Freight rail

Ruff Brothers Grain Co. contracted with RINA North America to design a railroad loop track capable of handling 110-car unit grain train loading for a new grain elevator along the BNSF mainline.

Additional improvements included design of a large box culvert on an unnamed tributary to Buffalo Creek, numerous cross track culverts, and a stormwater detention basin.

Critical storm duration analyses were performed using TR-20 to predict the peak flows to the culverts and to size the detention facility.

An emergency spillway was sized assuming failure of the primary outlet. Stormwater management permits were obtained from the county, as well as a highway access permit was obtained from the state department of transportation.

Strategically located 15-miles northwest of Chicago is this Class I railroad's largest freight and classification yard in the United States.

As part of this multi-phase project, we provided final engineering design for the reconfiguration of the existing classification yard to accommodate the expansion of the intermodal terminal. Detailed staging/phasing plans were developed, and extensive coordination required with the client to ensure that yard operations were not impacted by construction.

Phase two lowered the crest of the existing gravity hump by approximately ten feet and converted the hump yard to a state-of-the-art mini-hump with Dowty™ retarders.

During Phase three, we designed a new yard office tower complex for the railroad’s Division Headquarters, as well as other facility buildings, including a switch control booth, and three intermodal yard office buildings. Various disciplines contributed to this effort, including survey, drainage/hydraulics, environmental permitting, civil, track, structures, geotechnical, and lighting.

Approximately 1.5 miles east of Dubuque, Iowa, we provided both preliminary and final design, as well as construction management services, for the realignment of the existing mainline tracks and extension of the existing center siding track.

Our team initially provided an alternatives analysis, which helped the owner (a Class 1 railroad) understand the operational benefits, costs, and environmental impacts associated with each alternate.

Following selection of a preferred alternate, we served as the lead designer for the track, five (5) box culvert extensions, at-grade crossings improvements, electric to signal systems, permitting, and utility coordination services. Early and proactive communication by our team of environmental specialist enable the project to be surveyed, designed, and permitted in just two and a half months.

The nearly $400 million expansion of the Subaru Assembly Plant nearby Norfolk Southern’s Lafayette Yard will produce an additional 100,000 vehicles per year.

To support this increase in rail traffic, Norfolk Southern retained us to design the required yard expansion project. Improvements included five (5) additional support tracks, access roads, yard crossings, drainage improvements, and new yard lighting.

We utilized 3D design tools to optimize earthwork and avoid the need to source borrow materials offsite. The project team completed the design on an accelerated schedule to ensure that construction was complete in advance of the increased capacity needs from the railroad’s customer.

The Chicago region is the world’s third busiest intermodal hub where six of the seven Class I freight railroads converge and where nearly a quarter of the nation’s rail shipments arrive or pass through. In 2003, the Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency (CREATE) Program was initiated as a public private partnership to make Chicago’s rail network safer, more efficient, and better able to accommodate growth in freight and passenger traffic. The 75th Street Corridor Improvement Project (75th Street CIP) is the largest project in the CREATE Program.

As part of a team, we were selected to provide design services for two of the four projects, including the Forest Hill Flyover (P3) and 71st Street Grade Separation (GS19). This rail-over-rail flyover will eliminate conflict between thirty (30) Southwest Service Metra trains and thirty-five (35) freight trains operating on the Western Avenue Corridor (CSX). The rail-over-road grade separation at 71st Street will reduce neighborhood traffic delays and improve safety. Passing through two CSX intermodal facilities meant that rail, intermodal, and road traffic must be maintained throughout construction.

We were instrumental in developing the project staging and sequencing plan to ensure that the grade separation structures and retained embankment approaches could be safely and efficiently constructed, with neutral impact on rail operations. As part of this project, we provided railroad bridge design, track/civil design, constructability reviews, and cost estimating services.