I’ve taken classes in college on highway design, and I’m wondering what the railroads use. AASHTO has the “green book” or ‘a policy on geometric design of highways and streets’ which is basically the bible for determining curve radius, superelevation, interchange and intersection design, etc. of roads and freeways.
Is there such a book for railroad design?
Chernobyl
Check this out:
AREMA Manual For Railway Engineering
http://www.arema.org/eseries/source/Orders/index.cfm?section=unknown&activesection=Orders&CFID=243363&CFTOKEN=14705349
There are several places where there are AREMA/AASHTO joint specifications in both manuals…just wi***he Highway civil engineers would read their own manual somedays, especially where it comes to grades through crossings…
Thanks for the links guys…that may be just what I’m looking for.
Chern
You can buy the thing by the the chapter. Just depends on what you are dealing with or get the company to cough up the big bucks. In addition, most Class 1 and Class 2 railroads have additional Chief Engingineer’s Standards. The AREMA stuff is suggested standard, not gospel. Each railroad’s minimum standard is slightly different as would be each state highway department’s.
Chernobyl–
Additionally, if you are doing industrial trackage that connects to one of the big boys, they have pared down manuals that give you enough of the AREMA stuff to design/build track that is acceptable to them and meets AREMA as well.
MC–you mean we gotta quit designing track to highway grade and curvature stds???Who’s gonna break the news to TxDOT??[}:)][}:)][}:)][banghead][banghead][banghead][8]
Why tell them?
They still havent figured out why we keep laying railroad track over their streets…[:D]well, you know what I mean!
Ed
[(-D][(-D][(-D]
At least it’s highway as opposed to driveways. Or is it?
After you tell the TxDOT people, you can start working on the “A” people tribe with their french curves and tree stamps…Like the the one we stunned this afternoon when we told him #2 turnouts and 38 degree curves ain’t gonna happen![;)][;)][;)] Would’ve been nice if they’d talked to us before they sited the building…
And one wonders why AREA and ASCE went their separate ways in 1905???
Nobody here but us dumb chickens…[sigh][sigh][sigh]
[banghead][banghead][banghead]
Gee, all this I thought there was something in the professional code of conduct about not practicing outside your area of expertise. Guess I was dreaming about that one.[}:)]
thats pretty much the way the green book is - it forms the basis, but the standards are left to each state.
we’re looking to widen a very short tunnel under a RR (for added capacity as well as accomadate pedestrians) and we’re trying to figure out survey extents along the railroad grade.
Chern
I thought the rule of thumb for modern railroad design was to just keep the 1880’s alignments intact, and just keep the average speed under 25 mph![swg]
Which is why you will never run a railroad…you really ought to get out of Montana once in a while…there are some places with indoor plumbing and running hot and cold water…[:D]
Sounds like you have a tiger by the tail. Have fun with the E80 aspects of the game which is going to drive the aspects related to your survey limits dependent on relative depth. I assume no raise of grade is involved so you won’t be going far.[^][^][^]
Don’t you hate those grade crossings that always seem to be screwed up no matter how many times they fix them? Often seems the rails are sunken or the pavement has swelled around them (gee like it wasn’t laid right).
Businessmen talk to professionals before jumping in? crazy talk
One of the most important roles of consultants is straightening out the messes that occur when type business types ("Don’t bother me with details – make it happen!) don’t talk to professionals first. But - it keeps bread and butter on the table.
dd
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken
(Gasp)(Choke) What?? How dare you insinuate that a member of the “A” tribe doesn’t know everything about everything, and therefore doesn’t need to consult with anyone who knows what will work in the real world? Just having some fun with you, mudchicken, some of the best laughs I have happen when a contractor shows me something that physically cannot be built the way it was designed. Engineers who design roads also do stuff that looks great on paper, but doesn’t work worth a hoot out on the ground.
The scary part of it is that these people don’t even have a clue that they are outside their area of expertise.
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by JOdom
A few years ago, I got a good laugh out of some fellow engineers when the subject of circuit board substrate material came up. I suggested we switch from ceramic to celluloid, because everything always worked perfectly on the viewgraph charts. (That was in the days before we traded viewgraph projectors in on video projectors.)
Things always look good on paper, especially if you’ve never had to build anything. It’s been a continuing source of amazement to me why organizations let anybody design anything who hasn’t had some real world experience gathered either in the field or in the integration lab, as appropriate to what is being designed.
OK, get back down off the [soapbox] chuck.
There’s a subtle but critical difference between the green book (AASHTO) and the related MUTCD and the AREMA manual – or, more exactly put, in the way they are used: the highway boys regard the manuals as The Only Allowable Way To Do Things, and the railway boys regard the manual as a good reference, to which engineering judgement should always be applied (and I know – I’ve been both).
Further, unless things have changed, the railway boys don’t let folks design things until they have some good solid field experience; the highway boys take 'em out of school and turn 'em loose.
Unfortunately, the highway boys are winning – you can get your PE license renewed these days with continuing education courses (which… oh well, let’s not go there), but real hands on field experience doesn’t count any more.
Scary.
Fortunately, I’m retiring shortly!
[quote]
QUOTE: Originally posted by JOdom
I would feel much better if some would just honestly ask, “can this be done this way? Why and why not?” Then just go all Picard on us “Make is so!”