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October 2022
Compiled by Michael Popke
IntegriTies™ are composite railway ties produced from hard-to-recycle plastics sourced from material recovery facilities. IntegriCo’s patented manufacturing process retains the qualities of plastic that make it a strong material while also permitting the use of unwashed plastics previously destined for landfills, company officials said in an email.
The manufacturing method produces ties via a low-heat process. The resulting composite tie lasts up to four times longer than ties made from wood or concrete, IntegriCo officials said. The ties can be used for a variety of applications — from Class I heavy-axle loads to the caustic environment of an industrial processing plant.
In Class I applications, the ties offer strong spike retention and high compression strength; are immune to insect infestation, fungus and mildew; have high electrical impedance and a longer life cycle in harsh climates; are resistant to rail plate cutting; and can be installed with existing equipment alongside wood ties, company officials said.
IntegriTies are currently installed (or in the process of being installed) on a railroad in Chile, transit systems managed by MTA New York City Transit, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and Toronto Transit Commission, and the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority’s St. Charles Streetcar Line.
L.B. Foster Co. continues to pursue new market opportunities for its CXT® concrete ties.
“Our engineering and product development efforts focus on solving problems with specific solutions by taking a very customer-centric approach,” said Vince Petersen, engineering manager for CXT Inc./L.B. Foster. “Our engineering team has ongoing programs to research improvements in concrete mix design to optimize product properties, advance sustainability and offering new materials and designs.”
On the commercial side, transit agency demand remains solid on the West Coast and beyond, he said.
The company is supplying concrete ties for TriMet’s MAX Red Line light-rail expansion in Portland, Oregon, as well as a custom project for TransDev North America on Metrolink in southern California. CXT recently supplied 24-foot-long concrete ties to retrofit two existing No. 24 turnouts into a crossover on 15-foot track centers, Petersen said. CXT also is supplying concrete ties for the Toronto Transit Commission and the Port of Los Angeles’ Pier 400 expansion project.
As the use of NARSTCO steel ties and turnouts “continues to gain momentum,” interest also is increasing in the “green” benefits supporting customer sustainability initiatives, company officials said.
The steel used to produce NARSTCO’s ties and turnouts is sourced in the United States and produced from high-quality recycled steel. Steel ties are designed to reduce the impact tracks have on the environment over time, company officials said.
A range of customers — from Class Is to short lines to industrial rail terminal operators — are making the switch to sustainable steel ties, they added. Steel ties also can be recycled at the end of their useful life (which can exceed 50 years), saving disposal fees for alternative products with a shorter lifespan.
In many cases, when railroads rehabilitate and upgrade debilitated tracks, the trackage is in non-standard layouts and has changed over the years. NARSTCO steel ties and turnouts can be engineered to match unique configurations, company officials said.
Recently acquired by EFG Composites, an EF Global subsidiary, TieTek Global (TTG) continues to experience increased demand from Class Is, short lines, transit agencies, government entities, industrial customers and contractors for TieTek® engineered polymer composite, switch and bridge ties, and custom composite products.
The company is currently expanding production capacity at its plant in Marshall, Texas. In addition, TTG has additional facilities in the works to ensure an adequate and timely supply of TieTek products and related services, including special fabrication, pre-plating and options for wood-tie disposal, company officials said.
TTG uses premium recycled materials in its TieTek formulation to produce composite products company officials believe provide superior performance and extended service life in high-decay areas and severe environments, such as tunnels, bridges, bridge approaches and grade crossings. TieTek ties also are designed to be resistant to insects, fungi, moisture, harsh environmental conditions and rail-seat abrasion.
Between 2000 and 2015, the TieTek tie performed without failure at Transportation Technology Center Inc.’s FAST high-tonnage loop track, accumulating over 2 billion gross tons. TieTek ties installed in 2015 at FAST continue to perform well in more recent testing, company officials said.
With an estimated 50-year service life, TieTek ties can be interspersed with treated wood ties or installed in new construction to reduce and eventually eliminate ongoing tie replacement and disposal costs, TTG officials said.
A producer of special trackwork and precast concrete ties for specialty applications, voestalpine Railway Systems Nortrak continues to expand its presence in the rail fixation business. The company’s product portfolio includes rubber vulcanized fasteners for direct-fixation applications, Safelok I clips, cast tie plates, and resilient rail pads and insulators for all common fastening systems in North America, company officials said.
Meanwhile, the company has expanded manufacturing capacity at its concrete-tie facility in Cheyenne, Wyoming. A new automated production line was added to meet the growing demand for next-generation mainline ties — including the Keyway Concrete Tie System, which is engineered to be interspersed in wood-tie track, company officials said.
The patented Keyway Tie design couples resilient components with heavy-duty ductile tie plates and 10,000 psi concrete to match the size and track modulus of wood ties. The Keyway tie combines the lower track stiffness and flexibility to change fastening systems of wood ties with the durability and gauge holding strength of concrete ties, company officials said.
Keyway ties have been installed in high-tonnage heavy haul, commuter-rail and light-rail tracks with existing wood ties, and all installations “have provided immediate gauge strengthening,” they said.
Evertrak LLC manufactures the Evertrak 7000 glass fiber-reinforced composite (GFRC) tie. About 75,000 Evertrak 7000 ties had been installed as of mid-2022, with more than 99.9% reliability in track, company officials said.
The company’s state-of-the-art facility in St. Louis manufactures 100,000 ties per year. It produces Evertrak 7000 GFRC ties in 8-foot, 6-inch and 10-foot lengths for mainline installation, as well as a limited number of ties for low-speed track.
Vossloh Tie Technologies (VTT)/Rocla Concrete Tie Inc. has been very busy in the northeastern United States and Canada, company officials said. The company’s production facility in Bear, Delaware, has been running at capacity and will continue to do so the rest of the year, they said, noting that some capital projects are finally coming to fruition after pandemic-related delays.
The primary tie used for most of these projects is Rocla’s standard 101Y Transit Tie, which incorporates Vossloh’s W42 Tension Clamp. Due to sourcing difficulties and the increase in timber costs, there’s been an uptick in demand for alternative ties, especially in the southeastern United States, company officials said.
Some of VTT’s concrete ties have been in revenue service for more than 50 years in states such as Florida. That makes a compelling lifecycle cost case over wood ties, which generally last less than 15 years, company officials said.
Meanwhile, the company continues to develop products designed to protect and prolong the lifecycle of concrete-tie track infrastructure. For example, VTT produces concrete ties fixed with under tie pads (UTPs). Demand for UTPs has been increasing as test data shows that concrete ties paired with the pads can drastically expand the lifecycle cost of ties, ballast and track superstructure, company officials said.
Michael Popke is a Madison, Wisconsin-based freelance writer. Email comments or questions to prograil@tradepress.com.
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