ON THE LEVEL BY MISCHA WANEK-LIBMAN, Engineering Editor

Grade crossing surfaces are being built to withstand heavy road and rail traffic, as well as lessen required maintenance.

eavier traffic, in car, truck and train form, The company says the 12,000 PSI stronger reinforcement demands that grade crossing surfaces be made provides a more durable panel, which achieves an HS 20-44 of durable and easy-to-maintain materials to keep load rating. Jerry McCombs, Vice President of the company’s Htotal costs down, and more important, enhance Railroad Products Division, says the company also utilizes safety at any given crossing. a nine-foot-long panel for 18-inch tie centers. This allows vehicular wheel loads to be distributed over a greater AMERICAN CONCRETE PRODUCTS CO. number of crossties, extending crossing service life. American Concrete Products Co. manufactures precast cross- “In reference to maintenance and initial installation, our ings for all types of ties and new concrete tie manufacturer bolt-on flangeway filler allows for a ‘one and done’ installa- Rail One in any panel length and any tie spacing. tion without having to handle a separate piece of filler that “The compressive strength of the concrete in our crossings is not attached to the panels,” said McCombs. “In reference exceeds the requirement as much as 30%. Two separate seal- to safety, our concrete panels allow for a smooth transition ants are used on the top surface to prevent damage from from roadway approach across the track structure, allowing de-icing agents, therefore extending the life of the crossing. safe passage for vehicular traffic. It is very important that Crossings are warranted for 12 years,” said Buz Hutchinson, the entity responsible for the roadway approaches keep them railroad sales and service for American Concrete Products. maintained and level with the grade of the crossing structure. “A broom finish on the crossing perpendicular to the road- The service life of the grade crossing can be greatly dimin- way creates a non-slip surface. The field flangeway rubber is ished by a poor roadway approach and produce an unsafe nearly flush with the top surface and the gauge flangeway condition for vehicular traffic.” rubber is nearer to the top. The location of these flangeway fillers enhances safety when it relates to ADA requirements.” HIRAIL CORPORATION “A smooth crossing surface enhances the safety of the cross- CENTURY GROUP ing by allowing the vehicle operator to pay attention to Century Group, Inc., grade crossing surfaces utilize a Grade the warning devices and train movements at the crossing. A 72 reinforcement in lieu of an industry standard Grade 60 to rough crossing surface may divert a driver’s attention from handle heavier vehicle loads. the warning devices while he tries to find a way across the

December 2015 RAILWAY AGE 29 GRADE CROSSING SURFACES rough surface that will cause the least amount of damage to the vehicle,” said Walt Barry, Vice President. “HiRAIL Full Depth Rubber Grade Crossing Surfaces provide a smooth transition across the tracks and the grooved diamond surface pattern enhances traction.” Barry also explained that Full Depth Rubber grade crossing surfaces can be more forgiving than other more rigid types of crossing surfaces. “They flex with the movement of the railroad track and absorb the impact of vehicles when the road approach has rutted or deteriorated.” HiRAIL grade crossings are molded to fit snugly against the rail and have a tongue and groove interlocking between each panel. Barry notes that these features help prevent moisture and debris from entering the track structure and T Resources ENDURANCE®-XL PLUS Highway-Rail system. causing premature deterioration. installation of new crossings, as well as aid in easy removal LT RESOURCES for track maintenance. The panels were recently used with Linda Thomas, President of LT Resources, Inc., explained composite crossties and GEOWEB on a Union Pacific/Texas that the company’s ENDURANCE®-XL PLUS Highway-Rail Department of Transportation double-track project. Grade Crossings were designed to address maintenance issues “Composite ties provide a longer tie life than traditional encountered with traditional crossing surface materials and wood ties, extending the crossing surface life even will accommodate mainline rail profiles and all types of further. GEOWEB minimizes deflection beneath the track fastening systems. and approaches for both rail traffic and vehicular traffic. This Thomas said that the durable crossings perform well in complete system is a good example of LT Resources’ ongo- all traffic conditions. Lifting devices are included to speed ing efforts to promote the use of innovative materials to

30 RAILWAY AGE December 2015 GRADE CROSSING SURFACES extend crossing life and reduce costly shutdowns for repairs reduces plastic shrinkage cracking, and greatly increases and replacement. LT Resources’ full range of recycled and concrete durability. All of this means a longer lasting cross- recyclable track materials provides long-term performance ing, with reduced overall maintenance costs.” with minimal labor and replacement costs,” said Thomas. “LT Mottola also points out that heavier railcar loads mean Resources is currently working with various [departments added stress to the track structure. of transportation] to introduce new surface treatments to “Precast panels are lagged to wood or composite ties, enhance our products’ safety performance, and we look and work independent of the adjacent panels. This system forward to implementing these designs on a widespread basis allows the panels to flex with the track structure and endure in the near future.” constant repetitive traffic,” said Mottola. “We offer a precast crossing surface with an ADA approved gauge flangeway OMEGA opening and the option of a coarse finish. The finish is similar Mark Mottola, National Sales Manager at Omega Industries, to 36 grit sand paper, and offers extremely good traction, Inc., said precast concrete provides a crossing surface to even when wet. Concrete will not deteriorate with endure constant, heavy vehicle traffic. prolonged exposure to UV rays and will not become harder “There are two good reasons the largest railroads in North or softer with changes in temperature. Once again, more America have engineered and adopted a “Common Standard” reasons that BNSF, UP, CP, Alaska Railroad, etc. choose precast concrete panel as the benchmark by which all other concrete over all other crossing materials.” crossing material is judged: Reduced cost of maintenance and product longevity. When a crossing is shut down, rail and OMNI vehicle traffic comes to a halt, costing thousands of dollars,” Omni Rail Products, Inc., heavy-duty concrete panels are said Mottola. “In addition to the BNSF/UP common standard constructed with high-strength concrete interlaced with design, Omega offers the addition of polyfiber reinforcement THERMEX treated rebar for high impact toughness and for increased panel durability. The fiber is used as a secondary then sealed with a silicone sealant to help fight off road salts. concrete reinforcement along with the traditional rebar rein- “Increased rail traffic means increased track maintenance. forcing method. Polyfiber adds increased impact resistance, Omni concrete panels are designed to lift out of the track

