Technical Sessions

Monday, September 14

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Engineering Services Presentation: From Final Spike to In Service: Delivering Infrastructure Capacity Projects on the CPKC Transnational Corridor Under Rigorous STB Environmental Oversight, Nelson R. Wienke, PE & Eric P. Deyaert, AECOM and Brevel G.J. Holder, PE, CPKC

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Passenger & Transit Presentation: Design, Testing and Commissioning of a Computer-Based Interlocking System in a Major Subway Station, Steven Paul Samuel, Alan Lambert and Keith Wood, Hatch

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Presentation: Rebuilding a Railroad After Hurricane Helene, Alan B. Johnson, PE, Norfolk Southern Corporation, Gary Brill, PE, Schnabel Engineering and Mark Boyle, R.J. Corman Railroad Services

11:30 AM – Noon

Track Presentation: CSX Hurricane Helene Recovery – Track Reconstruction, Levi D. Hudlow, HDR and Amanda Hongisto & Amanda DeCesare, CSX Transportation  

Noon – 12:30 PM

Structures Presentation: Development of the Park Avenue Viaduct Program, Colin McGrane, PE, PMP and Michael Sheehan, PE, MTA Construction & Development

12:30 – 1:00 PM

Communications, Signals & Information Technology Presentation: Beyond Slide Fences: Increasing Safety and Capacity, William Becker, L.B. Foster Company, Jason Berner, Canadian National and Tadd Crist, Canadian National

Tuesday, September 15

Communications, Signals & Information Technology Technical Session

Session Chair: Jared Hopewell, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Norfolk Southern Corporation

Session sponsored by   

 

7:30 – 8:00 AM

Securing Digital Rail Infrastructure: A Holistic Cybersecurity Approach for Modern Transit Systems
Bosco Chan, Arup

8:05 – 8:35 AM

Manifold-Based Self-Supervised Monitoring of Railway Switch Machines
Eduardo Di Santi, ALSTOM

8:40 – 9:10 AM

Reducing Failures in Signaling Systems Through Data-Driven Analysis and Preventive Maintenance Measures
Jens Huelsermann, Markus Enghardt and Stefan Leistner, DB E.C.O. North America

9:15 – 9:45 AM

Fiber-Optic Intelligence: Tracking Wheel Defects and Derailments Using a Distributed Acoustic Sensing System
Md. Fazle Rabbi, ENSCO, Inc.

9:50 – 10:20 AM

Break

10:25 – 10:55 AM

Considerations in Designing Cables and Raceways in Multi-Disciplinary Rail Projects
Bryant Martin, Sr., PE, PMP, TYLIN International

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Engineering Railroad Communication Systems (RCS) in Challenging Environments and Terrain
Celstin Chuks Ololo, SYSTRA Engineering and Consulting

11:35 AM – 12:05 PM

Advanced Preemption: Beyond 50 Seconds
Steven Phillips and Travis Bailey, Olsson

12:10 – 12:40 PM 

Amtrak Voice Radio Upgrades
Roger Saborido, Parsons Services Company

12:45 – 1:15 PM 

Rail Transit Agencies should take a direct role to avoid a communication protocol nightmare on interlocking upgrades
Felix D. Solorzano, WSP

Tuesday, September 15

Engineering Services Technical Session

Session Chair: Cassandra M. Gouger, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
Union Pacific

Session sponsored by  


7:30 – 8:00 AM

Reducing Noise and Improving Yard Operations: A Win-Win Project at the Belt Railway Company of Chicago East Classification Yard
Daniel Schulte, PE, Quandel Consultants, Thomas F. Lyons, The Belt Railway Company of Chicago and Elliot A. Ramos, PE, Illinois Dept. of Transportation

8:05 – 8:35 AM

Re-imagining the CPKC Bensenville Yard
Patrick Flannery, PE & Chad Hewitt, PE, HDR and Daniel Sabatka, PE, CPKC

8:40 – 9:10 AM

The Railroad of the Mid-Century: Training our Future Leaders
Fernando Moreu, PhD, PE and Mahsa Sanei, EIT, University of New Mexico

9:15 – 9:45 AM

Amtrak Michigan City Coaling Tower Demolition
Douglas Capuder, Jacobs, Lorenzo Perez, Jr., Amtrak and Sean Floyd, Renascent Inc.

