Technical Sessions

Monday, September 23

8:00 – 8:30 AM

Engineering Services Presentation: Railway Resilience - Experience from the Kaikoura Earthquake, Daniel Headifen, Kiwirail Network (New Zealand Railways Corporation)

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Communications & Signals Presentation: Safety and Security of Movable Rail Bridges, Duminda Wijesekera, George Mason University and Francesco Bedini Jacobini, Federal Railroad Administration

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Coffee Break

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Presentation: Utilizing Surface and Subsurface Trackbed Inspection Techniques to Help Plan and De-risk Undercutting Operations on Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor, Amanda Kessler, PE, Amtrak and Asger Eriksen, Zetica Rail

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Track Presentation: Remediation of Untestable Rail Due to Surface Conditions, Daniel W. Hampton, CSX Transportation and Charles P. Rudeen, Loram Maintenance of Way, Inc.

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Structures Presentation: Upgrades to Bridge Management Practices, Jeremy Koonce, PE, SE, Collins Engineers, Inc., William S. Riehl, III, PE, F.SAME and Philip M. Ogram, Genesee & Wyoming Railroad Services, Inc.

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Passenger & Transit Presentation: CTrail Hartford Line: Rail Passenger Revival in New England, Jeffrey T. Schultz, PMP and Richard Bertoli, PE, PMP, WSP USA

11:45 AM

End of AREMA General Session

Tuesday, September 24

Communications & Signals Technical Session

Session Chair: Robin J. Aanenson, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Aanenson Railroad Signal Services, LLC

Session sponsored by  

8:00 – 8:30 AM

State of Good Repair for Railroad Electrical Distribution Infrastructure
 Dale R. Hein, P.Eng., Hatch

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Signal Modernization at Stockholm Metro
 Jesper Carlström, Prover Technology

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Prototype Rail Crossing Violation Warning (RCVW) Phase II – Advancing the Use of Connected Vehicle Technologies to Reduce Crashes at Grade Crossings by Warning Vehicle Drivers of Predicted Violations
 Richard M. Campbell, CTC Inc. and Jeff Utterback, Battelle Memorial Institute

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Remote Condition Monitoring of Signal Assets – From Early Assessment to Production Results Review
 Joseph M. Denny, TekTracking and William F. Larson, CSX Transportation

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Track Circuit Augmentation Using Axle Counters: Best Practices
 William D. Wiedmann, Burns Engineering, Inc.

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Simulation-based Risk Analysis for Traffic Disruptions Caused by DoS Attacks to Railroad Cyber-Physical Systems
 Zezhou Wang, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

11:30 AM – Noon
Mission Critical Signaling and Monitoring – Using Private Wireless Communications Networks to Increase Security and Reliability

Kathy Nelson, and Henry McCreary, Ondas Networks

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker John C. Hellmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Genesee & Wyoming Inc

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Cab Signaling with Crossings
Maximo H. Salinas, Alstom Transport

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Prevention of End-of-Track Collisions in Passenger Terminals via Positive Train Control: A Benefit-Cost Analysis
 Zhipeng Zhang and Xiang Liu, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey and E. Keith Holt, HNTB Corporation

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Proximity Warning System for Hyrail Work Equipment
Mitchell Beard, BNSF Railway

Tuesday, September 24

Engineering Services Technical Session

Session Chair: Trent M. Hudak, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
BNSF Railway

Session sponsored by 

8:00 – 8:30 AM

Immersive Learning Using Virtual Reality Systems for Railway Education
 Bryan W. Schlake, Penn State University Altoona

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Leveraging IoT Technology to Optimize Friction Management in Heavy Haul Track
 Joel VanderMarel, P.Eng., L.B. Foster Rail Technologies Corp

9:00 – 9:30 AM

BIM Modelling in Linear Infrastructure Projects
 Martin Harle and Daniel Moodie, GHD

