Technical Sessions

Monday, August 29

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Communications, Signals & Information Technology Technical Presentation: Use of Train Control Systems for Incident Management in Tunnels, Bernd Hagenah, PhD, and Sean Cassady, HNTB Corporation, and Hans-Peter Vetsch, Vetsch Rail Consulting GmbH.

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Engineering Services Technical Presentation: Solving the EOWA crossing of the CP Bensenville Yard Puzzle, Manar Nashif, PE, Illinois Tollway, Chris T. Keckeisen, Union Pacific Railroad, and Daniel Sabatka, PE, Canadian Pacific Railway

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Presentation: MTA Metro-North Commuter Railroad: Building of a Track Geometry Vehicle, Lariza Stewart, ENSCO, Inc., and Anamaria Bonilla, PE, Metro North Railroad

11:30 AM – Noon

Track Technical Presentation: Class I Demonstration of LRAIL 3D Laser Scanning and Change Detection Technology and Development of Track Component Heath Indices (TCHIs), J. Riley Edwards, PE, Arthur de Oliveira Lima, and Ian Germoglio Barbosa, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Noon – 12:30 PM

Structures Technical Presentation: Repair of Collapsed BNSF Gateway Sub Tunnel #4 in Keddie, California, Carol A. Ravano, PE, McMillen Jacobs Associates, Hal Lewandoski, Jr., BNSF Railway, and Brett Mainer, Drill Tech Drilling and Shoring, Inc.

12:30 – 1:00 PM

Passenger & Transit Technical Presentation: Eglinton Crosstown West Extension: Leveraging Technology to Enhance Program Management and Collaboration, Luv Sehgal, PE, Alexa Hinves, and Peter R. Guest, PE, Arup

Tuesday, August 30

Communications, Signals & Information Technology Technical Session

Session Chair: Jerry W. Specht EIT, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Wabtec Corporation

Session sponsored by  

8:00 – 8:30 AM

Artificial Intelligence Aided Grade Crossing Trespassing Detection and Data Analytics
Asim F. Zaman, Rutgers University and Francesco Bedini Jacobini, Federal Railroad Admin

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Onboard Broken Rail Research Development
David W. Khasenye, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI) and Mohammad Khater, Association of American Railroads (AAR)

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Detection of Bogie Performance Issues using Way-side Monitoring Systems
 Wolfgang Birk, PhD and Jesper Westerberg, Predge AB, Per-Olof Larsson-Kråik, Luleå University of Technology

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Overview and Test Results of LiDAR Grade Crossing Sensor for Object Detection
 Robert Coppenhaver and Kunihiko Itoh, Denso Wave

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Ultra-Wideband on Rail: Design and Testing of a Novel MOW Vehicle Collision Avoidance System
 Zezhou Wang, Rutgers University and Bryan W. Schlake, Penn State Altoona

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Minimally Invasive Measurement of the Electrical Properties of Railway Track Under Operating Conditions
Stuart Landau, PE, MIRSE, Parsons Transportation Group and Edwin R. Kraft, PhD, Transportation Economics and Management Systems

11:30 AM – Noon

Railroad Induction from Parallel High Voltage Transmission Lines
 David Guy Hancock and Frank Onesto, Burns & McDonnell

Noon – 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Advanced Cab: Serial Messages over the Rail
 Maximo H. Salinas, PhD and Jeffrey Fries, PE, Alstom 

2:30 – 3:00 PM

In-Vehicle Alerts of Approaching Grade Crossings and Trains – Report of Two Behavioral Studies and Technologies
 Pasi Lautala, PhD, PE and Elizabeth Veinott, Michigan Technological University, Myounghoon Jeon, Virginia Tech

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Software-Assisted Signal System Troubleshooting and Training on the North County Transit District (NCTD) COASTER and Sprinter Services
 Zachary Taylor, Semaphore Software LLC and Justin Richardson, Alstom Bombardier

Tuesday, August 30

Engineering Services Technical Session

Session Chair: Michael K. Williams, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Norfolk Southern Corporation

Session sponsored by 

8:00 – 8:30 AM

Impact of the Positive Train Control (PTC) on Rail Network Operational Performance
Hamed Pouryousef and Som P. Singh, Sharma & Associates, Inc., Monique F. Stewart, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA)

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Engineering Considerations for Yard Automation Strategies
Jeremiah Dirnberger, Wabtec

9:00 – 9:30 AM

UPRR Valley 140.02 Bridge Replacement: Complex Regulatory Permitting Processes in California for Urgent Railroad Infrastructure
Janet Hill, PE, Arcadis

