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The Short Line Safety Institute (SLSI) is dedicated to the continuous improvement of safety and safety culture across all short line and regional railroads in the United States. Strengthening a railroad’s safety culture may result in less frequent or severe accidents and create a safer working...
The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) has sponsored several programs to help reduce incidents at highway-rail crossings and improve the safety of both vehicles and pedestrians. One such recent project developed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based machine vision system to help inspect...
KSU developed special wire testing frames and procedures to measure bond-slip performance of prestressing wires (or strands) in concrete. The test called for applying tension to the wires prior to casting the concrete and then slowly releasing the prestress force into the concrete. Forces and...
This report highlights advances in understanding the prestressing steel and concrete properties that affect the transfer length (TL) in pretensioned concrete crossties. Transfer length values in pretensioned concrete ties are highly dependent on the type of wire indentation pattern used and the...
More reliable signal wire attachments can reduce uncertainty, improve safety, and reduce operational costs. This report investigates the causes of failures at these attachments and develop an alternative signal wire-to-rail attachment process. EWI modified an earlier design of the brass stud to...
Engineers at MGA Research Corporation, (MGA) performed simulated dynamic crash tests using donated commuter rail passenger seats and two Hybrid-III 50th percentile (H3-50M) anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs). The tests were conducted to determine whether existing passenger seats comply with new...
The Federal Railroad Administration has sponsored the Rail Transportation and Engineering Center (RailTEC) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s (Illinois) to conduct a comprehensive investigation into timber crosstie spike fastener failures on North American railroads. As a...
Tests were performed to determine the ultraweldability (i.e., improved steel material which does not require preheating or post-heating during manufacturing or during reconditioning) of five steels that were identified during previous Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) research conducted by...
From September 2016 to December 2017, the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Office of Research, Development and Technology funded a research investigation by, conducted by Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) to study two types of improved truck casting materials under this Phase...
Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), through a program sponsored by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), developed the architecture and core requirements for a Positive Train Control (PTC) Track Database Auditing System (TDAS), including system, subsystem, and interface...