9:30 – 10:00 AM

UAVs: Beyond Pretty Pictures; A Case Study in Analyzing the Integrity of UAV-Derived Data for Full-Scale Railroad Infrastructure Design
 Matt A. Williams, PE, PMP, Part 107 Pilot and Michael Allen, Part 107 Pilot, Norfolk Southern Corporation

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Railroad Trespassing Risk Management: A Literature Review
 Zhipeng Zhang and Xiang Liu, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Fast-Tracked Pavement Maintenance Using Concrete Rubbilization
Amanda Limburg, PE, David Evans and Associates, Inc. and David Nielsen, Union Pacific Railroad

11:30 AM – Noon

Consideration of Alternative Transportation Use of a Railroad Corridor Asset: A Team Effort
Anthony Klaumann, PE and Christian Goepel, HDR and Cory Hoffmann, Cedar Rapids & Iowa City Railway Company (CRANDIC)

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
 Keynote Speaker John C. Hellmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Genesee & Wyoming Inc

2:00 – 2:30 PM

AUSTRALIA’S INLAND RAIL PROJECT . . . Transforming the National Supply Chain 
Railway Technical Society of Australasia and James N. Michel, PE, Marsh Rail Practice

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Erie County Industrial Development Agency (ECIDA), Bethlehem Steel Rail Improvements Phase II Project: Overcoming Challenges Associated with the Localized HDPE Lining of a 54 inch Diameter Pressurized Waterline for Cooper E80 Loading
 Carl W. Rode, PE, Bergmann Associates

Tuesday, September 24

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Session

Session Chair: Stephen J. Ashmore, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Union Pacific Railroad

Session sponsored by 
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Rock Fall Hazard Management on the Canadian Pacific Railway
 Mark Gregory Goldbach, P.Eng., Golder Associates Ltd and Anthony J. Morris, P.Geo., Canadian Pacific

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Using 3D Laser and Artificial Intelligence to Inspect Wooden and Concrete Ties
 Richard Fox-Ivey and John Laurent, P.Eng., M.Sc., Pavemetrics Systems Inc.

9:00 – 9:30 AM

FRA Implementation of Nationwide Rail Temperature Predictions
 Radim Bruzek, ENSCO, Inc. and Robert Wilson, PhD, FRA Office of Research, Development and Technology

9:30 – 10:00 AM

A Risk Assessment Framework for Grade Crossing Accidents and Derailments in the United States: A Case Study of California Rail Network (2008-2017)
 Ahmed Lasisi and Pengyu Li, University of Delaware

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Integrated Rail Asset Management by Rail Milling
 Richard Stock, LINSINGER

11:00 – 11:30 AM

RailJET®: Soft Subgrade and Embankment Stabilization, Introduction of New Hi-Rail Technology for Subgrade Maintenance
 Justin S. Anderson, MS, PE, and Kyle Guenther, MS, PE, GeoStabilization International

11:30 AM – Noon

Protecting Roadway Workers with an Electronic Overlay – a Demonstration
Kevin Smith, Miller Ingenuity

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker John C. Hellmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Genesee & Wyoming Inc

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Louisville and Indiana Railroad Track Upgrade Program
Steven P. Lorek, PE, HDR and James Connolly, III, Louisville & Indiana Railroad

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Remediation of Ballast Pockets in a Railway Embankment
Stephen Wilk, PhD, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Facial Recognition for Ties: Development of a Convolutional Neural Network to Facilitate Crosstie Lifecycle Study
 Lariza Stewart and David Pagliuco, PE, Georgetown Rail Equipment Company

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Remediation of a Progressive Slope Failure
 Bryan Erickson, MBA, Fenton Rigging & Contracting, Inc., Scott R. Schmidt, EIT, Nicholson Construction Company and Nathaniel Landsperger, PE, Wood

Tuesday, September 24

Passenger & Transit Technical Session

Session Chair: Raymond G. Verrelle, Jr., PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Amtrak

Session sponsored by 
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Understanding Options of Passenger Station Horizontal Clearances: Gauntlet Tracks, Flip-up Platform Edges, Movable Platform Edges, and Dedicated Station Sidings
 Allene B. Rieger, PE, TranSystems

