railroad lines in North America, it is becoming more critical to quantify their flexural performance in revenue service traffic in an effort to improve upon design recommendations and maintenance practices, leading to longer service lives, lower life cycle costs, and fewer in-service failures. Currently, center…
Wolf, H., S. Mattson, J.R. Edwards, M.S. Dersch and C.P.L. Barkan. 2015. Flexural Analysis of Prestressed Concrete Monoblock Crossties: Comparison of Current Methodologies and Sensitivity to Support Conditions. In: Proceedings of the 94th Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board. Washington, DC.
Throughout the international railway community, many methods have been developed to analyze the flexural demand of concrete crossties. The investigation described in this paper serves to clarify and improve upon the current language found in the American Railway Engineering and Maintenance-of-Way Association (AREMA) recommended practices for the design of prestressed concrete monoblock crossties. Specifically, this…
