Authors: Brian Mee; Bob McCown P.E.; Gordon A. Davids, P.E.; Boris Nejikovsky; Ken Cotten, P.E.

Date of Publication:  June 1994

Sponsoring Agency:  U.S. Department of Transportation - Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Research and Development

Performing Organization:  ENSCO, Inc. - Applied Technology & Engineering Division

Report No: DOT/FRA/ORD-94/20

Abstract:

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.
 

No. of Pages:  148