Technical Sessions

Monday, September 14

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Communications & Signals Technical Presentation: Remote Device Monitoring, Carlos Aguilera, BNSF Railway

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Engineering Services Technical Presentation: Quantifying the Relative Influence of Classification Yard Performance Factors, C. Tyler Dick, PhD, PE, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Presentation: Considerations for Improving the Interactions Between Railroaders and Geotechnical Consultants, Caleb Douglas, Consultant and Mark P. Allen, Union Pacific Railroad

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Track Technical Presentation: History of Heavy Axle Load Subgrade Research at Facility for Accelerated Service Testing (FAST), Stephen Wilk, PhD and DingQing Li, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

11:30 AM – Noon

Structures Technical Presentation: Lower Santa Ana River BNSF Bridge Protection Project: A Case Study in BNSF Bridge Scour Protection by Implementing Unique Hydraulic and Construction Solutions in Order to Support a Major USACE Infrastructure Project, Erich G. Schmitz, PE, Wilson & Company, Inc., Jason L. Sanchez, BNSF Railway and Rene Vermeeren, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Noon – 12:30 PM

Passenger & Transit Technical Presentation: Virginia Rail Program More than DC2RVA Higher Speed Rail: A Case Study for Relieving Congestion on the I95 Corridor through Virginia, Patrick H. Porzillo, PE and Michael Estes, PE, HDR, Michael McLaughlin, Virginia Department of Rail and Public Transportation

12:30 PM

End of AREMA General Session

Tuesday, September 15

Communications & Signals Technical Session

Session Chair: Jerry W. Specht, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
BNSF Railway

Session sponsored by  

10:00 – 10:30 AM ET

BNSF Railway NX System Project: Moving Railyard Entry and Exit Control Systems to the Cloud while Providing Safe and Reliable End-User Operation and Control
 Sean-Paul Sisario, BNSF Railway

10:30 – 10:45 AM ET

Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:15 AM

Novel Detection and Prediction Tool for Bearing Damages on Heavy Haul Vehicles Using Way-Side Detectors
 Wolfgang Birk, PhD and Jesper Westerberg, Predge AB

11:15 – 11:30 AM ET

Coffee Break


11:30 AM – Noon ET

The Use of Ultra-Wideband in Rail Systems
 David Garcia, Piper Networks

Noon – 2:00 PM ET

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM ET

Artificial Intelligence-Aided Railroad Trespassing Data Analytics based On Camera Video Data at Grade Crossings
 Xiang Liu and Asim F. Zaman, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

2:30 – 2:45 PM ET

Coffee Break

2:45 – 3:15 PM ET

Jointless Track Circuits for Broken Rail Detection for use with PTC and CBTC Systems
 Edwin R. Kraft, Transportation Econ & Mgmt Sys, Inc. and Mark Hartong, PhD, PE, The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory

3:15 – 3:30 PM ET

Coffee Break

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Modeling Crash Frequency and Severity for Highway-Rail Grade Crossings Using Inventory and Historical Crash Data from North Dakota State
 Amin Keramati, North Dakota State University

11:30 AM – Noon
Using LIDAR To Detect Rockfall- A Case Study of Using COTS Equipment for a Safety Critical Application

Paul Shih, BNSF Railway and Brian Mwongera, LB Foster Europe

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker - Coming Soon

2:00 – 2:30 PM

ACSES PTC: Past, Present, and Future - An Overview of this Transponder-Based PTC-Enabling Technology and How it Stacks Up Against its More Publicized GPS-Based Counterpart
Michael Ehrenberger, Burns Engineering, Inc.

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Next Generation Track and Signal Surge Protection
 Jason Mies, Transtector and DJ Niemiec, Jr., WAGO Corporation

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Onboard Vibration and Temperature Monitoring System for Passenger Car Bearings
Marcos Paulo Torre, Leonardo Correia and Lesley Oliveira Dias, Vale S/A

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Increasing Capacity with Relative Distance Braking in Moving Block Systems at LRT Jakarta Network
Hermanto Hermanto, PT. LEN Industri

Tuesday, September 15

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

Use of Big Data for Optimizing Maintenance, Service and Capital Planning
 John F. Betak, PhD, University of Texas At Austin, Christie L. Nelson, PhD and Trefor P. Williams, PhD, PE, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Using Advanced PTC with Moving Blocks to Improve the Operational Feasibility of Short Trains on Single-Track Rail Corridors
 Adrian Diaz De Rivera and C. Tyler Dick, PhD, PE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Pavement Management Systems – Developing a Strategic Approach for Multi-Facility Planning
 Jonathan Scott Gould and Abbas Kachwalla, PE, AECOM