8:30 – 9:00 AM

3D LiDAR Mapping of New York Penn Station
 Gordon Perry, RPLS, PLS, HNTB Corporation

9:00 – 9:30 AM

B&P Tunnel - Creating a Higher-Speed Alignment Through Historically Sensitive Baltimore
 Dominic Oliveti, PE and Frank C. Blachly, PE, Parsons

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Sound Transit Expansion - Systems Integration Challenges
 Conrad Fawcett, Mott MacDonald and Ben Neeley, Sound Transit

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Use of HMA in Rail Track: Inefficiencies and Redundancy of the Present System
 Luv Sehgal, EIT, Arup and Amit Garg, Ministry of Railways

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Enhancing Flood Resiliency of the New York City Subway System
Christopher J. Taylor, PE and Daniel Weiss, PE, Arup

11:30 AM – Noon

VTA-Bart Berryessa Extension Project
Tim Schmidt and David W. Clary, PE, Lockwood Andrews & Newnam, Inc. and Daren Gee, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
 Keynote Speaker John C. Hellmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Genesee & Wyoming Inc

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Pedestrian Tunnel Installation under CN Mainlines in 44 hours - Collaboration between CN and Metrolinx
 Edward Wu, PE, P.Eng., CN and Joseph Costigan, Jr., Metrolinx

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Stray Current Mitigation in Various Track Structures
 Michael McGrath, PE and Michael A. Berman, PE, WSP USA

Tuesday, September 24

Structures Technical Session

Session Chair: Michael P. Freeman, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Union Pacific Railroad

Session sponsored by  

8:00 – 8:30 AM

CSX Emergency Bridge Replacement
 Ronald D. Medlock, PE, High Steel Structures, Inc. and Kennedy Kyei-Mensah, HDR

8:30 – 9:00 AM

BNSF Railway Bridge 380.12 over I-235 – Planning & Construction Challenges in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 James P. Hyland, TranSystems, Sue Tryon, Benham Design, LLC and Jeffrey C. Estes, PLS, IE, BNSF Railway

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Railroad Bridge Transverse Displacement Measurement Using a Laser Doppler Vibrometer (LDV) Mounted on Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV)
 Fernando Moreu, PhD, PE, and Martita Mullen, PE, Canadian National Railway

9:30 – 10:00 AM

LIRC Bridge Replacement over Flatrock River
 Glen T. Campbell, PE, Patrick Engineering Inc. and Chuck Grabner, PE, J.B. Fay Co.

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Alaska Railroad Bridge 370.7 Pier #3 Replacement
 Brandon Buckman, PE, Wilson & Company and Brian A. Lindamood, PE, SE, Alaska Railroad

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Accelerated Construction of Union Pacific Railroad Bridge over Kankakee River
Brett Wescott, PE, Knight E/A, Inc., John R. Jerome, Union Pacific Railroad and Daniel R. Kelly, PE, ICC Group Inc.

11:30 AM – Noon

Fatigue Screening of Railway Deck Girder Bridges
 Stephen Dick, PhD, SE, Purdue University and Duane Otter, PhD, PE, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker John C. Hellmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Genesee & Wyoming Inc

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Long Life Coatings for Steel Bridges
 Winn Darden, AGC Chemicals Americas

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Construction of a New Vertical Lift Bridge with Minimal Impact to Traffic
 Matthew J. Miller, PE, Modjeski & Masters, Inc. and Jessica L. Smith, PE, TranSystems

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Remote Monitoring and Replacement of Norfolk Southern Bridge CF-35.40 over Cotton Run, Seven Mile, OH
 Lisa Hoekenga, PE, SE and Scott Zang, Michael Baker International

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Articulated Double Stack Car Effects on Bridges
Duane E. Otter, PhD, PE, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Complex Bridge Inspection with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)
Steven W. Youschak, David R. Anderson, PE and Nicholas J. Ray, EIT, American Rail Engineers

4:30 – 5:00 PM

120 Tons of Steel Suspended Over the Construction Site
Ruth V. Brown, PE, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Charles S. Davis, PE, Scott Bridge Company, Inc.

