Railway Interchange 2019

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Implementation of BNSF Railway’s Geometry Car-based Ground Penetrating Radar Program (Room M 100 C)

24 Sep 19
3:00 PM - 3:30 PM

Tracks: AREMA Technical Sessions By Functional Group- Track, Technical Sessions By Day- Tuesday

BNSF Railway has used Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) data to assist in the planning of its ballast maintenance for the past 10 years. GPR data is first processed into the Selig Ballast Fouling Index (BFI) to determine levels of ballast fouling at each track region, which then helps determine the planning of surfacing, undercutting, shoulder ballast cleaning, and track lifting maintenance activities. BNSF Railway is continually looking to better understand and interpret GPR so it can increase the effectiveness of its ballast maintenance activities. In an effort to increase the amount of data collected and efficiency, BNSF has transitioned from a hy-rail vehicle platform to a geometry car based data collection platform. The first step in the transition was solving the mounting of the physical hardware to the new platform. After mounting, BNSF’s field collection team collected hundreds of ballast samples at multiple BNSF subdivisions to help validate and calibrate the hardware and software in a wide range of fouling and climate conditions. The fouling levels determined from the field samples were compared against the GPR BFI results. Statistical analyses were performed to determine how the GPR and field results compared in general and then a more detailed look into how fouling levels and fouling modes influenced the GPR results. This comparison will be used to further improve the interpretation of GPR results and increase the effectiveness of BNSF’s maintenance planning. *Missed this Session or want to view it again? Stop by the VirtualAREMA kiosk located in the Registration area to purchase this product today!