9:50 – 10:20 AM

Break

10:25 – 10:55 AM

Surgically Constructing a Large Scale Public Project Through the Heart of BNSF
Joshua Boeckmann, PE & Delaney Durbin, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Trevor J. Attwood, Olsson

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Integrating Climate Science and Engineering: A Risk-Based Approach to Railway Bridge Resilience
Rhiana Barnes, P.L. Eng and Dave Poole, P. Eng., M.Sc., CRM, SCR, Dillon Consulting Limited 

11:35 AM – 12:05 PM

Preparing Railroads for the Coming Wave of Longitudinal Utilities: Lessons from the CHPE Project
Lucas J. Brewer & Matthew O'Brien, Colliers Engineering & Design and Alex R. Saar, PE, CSX Transportation

12:10 – 12:40 PM

How ARRC Navigated NEPA and Unforeseen Obstacles with CMGC Delivery to Replace BR 127.5 through an Active Military Base
Anthony Hafner, PE, SE, HDR and Tyler S. Tubbs, Alaska Railroad Corporation

12:45 – 1:15 PM

From Kansas City’s Auto Assembly Past to a Rail Driven Future Union Pacific’s “Leeds” Redevelopment Project
David Matthews, PLA & Nick Heiser, PE, Olsson and Todd Hackel, Union Pacific

Tuesday, September 15

Maintenance-of-Way Technical Session

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

Session sponsored by 

7:30 – 8:00 AM

Eliminating Hanging Sleepers: Cost-Efficient, Intelligent Rail Solutions
Patricia Boivin, Rail Industries Canada, Paul Kampfraath, KamPa BV and Rashid Dorj, Genirail Inc.

8:05 – 8:35 AM

Comparative Evaluation of Maintenance Effectiveness through Track Geometry Data and Deterioration Rates
Jaeik Lee, PhD and Cayden M. Schroeder, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

8:40 – 9:10 AM

Development and Application of the Illinois Buckle Risk Model Using Multi-source Track Data
Kaifeng Hu, Arthur de Oliveira Lima and J. Riley Edwards, PE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

9:15 – 9:45 AM

Evaluating Breakage in Geogrid-Stabilized Ballast Using Triaxial Test
Yu Qian, PhD, PE & Phuriwit Jaikaew, University of South Carolina and Mark H. Wayne, PhD, PE, Tensar, A Division of CMC

9:50 – 10:20 AM

Break 

10:25 – 10:55 AM

Integrating Non-Destructive and Reference-Free Estimation of Rail Neutral Temperature with Satellite-Based InSAR Monitoring of Track Movements
Dr. Brennan L. Gedney, Insight Rail LLC and Skevi Perdikou, Geofem

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Turning Big Data into Operational Intelligence: Designing User Interfaces for Large-Scale Railway Infrastructure
Cesar Keller, Object Computing

11:35 AM – 12:05 PM

Application of AI in Ultrasonic Inspection
Alexandre Lima de Carvalho, Marcos Paulo Eudóxio and William Mendes, MRS Logistics SA

12:10 – 12:40 PM

New Non-Contact Technology for Measurement of Rail Stress and Rail Neutral Temperature
Veeshal Modi, Kansas State University

12:45 – 1:15 PM

Toward a Mineralogy Based Fouling Index Using Hyperspectral Imaging for Track Safety Monitoring
Boshra Besharatian and Sattar Dorafshan, University of North Dakota

Tuesday, September 15

Passenger & Transit Technical Session

Session Chair: Krista L. Keene, EIT, MSE, MBA, PMP, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
AMTRAK