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Modernizing Rail Infrastructure at Federal Facilities
Ned Bagniewski, PE and Anthony D. Klaumann, PE, HDR, Andrew P. Fanciullo, PE, US Army Corps of Engineers Transportation Systems Center

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:30 AM

AREMA Committee 16 Panel Discussion – PSR Engineering & Operations Economics
Richard S. Lanyi, P.Eng., Lanyi Rail Solutions Ltd. (Moderator), Jeremiah Dirnberger, Wabtec, Earl C. Wacker, Patrick Engineering, Brett J. Sanders, CSX Transportation, and C. Tyler Dick, PhD, PE, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (Panelists)

11:30 AM – Noon

Case Study Comparison of Hazardous Material Unit and Manifest Trains Considering Mainline and Yard Risk
Di Kang, Rutgers University and Jiaxi Zhao, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Noon – 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM

BNSF Truxton Natural Crossover Project
Audra L. Rodgers, PE, AECOM, Brian Large, BNSF Railway, and Ryan Post, Ames Construction

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Compliance Canines: Remote Sensing and Cadaver Dog Cemetery Investigation for a CN Bridge Replacement
Kari J. Harris, CPESC, CN, Amber Robinson, PWS, ENV SP and Zachary Overfield, M.A., RPA, HDR

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Kansas City's Levees Project: Building a Major Regional Public Works Project in the Heart of a National Rail Hub
Tom Poer, PE, PMP, ENV SP, F. SAME, HNTB Corporation and Scott Mensing, P.E., PMP, U.S. Army Corp of Engineers - Kansas City District

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Combining Satellite, UAV, and Instrumented Hi-rail Truck Data to Map Temporal and Spatial Changes of Surface Water Near Railway Tracks
Alireza Roghani, National Research Council Canada

4:00 – 4:30 PM

UP Englewood Yard: Transforming a Century-old Yard to a Premier Rail Car Processing Hub
Amanda Stahlnecker, PE, HDR and David J. Schuldt, PE, Union Pacific Railroad

Tuesday, August 30

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Session

Session Chair: Matthew R. Porto, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Amtrak 

Session sponsored by 
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Using Test Measurements to Quantify the Economic Benefits of Shoulder Ballast Cleaning
Hamed F. Kashani and Franco Fanucci, PE, Loram Maintenance of Way, Steven Chrismer, PhD, PE, Amtrak (Retired)

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Telematics For Maintenance of Way & Work Equipment
Neil Shipley, P.Eng., ZTR Control System

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Evaluation of Wireless Remote Condition Monitoring of Track Geometry
Daniel Miller, Senceive

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Best Practice Processes for the Continuous Improvement of the Wheel Rail Interface as Shown Through Case Studies on Heavy Haul Railways
Peter S. Sroba, FIEAust CPEng., Sroba Rail Services Pty Ltd and Eric E. Magel, P.Eng., NRC - Automotive and Surface Transportation Research Centre

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Predicting Rail Transverse Profile Shape Using 2D ARIMA Modeling
Joseph W. Palese, PhD, MBA, PE, University of Delaware

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Review of Experiments Conducted to Assist in Reducing Ground Penetrating Radar Post Processing and Interpretation Time for Assessing Track Substructure Conditions
Richard D. Begley, Marshall University

11:30 AM – Noon

Degradation Analysis of Flange Width in Ore Wagons to Determination of Predictive Monitoring Strategy
Leandro Rocha Lopes, VALE S/A

Noon – 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM

FRA Tools and Training for CWR Management
Radim Bruzek, ENSCO, Inc. and Robert Wilson, PhD, FRA Office of Research, Development and Technology

2:30 – 3:00 PM

FTA’s Track Inspection and Track Asset Management Research and Demonstration
Jennifer Zahaczewski, ENSCO, Inc. and Abhay "A.J." Joshi, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA)

3:00 – 3:30 PM

How Intelligent Monitoring Solutions (IMS) Can Mitigate Slope Failure Risk on Rail Networks
Simon Brightwell, Senceive

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Smart Track Buckling: Monitoring Rail Strain Distribution using Fiber Optic Continuous Strain Sensing Technology
Faeze Ghofrani, PhD, Pennsylvania State University – Altoona and Frank J Smith, PE, Ross & Baruzzini

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Rail Ballast Monitoring System
John Wallace and Donald S. Herbert, Tensar, Hai Huang, PhD, PE, Pennsylvania State University - Altoona