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement for Intermodal Facilities
 Will Gray, RCC Paving Council, L. Brack Brown, PE, Norfolk Southern Corporationaand Steven Raiche, Kansas City Southern Railway Company

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Intermodal Terminal Capacity Modeling
 Mobina Masaeli, AECOM Canada Ltd. and Michael Leue, PE, AECOM

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Planning to Meet the Rail Needs at San Pedro Bay Ports: A Programmatic Plan for Terminal Capacity and Its Integration with Line Capacity
Michael Leue, PE, AECOM and Carlo Luzzi, The Port of Long Beach

11:30 AM – Noon

Phased Construction of Union Pacific Railroad's LATC Intermodal Facility - Los Angeles, CA
Aaron Karow, PE and Jeffrey D. Hanak, Ragnar Benson Construction, LLC, Rosa Chen, PE, TranSystems

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
 Keynote Speaker - Coming Soon

2:00 – 2:30 PM

CN Dundas Mile 9 Artesian Aquifer
Edward Wu, PE, P.Eng., Melissa Ruel and Martita Mullen, PE, Canadian National

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Understanding Influences on Student Pursuit of Railway Education and Careers
 Lee Evans, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Railroad Rights: ICCTA Preemption, the Shift in Regulators’ Understandings, and the Impact on Critical Railroad Project Schedules
Matt A. Williams, PE, PMP, Amtrak and David M. Moore, JD, BS, Earth and Water Law Group

3:30 – 4:00 PM

“So you Want to Build a Railroad?” - An Environmental Clearance and Permitting Story
Kevin K. Keller, PG, CGWP, HDR

Tuesday, September 15

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

Infrastructure Resiliency: Planning for Disasters, Emergency Situations and Climate Change
 Timothy P. Rock and Kevin D. Hicks, PE, TranSystems

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Rail Inspection – A Railroad and Manufacturer Perspective
 Bradford Spencer, CSX Transportation and Gregory A. Garcia, EVRAZ North America

9:00 – 9:30 AM

A Case Study: Lessons Learned in Design, Construction and Maintenance Challenges in MDOT MTA Reconstruction of Johns Hopkins Double Crossover Project, an Agency Perspective
 Nageshwarreddy V. Karnati, PE and Govind R. Sulibhavi, Maryland Transit Administration, Ayan Ghosh, PE, HNTB Corporation

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Field Investigation of Spike Breakage Using Instrumented Spikes
 Yin Gao, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) and Jay P. Baillargeon, Federal Railroad Administration

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Next Generation Turnout Design and a Performance Update on Clothoid Turnout Geometry
 Stephen J. Ashmore, Union Pacific Railroad

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Smart Tamping: The Fundamentals of Tamping
 Fabian Hansmann, PhD, Plasser American and Bernhard Antony, Plasser & Theurer

11:30 AM – Noon

Effect of Tie Condition Distribution on the Life Expectancy of a Wood Crosstie
Allan M. Zarembski, PhD, PE, Hon. Mbr. AREMA, University of Delaware

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker- Coming Soon

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Identifying High Risk Areas in Vast Distributed Rail Networks to Support Decision Making through Predictive Analytics
Daniel Einbinder, ENSCO, Inc.

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Emergency Slope Stabilization and Snowshed Repairs at Stampede Pass: A Complex Rockslide Requiring Evolving Mitigation Strategies
 Ethan D. Guzek, William C.B. Gates, PhD, PE and Carol A. Ravano, PE, McMillen Jacobs Associates

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Application of Premium Synthetic Grease at CP’s Western Corridor
 Marco Santoro, L.B. Foster Company and John Furlong, Canadian Pacific

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Continuous Monitoring of Wheel/Rail Forces During In-Service Freight Operations Has Led to a Successful Performance Based Track Maintenance Plan
 Albert Wahba, P.Eng., M.A.Sc., PMP and Yan Liu, National Research Council Canada

Tuesday, September 15

Passenger & Transit Technical Session

Session Chair: Francis J. Miller, III, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
STV Incorporated

Session sponsored by 
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Laboratory Structural Investigation of the of Heavy Rail Transit Direct Fixation Fastening System Capacity
 J. Riley Edwards, PE and Arthur De Oliveira Lima, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Ravi Amin, PE, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA)