Session sponsored by   

 
7:30 – 8:00 AM

NJT Rail Network Modeling: A system for integrating diverse data and analyzing project impact for capital investment planning
Luke A. Sizemore, Asim Zaman and Xiang Liu, PhD, Rutgers Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation

8:05 – 8:35 AM

Expanding Passenger Rail Car Manufacturing Capacity
William Jansen, PE, Arcadis and Cory Phillips, Siemens

8:40 – 9:10 AM

Integrating EAM-ERP Systems with Craft-specific Mobile Applications
Joseph M. Denny, TekTracking

9:15 – 9:45 AM

Full Speed Ahead on the Michigan Accelerated Rail Corridor
Daniel Schulte, PE, Quandel Consultants, James D'Lamater, PE, Michigan Dept. of Transportation and David Roberts, PE, Amtrak

9:50 – 10:20 AM

Break

10:25 – 10:55 AM

A Climate-Resilience Framework for Passenger Rail Infrastructure: Informing Future Guidance for Passenger Rail in Canada
Kevin Mackie, M.Eng, National Research Council Canada 

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Urban Streetcar Exclusivity: Design and Implementation in Kansas City
Brian Nelson, Stacy Witbeck, Christopher Kinzel, HDR and Jason Waldron, City of Kansas City, MO

11:35 AM – 12:05 PM

An Inside Look at SEPTA's 30th Street Station Transformation
Steven E. Deller, PE, GFT and William Kunkle, PE, SEPTA 

12:10 – 12:40 PM

Laser Scans to Learning Systems: YOLO-Based Crack Detection and Digital Twin Integration for Transit Tunnel Modernization
Nageshwarreddy V. Karnati, PE & Govind Sulibhavi, Maryland Transit Administration and Ali Hafiz, Advanced Infrastructure Design, Inc

12:45 – 1:15 PM

Hall Interlocking: Bridging the Future of LIRR's Jamaica Station
Maxwell Feigman & Jesse Pierce Heimowitz, CCM, Tectonic Engineering Consultants and Leo Fernandez, TYLin

Tuesday, September 15

Structures Technical Session

Session Chair: Walter F. Bleser, II, PE, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
RailPros 

Session sponsored by  

 
7:30 – 8:00 AM

Carbon in Rail Construction: Life Cycle Assessment of Green Concrete for New and Existing Corridors
Manuel Ramos, PE, Lucinda Doogan, EIT and Luca Montanari, Arup

8:05 – 8:35 AM

Amtrak/NJ Transit’s Portal North Bridge-Network Tied-Arch First of its Kind for Heavy Rail in North America
Paul L. DelSignore, (Amtrak, Retired), George Decorges, PE, HNTB and Dante DeAnnuntis, Amtrak

8:40 – 9:10 AM

Honda Bridge Replacement: Building Resilience and Reducing Risks
Nathan P. Dickerson, PE, HDR, Jesus Daniel Ruiz-Barrios, Ralph L Wadsworth Construction Company, LLC and LynneDee Althouse, Althouse & Meade, Inc.

9:15 – 9:45 AM

CSX Transportation's Howard Street Tunnel Project
Brandon Knapp, PE, CSX Transportation, John Pehar, P.Eng., PMP, Hatch and Thomas Costabile, PE, Skanska Fay Joint Venture 

9:50 – 10:20 AM

Break

10:25 – 10:55 AM

Simplifying a complicated problem: 4000 open deck ties, one consistent top of tie elevation.
Kyle Czapla, PE, RailPros

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Modular Bridge Solutions for Rail Network Resilience: The BNSF TPG Standard
Jansen Bundridge, HNTB Corporation and Garrett Havens, BNSF Railway

11:35 AM – 12:05 PM

Wireless Settlement Monitoring to Provide Confidence During Superstructure Rehabilitation in Remote Cold-Weather Conditions
Evan Clark, BDI

12:10 – 12:40 PM

Collaborative Delivery Methods for Railroad Projects: Trends, Benefits, and Lessons Learned
Stephen Shortridge, II, Assoc. DBIA, PCL Construction and Brandon Loeffler, PE, Union Pacific

