Fouled Ballast Waiver Operations and Results
Current regulations require locations of noncompliant ballast to be remediated within 30 days or to be taken out of service, regardless of track class. In 2013, the Association of American Railroads (AAR) applied for a waiver to the current regulations that proposed a track class specific approach to managing noncompliant ballast. In 2015, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted the waiver subject to certain conditions including weekly track geometry measurements. The waiver also initiated a research project to investigate the behavior of reduced performance ballast. BNSF Railway (BNSF) operated safely throughout the waiver period on 340 route miles of its Creston and St. Joseph subdivisions from June 12, 2017, to January 31, 2019. Researchers observed a significant variation in track performance at fouled ballast locations—a strong argument for a performance-based rule for managing noncompliant ballast. The results presented in this report are specific to the conditions on the designated waiver territory which was posted as track class 4 and carried over 100 million gross tons (MGT) of traffic per year. Future projects could be conducted on territory with different traffic, weather conditions, and types of fouling materials.
- Record URL:
- Record URL:
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Corporate Authors:
ENSCO, Incorporated
5400 Port Royal Road
Springfield, VA United States 22151Federal Railroad Administration
Office of Railroad Policy and Development, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC United States 20590Federal Railroad Administration
Office of Research, Development, and Technology
Washington, DC United States -
Authors:
- Bruzek, Radim
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0000-0003-3069-9476
- Stark, Timothy D
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0000-0003-2384-1868
- Sussmann, Theodore R
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0000-0002-6341-7108
- Tunna, John
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0000-0003-2735-0679
- Thompson, Hugh B
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0000-0001-7988-3237
- Publication Date: 2022-1
Language
- English
Media Info
- Media Type: Digital/other
- Edition: Final Report; Technical Report
- Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
- Pagination: 128p
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Ballast (Railroads); Compliance; Contaminants; Maintenance of way; Railroad tracks
- Identifier Terms: Autonomous Track Geometry Measurement System (ATGMS)
- Subject Areas: Maintenance and Preservation; Railroads; Safety and Human Factors;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01832571
- Record Type: Publication
- Report/Paper Numbers: DOT/FRA/ORD-22/01
- Contract Numbers: 693JJ6-18-D-000005, Task 693JJ6-18-F-000076
- Files: NTL, TRIS, ATRI, USDOT
- Created Date: Jan 15 2022 6:32PM