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Examining the Effects of Precision Scheduled Railroading on Passenger Rail Service
 John G. Green, PhD, PE, California State University, Fresno and Francis J. Miller, III, PE, STV Incorporated

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Main Street Bridge Replacement Project - Keeping Things Moving: Trains, Cars, Pedestrians and Bridges
 Evan C. Lowell, TranSystems

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Significance of Sustainable and Resilient Critical Infrastructure Systems
 Avinash Prasad, PE, LS, Ph.D.(C), NYCDOT/NYU and Indira Prasad, Stevens Institute of Technology

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Rock Slope Stabilization While Maintaining Passenger Operations
 Evan Whatley, EIT, Amtrak and Kyle Guenther, MS, PE, GeoStabilization International

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Derailment Avoidance and Containment Barriers on High Speed Railways
 Steven L. Clark, PE and Ardalan Mosavi, PhD, PE, Arup

11:30 AM – Noon

Michigan DOT: The Journey from Daily Slow Orders to Operating at 110MPH
Daniel Schulte, PE, Quandel Consultants, Robert J. Lippert, Jr., PE, Michigan Dept. of Transportation Office of Rail and David Roberts, PE, Amtrak

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
 Keynote Speaker - Coming Soon

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Seattle King Street Yard Locomotive Shop
 Daniel D. Radeke, Amtrak, Cody Glasgow, PCL Construction Services, Inc. and Gabriel Carhill, RA, TKDA

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Noise- and Vibration-Mitigating Track Design Elements: Case Studies from Recent Projects around the Globe
 Joseph K. Digerness, Kym Burgemeister and Vincent Jurdic, Arup

3:00 – 3:30 PM

The Feasibility of Year-Round MBTA Cape Flyer Service
Maximilian Pavlov and Gary A. Gordon, PhD, PE, University of Massachusetts Lowell

Tuesday, September 15

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

Triumph on the Turkey River: A Case Study on the Emergency Replacement of 400’ of Bridge Superstructure Washed out by Floodwaters
 Michael Keller, PE, HDR, Karl Rittmeyer, PE and Patrick Flannery, PE, Canadian Pacific

8:30 – 9:00 AM

CSX Transportation Br. A605.25, over the St. Mary’s River, Truss Counter Removals and Eye-Bar Conversions Without Disruption to Rail Traffic
 Daniel A. Doty, PE, Alfred Benesch & Co., Jacob Metcalf and Michael Dumais, EIT, CSX Transportation

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Replacement of CSX Through Truss over the Satilla River Channel: A Different Approach to Accelerated Bridge Construction Using a Heavy-Lift Crane
 Willis S. White, III, PE, CFM, STV Inc., Patrick Curtsinger, PE, Hall Contracting of Kentucky, Inc. and Angela B. Johnson, CSX Transportation

9:30 – 10:00 AM

SMART Precast Concrete Trough Rail Bridges
 Brian Olp, PE, STV Incorporated and Nick Slama, Stacy and Witbeck

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Design & Construction Techniques to Maintain Rail Service Throughout Repairs to the CSX Bridge over Chef Menteur Pass
 James Caster, PE and Andrew Cestaro, PCL Civil Constructors, Inc., R. Matthew Crawford, PE, CSX Transportation

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Design and Ownership Considerations for Remote Control Bridges
Raymond Lopez, III, PE and Kevin M. Ciampi, PE, Hardesty & Hanover, LLC

11:30 AM – Noon

Improved Fatigue Life Estimation of Riveted DPG Railroad Bridge Using Reliability Analysis
 Anna M. Rakoczy, PhD and Duane E. Otter, PhD, PE, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker - Coming Soon

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Metra Bridge Z-100 over the Fox River: Using ABC Techniques and Innovative Design Details to Overcome Site Access Challenges
 Lawrence L. Kirchner, PE, SE, TranSystems, D. David Moses, PE, Gannett Fleming, Inc. and Jim Carson, ICC

2:30 – 3:00 PM

A Framework for Efficient Management of Railroad Bridge Strikes
 Brett Story, Southern Methodist University, Walter F. Bleser, II, PE and David R. Masceri, Jr., SENSR

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Trinity River Express Bridge Replacement - Threading the Needle Between Clearance Requirements
 Ryan Bateman, PE, SE and Cassandra Wallof, PE, HDR, William Richey Thompson, PE, Trinity Metro

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Coos Bay Swing-Span Bridge Column Collapse and Repair - A Monumental Undertaking
Gene A. Davis, PE, Stantec Consulting Services Inc., Rick Adamek, Oregon International Port of Coos Bay and Richard D. Floyd, PE, Koppers Railroad Structures Inc.