12:45 – 1:15 PM

Update on Alternative Bridge Tie and Hardware Research
Christopher L. Johnson, PE and Duane E. Otter, PhD, PE, MxV Rail

Tuesday, September 15

Track Technical Session

Session Chair: Patrick A. Halsted, AREMA Functional Group Vice President
HDR

Session Sponsored by   
 
7:30 – 8:00 AM

Rail Neutral Temperature and Stress Evaluation for CWR Using Acoustic Birefringence
Glenn A. Washer, University of Missouri

8:05 – 8:35 AM 

Towards Ultrasonic Rail Inspection at Revenue Speed
Francesco Lanza Di Scalea, PhD, University of California San Diego and Megan B. Brice, Federal Railroad Administration

8:40 – 9:10 AM

Triple Cross in Casa Grande, Implementing Three Pipelines in One Casing Under the Railroad
Brian Spano, PE, Wilson & Company, Inc., Engineers & Architects

9:15 – 9:45 AM

120 Tank Car Rail Loading Facility - Design Challenges and Solutions
Nicholas Giacomelli, P.Eng. and Sasha Harpe, P.Eng., Tri Innovations

9:50 – 10:20 AM

Break

10:25 – 10:55 AM

Keeping the "Go" in "Chicago" Part 2: Construction of the CREATE P3/GS19 Project
Brett N. Guarino, CSX Transportation, Nick Kowalczyk, PE, Granite Construction Company and Michael A. Evans, GFT

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Johnson County Airport Commission, Main Track Rehab and Expansion
James W. Rice, PE, HDR and Larry Peet, Johnson County (Kansas) Airport Commission

11:35 AM – 12:05 PM

Effects of Friction Management on Rail Wear and Surface Fatigue on Tangents and Curves
Ananyo Banerjee and Ulrich Spangenberg, MxV Rail

12:10 – 12:40 PM

Maximizing Track Time: Increasing Ultrasonic Rail Flaw Inspection Line Speeds to 50 mph on Busy Corridors
Alexander Seredich and Michael Delibero, ENSCO, Inc.

12:45 – 1:15 PM

Rail Creep Monitoring and the Implications of Buckled-Track Derailments for Rail Neutral Temperature
Kamyar Kosarneshan, Jose Gustavo Venancio da Silva Ramos and Marcus S. Dersch, PE, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign - Urbana, IL

Wednesday, September 16

8:30 – 9:00 AM

Maintenance-of-Way Presentation: Assessing Track Strength Through Non-Contact Measurements, Daniel Einbinder & Chaitanya Yavvari, ENSCO, Inc. and Hugh B. Thompson, II, Federal Railroad Administration

9:00 – 9:30 AM

Passenger & Transit Presentation: Construction Mitigation Planning: Long Bridge Case Study, Wendy Messenger, Kimley-Horn, Jeremy Latimer, Virginia Passenger Rail Authority and Michael Weaver, DB E.C.O. North America Inc.

9:30 – 10:00 AM

Structures Presentation: CSX Blue Ridge Subdivision Hurricane Helene Recovery – The Poplar Bridge Rehabilitation, Nabil Hamadani, PE, HDR, Edward D. Sparks, II, PE, CSX Transportation and Aaron Bedsworth, PE, OCCI Inc

10:00 – 10:30 AM

Break

10:30 – 11:00 AM

Engineering Services Presentation: Uinta Basin Rail Project’s Impact on NEPA Precedent and Streamlining, Kevin K. Keller, PG, CGWP, HDR 

11:00 – 11:30 AM

Track Presentation: Lake State Railway Huron Subdivision: Development and Implementation of Grant Funded Projects, Thomas R. Klemm, PE and Sean P. Pengelly, PE, Lake State Railway Company

11:30 AM – Noon

Communications, Signals & Information Technology Presentation: Enhancing LiDAR Collection for Train Control, Railway Asset Management and Safety at BNSF Railway, Chris Kerzman, BNSF Railway and Negin Shafie, Cordel