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Condition Assessment of Short-Line Railroad Bridges in Pennsylvania

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Condition Assessment of Short-Line Railroad Bridges in Pennsylvania Condition Assessment of Short-line Railroad Bridges in Pennsylvania FINAL REPORT February 1, 2010 By Jeffrey A. Laman and Robert C. Guyer The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION CONTRACT No. 510602 PROJECT No. PSU 022 Technical Report Documentation Page 1. Report No. 2. Government Accession No. 3. Recipient’s Catalog No. FHWA-PA-2010-003-PSU 022 4. Title and Subtitle 5. Report Date February 1, 2010 Condition Assessment of Short-line Railroad Bridges in Pennsylvania 6. Performing Organization Code 7. Author(s) 8. Performing Organization Report No. PTI 2010-06 Jeffrey A. Laman, PhD, PE and Robert C. Guyer 9. Performing Organization Name and Address 10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) The Thomas D. Larson Pennsylvania Transportation Institute The Pennsylvania State University 11. Contract or Grant No. 201 Transportation Research Building University Park, PA 16802-4710 510602, PSU 022 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address 13. Type of Report and Period Covered The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation Final Report 9/2/2008 – 2/1/2010 Bureau of Planning and Research Commonwealth Keystone Building 400 North Street, 6th Floor 14. Sponsoring Agency Code Harrisburg, PA 17120-0064 15. Supplementary Notes COTR: Joe Cribben, 717-787-2627 16. Abstract Current levels of available resources to maintain and preserve the Pennsylvania short-line railroad bridge infrastructure require that important priority decisions be made on an annual basis. The primary objective of this study was to establish a reliable database of Pennsylvania SLRR bridges and to develop a risk-based bridge prioritization algorithm. A bridge survey of Pennsylvania short-line railroad owners and operators was conducted to develop a bridge database that would be as complete and accurate as possible given the available time and resources. The proposed algorithm provides a tool for PennDOT to use in making more effective maintenance and preservation resource allocation decisions for these structures. This study consisted of a literature review, bridge survey, database update, bridge sample, assessment of the current overall SLRR bridge population, and a risk-based prioritization algorithm. 17. Key Words 18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available Railroad, short-line, bridge, prioritization, condition, assessment, risk from the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161 19. Security Classif. (of this report) 20. Security Classif. (of this page) 21. No. of Pages 22. Price Unclassified Unclassified 418 Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed page authorized This work was sponsored by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and the U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration. The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and the accuracy of the data presented herein. The contents do not necessarily reflect the official views or policies of the Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, or the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania at the time of publication. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation. Table of Contents List of Figures............................................................................................................ viii List of Tables .................................................................................................................x Executive Summary.................................................................................................. xiii Chapter 1: Introduction ...............................................................................................1 1.1 Background.........................................................................................................1 1.2 Objectives...........................................................................................................2 1.3 Project Tasks.......................................................................................................3 Chapter 2: Literature Review......................................................................................5 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................5 2.2 Inspection............................................................................................................5 2.3 Rating..................................................................................................................7 2.4 Records Management..........................................................................................9 2.5 Bridge Condition Prediction .............................................................................11 2.5.1 Predicting Current Condition...................................................................12 2.5.1.1 Visual Inspection............................................................................12 2.5.1.2 Neural Network...............................................................................13 2.5.1.3 Other Methods................................................................................14 2.5.2 Predicting Future Condition.....................................................................15 2.5.2.1 Weibull Probability Distribution....................................................15 2.5.2.2 Markov Process...............................................................................16 2.5.2.3 Other Methods................................................................................17 2.6 Asset Management Systems .............................................................................19 2.6.1 Bridge Management – Highway ..............................................................20 2.6.1.1 Pontis..............................................................................................20 2.6.1.2 BRIDGIT........................................................................................21 2.6.1.3 AgileAssets® Bridge Manager.......................................................21 2.6.1.4 Other BMS......................................................................................22 2.6.1.5 Integrated Network Management ...................................................23 2.6.2 Rail Management.....................................................................................24 2.6.3 Bridge Management – Railroad...............................................................25 2.6.3.1 GIS Application..............................................................................25 2.6.3.2 Other Management Systems ...........................................................26 2.6.3.3 Federal Regulations........................................................................27 2.7 Risk Management and Prioritization ................................................................29 2.7.1 Probability of Failure...............................................................................32 2.7.2 Consequence of Failure ...........................................................................41 2.8 Sampling Procedure..........................................................................................43 2.8.1 Sampling Philosophies and Approach .....................................................43 2.8.2 Project Sampling Procedure.....................................................................45 v Chapter 3: Bridge Survey, Database and Sample ...................................................47 3.1 Bridge Survey ...................................................................................................47 3.2 Bridge Database................................................................................................49 3.3 Bridge Sample...................................................................................................52 3.3.1 Sample Bridge Field Visits ......................................................................54 3.4 Bridge Sample Summary Sheets.......................................................................55 Chapter 4: Discussion of Prioritization Issues .......................................................116 4.1 Introduction.....................................................................................................116 4.2 Bridge Inventory Data ....................................................................................117 4.2.1. Material.................................................................................................118 4.2.2. Bridge Type..........................................................................................118 4.2.3. Year Built..............................................................................................119 4.2.4. Number of Spans...................................................................................119 4.2.5. Bridge Length.......................................................................................120 4.2.6. Bridge Over Feature..............................................................................120 4.2.7. Load Rating...........................................................................................121 4.2.8. Condition..............................................................................................122 4.2.9. MGT......................................................................................................124 4.2.10. Bridge Importance ..............................................................................124
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