Railway Track & Structures - May 2008 - (Page 40)

Conrail “To ensure available material and to provide for delivery, we engaged R.J. Corman to buy and inventory the track material in advance,” Tierney said. “Corman built a material yard and assigned a material manager to support the project. Jacobs Engineering handled the facets of engineering design services and project management. Southwest Signal handled signal design, along with signal material procurement to ensure the work crews would have materials as designed in a timely manner for actual installation. The three firms were partners and all did a good job both understanding and supporting this project,” Tierney said. “Having material ordered in advance and stored helped keep the projects on schedule. “With the extensive amount of track construction projects under way in the industry, competition for material procurement and delivery is often fierce,” he said. “Having Corman and Southwest on board eliminated the risk of project delay and gave us the flexibility to accelerate different portions of the project as required without the concern for material delay. Like any project of this magnitude, we had our share of non-planned and unforeseen issues, but no major ones, and none that threatened curtailment of work at any time. “The signal construction on this project, I must add, was done entirely with Conrail signal forces, and they and their managers did an outstanding job of planning, maintaining construction schedules and performing signal cutovers as required to keep these projects on track,” Tierney pointed out. “The effectiveness of our signal forces was aided by an excellent working relationship with The Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen.” work in the Bergen and Waldo tunnels, which would open up an alternate route for double-stack trains through northern New Jersey. Another is the redesign and expansion to a critical interlocking at CP Port Reading Junction in Manville, New Jersey. Completion of this project will eliminate another chokepoint where the CSXT Trenton Line and Norfolk Southern Lehigh Line converge onto the Conrail Lehigh Line in proximity to the newly-constructed double track. “The demand on the New Jersey rail network is growing considerably,” Tierney noted. “The North Jersey rail network is complex and very dense. There are no green fields and little vacant or suitable property to accommodate any wholesale expansion of railroad infrastructure. Suitable land boundaries are confined by major roads such as the New Jersey Turnpike, Newark Liberty Airport or the vast industrial base already being rail-served. The situation dictates a level of operational planning second to none.” More public-private partnerships Several projects are being considered for a future Phase II of the New Jersey Infrastructure Program and some are already being funded as part of the Liberty Corridor Project authorization. One project would provide 20-foot, six-inch vertical clearance on Conrail’s National Docks route, with significant 40 Railway Track & Structures May 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures - May 2008

Railway Track & Structures - May 2008 On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D NRC In Good Shape to Face Upcoming Challenges Pipe Ramming Can Aid Drainage Conrail Building to Handle Booming Northern New Jersey Traffic Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - May 2008

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.