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Unmanned Aerial Systems for Railway Bridge Inspection
Nathan Schuett, PRENAV, Inc. and Steven R. Williams, PE, BNSF Railway

Tuesday, September 15

Track Technical Session

Session Chair: Kevin D. Hicks, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
TranSystems

Session Sponsored By 
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Fatigue Enhancement Technologies to Extend the Life of Rail-end Bolt Holes Evaluated Through Simulation Technologies to Predict Fatigue Failure and Verified Through Laboratory Testing
Dave Kim, PhD, Washington State University, Adam Elliott, Hird Rail Development and Diana Echols, Fatigue Technologies, a PCC Company

8:30 – 9:00 AM 

Recent Advancements in Rail Metallurgy for Heavy Axle Loading
Michael D. Pigeon and Gary A. Gordon, PhD, PE, University of Massachusetts Lowell

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Fibre Optic Sensing for Thermal Stress Measurement
Merrina Zhang, National Research Council Canada

9:30 – 10:00 AM

A Novel, Vision-Based and Reference-Free Procedure for RNT Measurements
Dimitris C. Rizos, PhD, University of South Carolina

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Evaluation of ECHO-Rail Runner Scanning System for RCD Measurements
Anish Poudel, PhD and Matthew Witte, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Belen to Dalies Capacity Improvement Project: A Case Study in the Installation of a Permanent Soil Nail Wall While Managing Limited Access in Challenging Soil Conditions
Cody Telgheder, PE, Nicholson Construction Company and Scott M. Mackiewicz, PhD, PE, D.GE, Braun Intertec Corporation

11:30 AM – Noon

Controlling Risks of Trenchless Pipe Construction Beneath Railways
Sarah Poot, P.Eng., Golder Associates Inc. and Derek Basso, Canadian National

12:15 – 2:00 PM

Annual Committee Chairs Luncheon (Ticketed Event)
Keynote Speaker - Coming Soon

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Reduction of Train Derailments Based on Friction Management
Barbara Dias Moreira, Rumo Logística S.A.

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Field Validation of Longitudinal Rail Load Distribution Model
Shushu Liu, DigitaliBiz Inc., Brian Marquis, U.S. Department of Transportation and Cameron Stuart, Federal Railroad Administration

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Adaptive Prestressing System for Concrete Crossties using Shape Memory Alloys and Steel
Minsoo Sung and Bassem Andrawes, PhD, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

3:30 – 4:00 PM

A Sustainable and Economical Ballast Alternative: Steel Slag
Courtney Anderson, PE, Phoenix Services LLC and Kelly Cook, Edward C. Levy Company

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Artificial Intelligence-Aided Prediction of Broken Rail Occurrence Using Railroad Big Data
Zheyong Bian and Xiang Liu, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Wednesday, September 16

8:45 – 9:15 AM

Passenger & Transit Technical Presentation: Chicago – St. Louis Higher Speed Rail Program Update, Philip G. Pasterak, PE, WSP and John R. Jerome, Union Pacific Railroad

9:15 – 9:45 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Presentation: Union Pacific Composite Tie Roadmap – A History and Roadmap for the Future, Rachel Beck and Christopher Roop, Union Pacific Railroad

9:45 – 10:15 AM

Engineering Services Technical Presentation: Incorporating Digital Engineering Tools into Project Design, Glen E. Smith, PE and Meraj Mohebi, PhD, P.Eng., Argus Consulting, Inc.

10:15 – 10:45 AM

Coffee Break

10:45 – 11:15 AM

Track Technical Presentation: Field Investigation of Load Environment in Revenue Service Track with Railroad Spike Failures Systems, Marcus S. Dersch, PE and Matheus Trizotto, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Thomas A. Roadcap, Union Pacific Railroad

11:15 – 11:45 AM

Communications & Signals Technical Presentation: Leveraging PTC Infrastructure for CTC over ITCM: Development to Implementation, John D. Danyluk, MeteorComm LLC and Christopher Griffis, Norfolk Southern Corporation

11:45 AM – 12:15 PM

Structures Technical Presentation: Emergency Rebuild of Norfolk Southern Railway’s Grand River Bridge S-189.19 Near Brunswick, MO, Eric W. Neprud, PE, Hanson Professional Services Inc. and Jonathon E. Hocker, PE, Norfolk Southern Corporation

12:15 PM

Adjournment