Tuesday, September 24

Track Technical Session

Session Chair: Conrad Ruppert, Jr., AREMA Functional Group Vice President
HNTB Corporation

Session sponsored by 

8:00 – 8:30 AM

Quantification and Evaluation of Rail Flaw Inspection Practices and Technologies
Brian Lindeman, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

8:30 – 9:00 AM 

Development of Optics-based Mobile Instrument for Evaluating Top of Rail Lubricity Trends on In-service Track
Timothy Mast, Virginia Tech

9:00 – 9:30 AM

The Influence of Rail Copper Content on Thermite and Electric Flash Butt Weld Properties
Greg Lehnhoff, PhD, PE, EVRAZ North America

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Field Experience and Academic Inquiry to Understand Broken Spike Failures in Railroad Fastening Systems
Thomas A. Roadcap, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Technical University of Munich, Germany

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Fatigue Performance Characterization of Direct Fixation Systems Under Heavy Rail Transit Loading Conditions
Arthur de Oliveira Lima, RailTEC - University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Effects of Track Geometry and Track Components on Rail Performance
Ananyo Banerjee, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

11:30 AM – Noon

An Innovative Prestressing System for Concrete Crossties Using Shape Memory Alloys
Minsoo Sung and Bassem Andrawes, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker John C. Hellmann, Chairman, President & CEO, Genesee & Wyoming Inc

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Industry Research and Development to Improve Turnout Performance
Benjamin Bakkum, PE, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

2:30 – 3:00 PM

CN & EVRAZ Laboratory Evaluation of Gage Face Lubricants Using Disc-on-Disc Testing
Mark D. Richards, PhD, EVRAZ NA and Adam Sohasky, Canadian National Railroad

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Implementation of BNSF Railway’s Geometry Car-based Ground Penetrating Radar Program
Michael Wnek and Adam Bankston, BNSF Railway and Stephen Wilk, PhD, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Field Loading and Tie Support Conditions Influencing Track Substructure – Modeling Ballast Behavior and Statistical Perspective
Erol Tutumluer, PhD, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Emergency and Non-emergency Railroad Safe Earth Retaining Walls with Pressed-in Sheet Piles
Takefumi Takuma, Giken America Corp.

Wednesday, September 25

8:45 – 9:15 AM

Passenger & Transit Presentation: California High-Speed Rail - Construction Package 4: An Analysis of the Technical Design Challenges, Design Evolution and Collaborative Solutions Developed for the Next Phase of High-Speed Rail Construction That is Underway, Jon Marshall, PE, JMA Civil, Inc., Antonio Canete, California Rail Builders and Michael Keating, BNSF Railway

9:15 – 9:45 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Presentation: The Mobile Mud Spring vs. The Union Pacific Railroad, R. Travis Deane, PE, Shannon & Wilson, Inc. and Chase Nichols, Union Pacific Railroad

9:45 – 10:15 AM

Engineering Services Presentation: CREATE and Improving Chicago Rail Operations, William C. Thompson, PE, Association of American Railroads

10:15 – 10:45 AM

Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:15 AM

Track Presentation: Slope Stabilization and Enhancements, Donald H. Arant, PE, North Carolina Railroad Company, William S. Graham, PE, Norfolk Southern Corporation and Jordan Harris, PE, Wood Environment and Infrastructure Solutions

11:15 – 11:45 AM

Communications & Signals Presentation: Wireless Avalanche Detection, Mitchell Beard, BNSF Railway, Les Beverley and Neil Roberts, L.B. Foster Company

11:45 AM – 12:15 PM

Structures Presentation: NSR Over I-240 in Memphis, TN - A Case Study in CM/CG, Accelerated Bridge Construction and Seismic Design, Jordan J. Card, PE, SE, Alfred Benesch & Company

12:15 PM

Adjournment