Demonstration of FRA’s Technology to Characterize Fouled Ballast Track
(Room Sagamore 7)
19 Sep 17
2:30 PM
-
3:00 PM
Tracks:
AREMA Full Schedule, AREMA Technical Sessions- Maintenance
In April 2016, the Federal Railroad Admiration’s Office of Research, Development and Technology (FRA RDT) in cooperation with CSX Transportation conducted a survey of fouled ballast locations using the FRA’s DOTX 218/DOTX 220 comprehensive inspection consist. The survey was followed by a detailed field investigation and in-situ measurements employing a portable nuclear magnetic resonance trackbed moisture mapping sensor (NMR-TMMS) developed under FRA sponsorship by Vista Clara, Inc. and Zetica Rail. The objective of the effort was to demonstrate of the ability of various inspections systems working in conjunction to characterize fouled ballast locations. This paper will describe the effort, illustrate the information that can be collected to characterize fouled ballast locations and the describe relationships between track geometry, track support and the conditions of ballast and subgrade at sites of interest.