Railroads
Air-Borne Tie Sonar for Loaded Tie Deflection Measurements
This report presents a non-contact ultrasonic technique to map the full-field surface deflection of railroad ties using known concepts of sonar-based distance measurements. Between September 2019 and July 2021, the University of California San Diego (UCSD) created a beam with six sonar sensors...
Track Performance in Tunnels and Transitions with Under Tie Pads and Under Ballast Mats
Under a contract with the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), the University of Florida (UF) instrumented a section of the Virginia Avenue Tunnel in Washington, DC. The tunnel, built between May 2015 and June 2018, was designed and built with pads and mats. UF collected track data over the...