4:30 – 5:00 PM

Investigating the Effect of Shoulder Cleaning through Both Laboratory Flume Test and Field Track Test
Yu Qian, University of South Carolina, Franco Fanucci, PE, Loram Maintenance of Way, and Stephen Wilk, PhD, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

Tuesday, August 30

Passenger & Transit Technical Session

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

Session sponsored by 
8:00 – 8:30 AM

Progressive Design-Build in the Railway Industry: Perspective from the Private Sector
Carlos Tarazaga, Aztec-Typsa

8:30 – 9:00 AM

MBTA’s Framingham/Worcester Line Third Track Conceptual Design Study Leveraging Technology to Make Data-informed Operational Improvements
Joshua Bendyk, PE, VHB

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Sound Transit East Link Light Rail Extension Tie-In: Systems Modifications Enabling Construction While Minimizing Passenger Disruption
Guilherme Pereira, Mott MacDonald, Marie Olson, Sound Transit and Jeremy Stutzman, Riotech

9:30 – 10:00 AM

MDOT MTA Light Rail Interlockings: Advantages and Challenges of Single Tracking During Interlocking Renewals
Ayan Ghosh, PE, HNTB Corporation and Rodney L. Miller, PE, Gannett Fleming, Inc.

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

A Design-Build Project in AC Electrification from a Wayside Engineering Perspective
Roger C. French, Modern Railway Systems

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Effective Uses of LiDAR and Advanced Geospatial Surveying Technologies – A Case Study of Rail Infrastructure Projects
Francis J. Miller, III, PE, AECOM and Paul J. DiGiacobbe, PE, DBIA, Colliers Engineering & Design

11:30 AM – Noon

Noise and Vibration Mitigation Strategies: American Railway Projects Experiences, Inferences and Recommendations
Luv Sehgal, PE, Colleen Zwiebel, and Manuel Ramos, Arup

Noon – 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Improving Ride Quality Using Track Geometry Waveform Analysis
Steven M. Chrismer, PhD, PE, Amtrak (retired), James P. Hyslip, PhD, PE, HNTB Corporation, and Amanda Kessler, PE, Amtrak

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Accelerated Design and Construction in Core MBTA Downtown Transit Stations
Zachary Grant, PE, AECOM

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Assessing Inductive Interference in Shared Corridors Through Simulation
Justin McKennon, Electro Magnetic Applications, Inc.

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Safety Management in the Progressive Design-build Environment for Rail Transit
John Cockle and Kenneth Sundberg, Kiewit Engineering Group, Inc.

4:00 – 4:30 PM

The Clean Sheet Design Method: A Design Approach for Complex and Large-Scale Rail Projects
Marc Starmans, Arcadis NL, Sara Lynch, Arcadis US, and Jason Kim, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority

Tuesday, August 30

Structures Technical Session

Session Chair: William S. Riehl, III, PE, F.SAME, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Genesee & Wyoming Inc. 

Session sponsored by  

8:00 – 8:30 AM

Construction of a 11,712-ft Long Prestressed Concrete Trestle over the Bonnet Carre Spillway
Sandro Scola, P.Eng. and Raymond C Baker, Canadian National Railway, Matthew Struemph, OCCI Inc.

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Emergency Limited Access Micropile Support of Damaged Bridge Foundation and Encapsulation for Scour Protection
Kyle Guenther, MS, PE, GeoStabilization International and Ammar Shubair, PE, CSX Transporation

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Advancements in Fatigue Evaluation and Design for Steel Railway Girder Bridges
Stephen M. Dick, PhD, SE, Purdue University

9:30 – 10:00 AM

MBTA Gloucester Drawbridge - Construction Challenges Due to Changing Constraints
John Williams, PE, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates and Joe Knapp, PE, Genesis Structures

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Adapting to Changing Market Conditions - Reevaluating Completely Replacing a Railroad Bridge
Ross M. White, PE, Stantec Consulting Services Inc. and Rick Adamek, Oregon International Port of Coos Bay

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Lateral Resistance of Timber Bridge Ties and Fasteners on Open Deck Steel Bridges
Christopher L. Johnson, PE and Duane Otter, PhD, PE, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), Matthew Hebdon, PhD, PE, The University of Texas at Austin

11:30 AM – Noon

Toronto Transit Tunnels Rehabilitation
Farrokh Noori, P.Eng, PMP, Hatch Ltd.