December 2015 RAILWAY AGE 31 GRADE CROSSING SURFACES easily and be replaced quickly so any surfacing activities can Polycorp Ltd. has been able to maintain and improve product be performed with a minimal amount of road closure,” said design, quality and integrity,” said Brad Bedford, Technical Bob Cigrang, Vice President of Sales. Sales Coordinator at Polycorp. Omni also manufactures a full-depth lagged down rubber Epflex Railseal is made of extruded virgin rubber and grade crossing composed of solid virgin rubber from top absorbs destructive energy from both rail deflection and of tie to top of rail. Cigrang says that these panels are also vehicular traffic in order to extend the expected crossing life. removed and replaced easily and can be handled with any “These destructive forces along the interface would typi- equipment without fear of damaging the panels. cally result in the asphalt lifting, heaving and breaking up, “As far as safety goes, Omni’s ECR panels come with a shunt causing drivers to become distracted while ‘picking’ their break in the frame to prevent false signal activation and are route over the crossing to avoid vehicle damage. Far too often, available with epoxy coated rebar. Omni’s field panel on the these distractions result in the driver not seeing approaching ECR crossing has 25-pound solid block of rubber attached to vehicle and train traffic, which in turn, leads to collisions in each panel and goes between the metal frame and the rail,” the crossings. The large number of collisions at level crossings explained Cigrang. “Omni’s IC and IC/ECR concrete crossings led to legislation to maintain surface standards through the come with a full-depth solid rubber flangeway. A typical gauge crossings. Epflex Railseal Interface became the flagship prod- panel will have more than 400 pounds of rubber between the uct for asphalt crossings due to the many features, functions concrete panel and the rail. All panels come with a skid resis- and benefits that have been uniquely engineered and tant surface and are available with ADA flangeways.” implemented. Increased longevity and reduced crossing maintenance cycles led to Epflex evolving as a standard inter- POLYCORP face for all grade crossing mediums,” explained Bedford. “The evolution of Polycorp Epflex Railseal, since its Bedford said the Railseal profiles are designed to match inception in the mid 1980s, has been to focus on allowable exact contours of the rail to seal out surface water and deformation of the rubber at the railroad interface. Through foreign elements in order to reduce fouled and contaminated finite element analysis, continuous in-track monitoring ballast, all the while maximizing the structural support of and implementing ideas gathered from customer feedback, the crossing and the life cycle of the rail fastening system.

32 RAILWAY AGE December 2015 GRADE CROSSING SURFACES

“As always, Polycorp will unconditionally guarantee that Epflex Railseal Interface will effectively perform for the life of the grade crossing and will be completely reusable as an interface in a second crossing rehabilitation resulting in a lower cost per year when amortized over the life of the product,” said Bedford.

ROCLA “Being that we are in the heart of coal country, dealing with heavy loads isn’t something new to us,” said Scott Craig, sales manager-special products for Rocla Concrete Tie, Inc. “At Rocla, we had to learn early on that our crossing panels would have to withstand the daily pounding of hundreds of not just heavy trucks, but ones that were overloaded. Through the years, improvements have been made to both the reinforcement and concrete designs, but the most recent change has come with the style of bearing pad. The current pad interfaces with the concrete panel and the railroad tie and has been engineered to provide optimal resilience and dampening characteristics to help with the demanding application. With regard to mainte- nance, the Rocla modular panel design makes it easy for the removal and re-installation of the crossing panels for those occasions where track repair or surfacing is necessary.” Craig explained that maintaining the integrity of the cross- ing is where safety can be enhanced. “Rocla will provide a quality product/crossing that will meet or exceed the necessary requirements. We also provide a rough concrete finish to help with traction during inclem- ent weather, along with a concrete additive for improved water repellency and salt penetration,” said Craig.

TRANSPO Transpo Industries, Inc., manufactures the BODAN® Grade Crossing system (photo, p. 29), which uses a bridge design concept that transfers vehicle axle loads directly to the rails. “Panel tests show they are capable of withstanding loads in excess of 44,000 pounds, which allows the crossing to deal with heavier vehicle and rail loads. In addition, BODAN panels can be removed for easy maintenance, and it should be noted that there are BODAN crossings on 65 mph roads with heavy truck traffic that have gone six to eight years with no maintenance needed,” said Karen Dinitz, vice president and director of marketing and communications at Transpo. BODAN®’s skid resistance surface can be further enhanced by incorporating Transpo’s Color-Safe® directly onto the precast grade crossing system panels. “The FRA is testing the efficacy of colored pavement on dynamic envelopes as a safety enhancement at crossings. Transpo offers Color-Safe®, a durable pavement marking material (used by cities across the country to demarcate bus lanes and bike lanes) to create a highly visible, highly durable warning/reminder for drivers of the presence of a rail cross- ing. The durability of the pavement marking is particularly important at rail crossings to limit the disruption of service, as well as to create a sustainable safety feature,” said Dinitz. RA

December 2015 RAILWAY AGE 33