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-rn H\It\ IIlli\\IIm" 1\ \\ ,,\ PB94-206216 .. U.S. Department of Transportation OVERVIEW OF RAILROAD Federal Railroad ·~BRIDGES AND Administration ASSESSMENT OF METHODS TO MONITOR RAILROAD BRIDGE INTEGRITY Office of Research and Development Washington D.C. 20590 DOTIFRAlORD-94/20 June 23, 1994 This document is available to Final Report the u.s. public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 REPRODUCED BY U.s. Department of Commerce Nallonal Technical Informallon Service Spmgfield, Virginia 22161 NOTICE This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The United States Government assumes no liability for its contents or use thereof. NOTICE The United States Government does not" endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers' names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report. REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE Form Approved OMB No. 0704-0188 Public reporting burden for this collection of information is estimated to average 1 hour ~er response, including the time for reviewing instructions, searching existing data sources, gathering and maintaining the data needed, and comp eting and reviewing the collection of information. Send comments regarding this burden estimate or any other aspect of this collection of information, including suggestions for reducing this burden, to Washington Headquarters Services, Directorate for Information Operations and Reports, 1215 Jefferson Davis Highway, Suite 1204, Arlington, VA 22202-4302, and to the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reduction Project (0704-0188), Washington, DC 20503 "-------- -- - .... lk) 2, REPORT DATE 3. REPORT TYPE AND DATES 1-:' 1111111111111111111111111111111 COVERED PB94-206216 June 1994 Final Report 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE 5. FUNDING NUMBERS OVERVIEW OF RAILROAD BRIDGES AND ASSESSMENT OF METHODS TO MONITOR RAILROAD BRIDGE INTEGRITY DTFR53-93-C-00021 6. AUTHOR(S) Brian Mee, ENSCO Inc. Bob McCown, P.E., Federal Railroad Administration Gordon A. Davids P.E, Federal Railroad Administration Boris Nejikovsky, ENSCO Inc. Ken Cotten P.E, Ken Cotton Engineering Services Inc. 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION REPORT NUMBER ENSCO Inc. Applied Technology & Engineering Division DOT -FRA94-09 5400 Port Royal Road Springfield, VA 22151 9. SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY NAME(S) AND ADDRESS(ES) 10, SPONSORING/MONITORING AGENCY REPORT NUMBER U.S. Department of Transportation DOT/FRA/ORD-94/20 Federal Railroad Administration Office of Research and Development Washington, DC 20590 11, SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES 12a. DISTRIBUTION/AVAILABILITY STATEMENT 12b. DISTRIBUTION CODE This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 13. ABSTRACT (Maximum 200 words) This report provides background information on the numbers and types of railroad bridges existing in the U.S. The risk to these bridges is discussed including the initiating causes of accidents and their physical effects on bridges. Examples of railroad bridge train accidents are briefly presented. An assessment of existing and new technologies applied to the mission of monitoring railroad bridge integrity in order to prevent railroad accidents is made'. Historical railroad bridge accident data is reviewed. Technologies applicable for monitoring railroad bridge structures are identified and discussed. The functional requirements and interfaces required by a bridge integrity monitor system are detailed. Candidate technologies are applied to three hypothetical railroad bridges to develop cost and performance estimates. The cost and performance of both simple and sophisticated bridge integrity monitor systems are compared. 14. SUBJECT TERMS 15. NUMBER OF PAGES Railroad Bridge, Railroad Safety, Risk Evaluation, Integrity Monitoring 154 16. PRICE CODE 17. SECURITY 18. SECURITY 19. SECURITY 20, LIMITATION OF CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION CLASSIFICATION ABSTRACT OF REPORT OF THIS PAGE OF ABSTRACT Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified Unclassified NSN 7540-01-280-5500 Standard Form 298 (Rev. 2-89) Prescribed by ANSI Std. Z39-18 298-102 METRIC (51*) CONVERSION FACTORS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS APPROXIMATE CONVERSIONS TO SI UNITS Symbol When You Know MulUply By To Find Symbol Symbol When You Know Mulllply By To Find Symbol LENGTH LENGTH .." mm mlilimeires 0.039 Inches In In Inches 2.54 mlilimetres mm .. m mel res 3.28 'eet II II 'eel 0.3048 metres m --: .. m mel res 1.09 yards yd yd yards 0.914 metres m ----_.-- km kllomelres 0.621 miles ml ml miles 1.61 kilometres km § --~ .~ ------ AREA AREA == .