USA Banner

Official US Government Icon

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure Site Icon

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of Transportation Icon United States Department of Transportation United States Department of Transportation

Categorizing Track Mud Spot Risk by Measurement of Vertical Track Deflection

Document Series:
Technical Reports
Author:
  • Federal Railroad Administration
Report Number
DOT/FRA/ORD-21/24
Office
RDI-21
Subject:
Track
Keywords:
Mud spot, vertical track deflection, risk, track maintenance, prioritization, track stiffness, Beam on Elastic Foundation, BOEF, MRail, YRel, radius of curvature, ballast, track, railroad
Document
Categorizing Track Mud Spot Risk.pdf (2.56 MB)

This report presents the concluding results related to Phase 1 of the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) project Categorizing Track Mud Spot Risk by Measurement of Vertical Track Deflection. The overall goal of the project was to develop a means of using vertical track deflection measurement data to determine a risk value associated with a given mud spot in track, based on current vertical track deflection measurement capability. This in turn can then be used for prioritizing maintenance of identified mud spots. Specifically, for Phase 1 of the project, Harsco Rail’s goal was to both collect vertical track deflection measurement data and to use that data to develop an initial model framework, with a first order application from June 2016 through August 2020.


Last updated: Thursday, August 26, 2021