INVESTIGATION OF REDUCED COST GUIDEWAY DESIGNS FOR THE TRACKED AIR CUSHION RESEARCH VEHICLE. PART A

A study was made of alternate low cost guideway design concepts for the 300 mph Tracked Air Cushion Research Vehicle which will be tested at the DOT High Speed Ground Test Center at Pueblo, Colorado. The proposed concepts are both within present state of the art, and are designed to take maximum advantage of the existing technology used in the highway construction industry. The chief requirements are low construction cost and safe operation of vehicles at speeds up to 300 miles per hour. The various guideway design constraints imposed by the vehicle are discussed and used to evolve the preferred design concepts. The requirement for acceptable passenger ride comfort is interpreted in terms of guideway surface smoothness considerations by means of a probabilistic analysis of vehicle response. Various construction techniques are investigated and cost estimates are presented for each of the preferred concepts. The costs of the two preferred quideway design concepts are compared to the cost of the existing design which is being used for the initial construction phases at HSGTC. The sensitivity of the construction cost to certain guideway design features is discussed. Estimates showed that the tow preferred concepts should cost 30 - 50% less than the existing design.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Research was done jointly by ABAM Engineers and TRW Systems. The work was sponsored by the Department of Transportation, Transportation Systems Center, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
• Corporate Authors:

  TRW Systems Group

  One Space Park
  Redondo Beach, CA  United States  90278
• Authors:
  • Birkeland, P W
  • McCullough, B F
  • Meisenholder, S G
  • Oye, J
• Publication Date: 1972-12

Media Info

• Features: Appendices; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 230 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Guideways; High speed ground transportation; Intelligent transportation systems; Passenger comfort; Roughness; Tracked air cushion vehicles
• Old TRIS Terms: Advanced systems; Guideway roughness
• Subject Areas: Operations and Traffic Management; Railroads; Terminals and Facilities;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00072688
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Federal Railroad Administration
• Report/Paper Numbers: FRA-ORD&D-74-55
• Contract Numbers: DOT-TSC-442
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 16 1975 12:00AM