Noon – 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM

Engineering and Construction Challenges for the Main Span Replacement of TRRA Merchants Bridge over Mississippi River, St. Louis, MO
Nick Staroski, PE, SE, TranSystems and Josh Crain, PE, SE, Genesis Structures

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Effective Approaches for Sustainable Asset Management
Darin Charles Welch, HNTB Corporation and Anamaria Bonilla, PE, Metro-North Railroad

3:00 – 3:30 PM

On Passive Protection Analysis of Subsea Immersed Tube Tunnel During Fire Event
Jean Habimana, Hatch

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Application of Prestressed Precast Segmental Concrete Box-girder Construction in an Urban Railway Project
Keyan Yu, Systra IBT

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Argentine Upstream Stoplog Structure: Building a Flood Control Structure Within BNSF’s Largest Classification Yard
Sean Cooney, PE, HNTB Corporation, Joshua Boeckmann, PE and Jared Mewmaw, PE, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Kansas City District

Tuesday, August 30

Track Technical Session

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

Session Sponsored By  
8:00 – 8:30 AM

A Non-Destructive, Reference-Free Procedure for RNT and Longitudinal Stress Measurements: Field Implementation and Validation
Dimitris C. Rizos, PhD, University of South Carolina

8:30 – 9:00 AM 

Evaluation of High Strength and Intermediate Strengths Rails Under Heavy Axle Loads
Ananyo Banerjee, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Joining Rail w/No Heat Affected Zone: No Soft Dips
Paul Cheng, FuseRing

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Using Asphaltic Plug Joints to Prevent Grade Crossing Deterioration
Nathaniel Blake, TranSystems

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Investigation into Longitudinal Track Resistance | A Critical Parameter for Track Loading and RNT Establishment
Marcus S. Dersch, PE, and J. Riley Edwards, PE, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Erik K. Frohberg, BNSF Railway

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Field Evaluation of Under Tie Pad Impact to Track Performance
Arthur de Oliveira Lima, Brett Myskowski, and J. Riley Edwards, PE, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

11:30 AM – Noon

Thermal Effect on Engineered Polymer Composite Ties
Yin Gao, Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI)

Noon – 2:00 PM

Lunch

2:00 – 2:30 PM

KCT Woodland Slope Stabilization Project: Use of a Flexible Stabilization System Between a School and 100 Trains/Day
James R. Hamm, PE and Paige Hardt, TranSystems

2:30 – 3:00 PM

Pipe Roof Tunneling for Low-cover Under-crossing of Active UPRR Tracks
Todd Kilduff, Kilduff Underground Engineering

3:00 – 3:30 PM

Use of Rail-Mounted Strain Gauges to Monitor Load Distribution under Train Traffic
Rakan Alturk, ENSCO, Inc. and Debakanta Mishra, PE, Oklahoma State University

3:30 – 4:00 PM

Introduction of an Analytical Method to Estimate Dynamic Impact Forces Along Railway Transition Zones
Niyazi Özgür Bezgin, Istanbul University - Cerrahpasa

4:00 – 4:30 PM

Machine Learning Based Broken Rail Prediction on Freight Railroads: Methodology and A Case Study in the United States
Xin Wang and Asim F. Zaman, Rutgers University

Wednesday, August 31

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Passenger & Transit Technical Presentation: Metrolinx’s Ontario Line Mega-Transit Project: Joint Corridor Construction Staging Design, Gregory Placentine, P.Eng., HDR and Richard Tucker, Metrolinx

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Presentation: A Class I’s Lifecycle from Data Collection to Maintenance Execution, Rafael Maldonado, and Ivan Aragona, ENSCO, Inc.

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Engineering Services Technical Presentation: CSX-NCDOT Carolina Connector Intermodal Project - Partnering to Connect North Carolina to the Nation’s Supply Chain, Brandon Knapp, PE, CSX Transportation, and Jason T. Orthner, North Carolina Department of Transportation

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Coffee Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Track Technical Presentation: UPRR Moffat Subdivision Slope Stabilization Challenges within the Core Canyon near Kremmling, Colorado, Timothy D. Jensen, PE, and Travis M. Schafer, Olsson, and Rachel Beck, Union Pacific Railroad

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Communications, Signals & Information Technology Technical Presentation: Relative Risk Assessment of Cut Slopes Using Track Inspection Videos and Object Detection, Michael Palese, University of Delaware

11:30 AM – Noon

Structures Technical Presentation: Narlon Bridge Replacement: Unique Collaborative Effort is Formula for Success, Nathan P. Dickerson, PE, HDR, Adam D. Studts, PE, Union Pacific Railroad, and Lynne D. Althouse, Althouse and Meade, Inc.

Noon

Adjournment