Rail supplier news from Modjeski and Masters, Road & Rail, Rescar, HNTB and Pandrol (Aug. 15)

New Jersey Transit has awarded a task order contract for bridge and railway engineering to Modjeski and Masters. The firm will lead a project team of specialty subconsultants to provide multidisciplined expertise on heavy- and light-rail systems, facilities and equipment on an as-needed basis throughout New Jersey. Modjeski and Masters may provide engineering services for fixed and movable rail bridges, tunnels, culverts, dams bridges over railways, and hydrogeology and groundwater surveys, along with railroad infrastructure, facilities and systems services. The five-year contract has an estimated value of up to $3.75 million, according to a company press release.

Road & Rail Services Inc. has received two awards from American Honda Motor Corp. of North America. The first award is the Processor of the Year Performance Excellence Award for 2018. The second is the American Honda Award for Superior Quality 2018 award, which recognizes the automotive processor that scores the highest on the company's quality audits and has the lowest damage to Honda vehicles. This marks the fourth year that Road & Rail's team in Marysville, Ohio, has been recognized by Honda for "outstanding safety, quality and performance excellence," company officials said in a press release.

Rescar Cos. has named J. Andrew Schaffer as president-plant division. He will oversee operations at the company's plants in Channelview, Longview and Orange Longview, Texas; Dubois, Pennsylvania; Gordon, Georgia; and Savanna, Illinois. Schaffer's 40-year career in the rail-car repair industry began at Rescar, where he started as a laborer and rose to vice president of operations. After a stint with Watco Mechanical Services and GBW Railcar Services, he returned to the Rescar family when he joined AllTranstek LLC as senior VP and COO.

HNTB Corp. has named Walead Atiyeh project manager for the national rail systems team. Based in Santa Ana, California, he supports the Crenshaw/LAX project for the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Atiyeh has more than 17 years of experience in construction and engineering projects, focused on transit and rail systems. Before joining HNTB, he worked on high-profile rail projects, such as the Interstate 255 light-rail project for the Regional Transportation District of Denver.

Pandrol has announced plans to exhibit its products at InnoTrans 2018, which is slated to take place Sept 18-21 in Berlin, Germany. The company's exhibition will include demonstrations of its rail fasteners, aluminothermic welding and electrification products. Pandrol also will host "ask the expert" sessions with technical specialists running short seminars on rail infrastructure topics.