- §- ~ mm' mlllimetres squared 0.0016 square Inches In' === ,.. m' mel res squared 10.764 square 'aet . II' In' square Inches 645.2 mllllmetres squared mm' --: ~------=- km' kllomelres squared 0.39 square miles mi' II' square 'eet 0.0929 metres squared m' == -- yd' square yards 0.836 metres squared m' § --- ha heclores (10000 m') 2.53 acres ac == 11ft ml' square miles 2.59 kilometres squared km' ~ - ac acres 0.395 hectares ha ~ MASS (weight) . !: g grams 0.0353 ounces Ol MASS (weight) ~ kg kilograms 2.205 pounds Ib Mg magagrams (1 000 kg) 1.103 short tons T oz ounces 28.35 grams g Ib pounds Q454 kilograms kg == ~ T short Ions (2000 Ib) 0.907 megagrams Mg .~- .vOLUME = .§ mL mlllllllres 0.034 lIuldounces II oz -----:= ~ --- L Illres 0.264 gallons gal .VOLUME m' malres cubed 35.315 cubic 'eal II' I~ m' melres cubed 1.308 cubic' yards yd' II oz lIuld ounces 29.57 mlllllllres mL gal gallons 3.785 Illres L ----- 'I' cubic 'eei 0.0328 mel res cubed m' TEMPERATURE (exact) yd ' cubic yards 0.0765 mel res cubed m' °C Celsius 9/5 (than Fahrenhell OF NOTE: Volumes greater Ihan 1000 L shall be shown In m'. - temperature add 32) temperalure ---- OF .oF 32 98.6 212 - I I I I I fO I I I I I I TEMPERATURE (exact) ~O iii? 'I'~. f 11~0,11 ,1~,I I I~J I --= ! - 40 - 20 . 20 40 60 80 100 . - ~ 37 ~ OF Fahrenheit 5/9 (aller Celsius °C lemperalure subtracting 32) temperalure These 'actors con'orm 10 the requirement 0' FHWA Order 5190.1A. • SI Is Ihe symbol 'or the Inlernallonal System 0' Measuremenls OVERVIEW OF RAILROAD BRIDGES AND ASSESSMENT OF METHODS TO MONITOR RAILROAD BRIDGE INTEGRITY TABLE OF CONTENTS Section Page Executive Summary ... '.' . .. 1 Introduction. .. 5 1.0 Background. .. 7 1.1 Railroad Bridge Accident Statistics. .. 8 1.2 Federal Government Bridge Safety Activity. 9 1.3 Railroad Bridge Inspection and Maintenance. 10 2.0 Risk Evaluation. .. 11 2.1 Generic Bridge Accident Scenario. .. 11 2.2 Numbers and Types of Railroad Bridges. .. 12 2~3 Initiating Causes of Accidents, ..... '. .. 19' 2.3.1 Impact.. .. 19' 2.3.2 Flood ................., . .. 21 2.3.3 Fire........................................................ 22 2.3.4 Fatigue..................................................... 23 2.3.5 Corrosion................................................... 23 2.3.6 Earthquake.................................................. 24 2.3.7 Overload.................................................... 25 2.3.8 Intruding Object. .. .. 25 2.3.9 Explosion................................................... 26 2.3.10 Improper Construction or Maintenance. .. 26 2.3.11 Subsidence................................................. 26. 2.3.12 High Winds. 26 2.3.13 ,Ice Buildup ................................ , . .. .. 27 .. ' 2.3.14 Sabotage................................................... 27 2.4 Mechanicai or Physical Effects. .. 27 2.4.1 Disconnection of Members .............................. , . ... 27 2.4.2 Displacement of Members. .. .. 28 2.4.3 Cracking of Members ................................'. ... 28 2.4.4 Distortion of Members. .. .. 28 2.4.5 Overstress. 28 2.4.6 Undermined Supports. .. 28 2.4.7 Direct Interference with Trains ................................... " 29 2.5 Failure Progression. .. 31 2.6 Final Failure Modes ................................ , . 31 ii Section 2.7 Examples of Railroad Bridge Accidents. 31 2.7.1 Amtrak Accident Alabama 1993. .... 32 2.7.2 Loma Prieta Earthquake California 1989. .. .. 32 2.7.3 FloodlWashout Amtrak Vermont 1984 ........................... '" 32 2.7.4 Misalignment UP Utah 1979 ................................... " 33 2:7.5· Impact Struck by Barge Tow SP Louisiana 1978. 33 2.7.6 Collapse, Timber Supports B&M, New Hampshire 1939 .............. " 34 3.0 Bridge Integrity Monitor Technologies. 35 3.1 Detectable Parameters .... : ........................................ " 37 3.2 Current Detection Technologies ............................... , . .. 40 3.3 Potential Detection Technologies. .. 42 3.3.1 Stress Monitoring ........................................... " 42 3.3.2 Movement and Change of Shape Monitoring ...................... '" 43 3.3.3 Acoustic Emission Monitoring. .. 46 3.3.4 Discontinuity Detection. .. 46 3.3.5 Vibration and Shock Monitoring. .. .. .. 47 3.3.6 Detection of Intruding Objects. 48 4.0 Costs of Detector Technology ............................................ " 51 4.1 Signal System Interface Cost Estimates ................................ " 51 4.1.1 Track Circuit Interface. 51 4.1.2 Talking VHF Interface. 52 4.1.3 Cellular Telephone Interface. 52 4.2 Sensor System Cost Estimates. .. 52 4.2.1 Sensors........... 52 4.2.2 Processing .................................................. " 52 4.2.3 Installation .................................................. " 53 4.3 Recurring and Maintenance Costs. 53 4.3.1 Electric Power. .. 53 4.3.2