Washouts, slope failures, sinkholes, and soft subgrade rarely appear in a capital plan until they cause a slow order or a derailment. Benesch helps railroads identify these sites early, rank them by risk, and deliver the right repair.
Common issues raised by railroad engineering teams.
1
Slope movement and slow orders
Persistent slow orders caused by recurring embankment or slope movement.
2
Washouts and blocked culverts
Washouts and beaver dam failures that take track out of service with little warning.
3
Evaluate before you undercut
GPR and geotechnical data identify fouled ballast and its cause, so undercutting goes where it's needed, for the right reason, at the right time.
4
Capital without a clear ranking
Limited capital funds and no defensible method for prioritizing slopes, culverts, and drainage.
5
Natural hazard evaluation
Exposure to earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and other natural hazards evaluated for each asset.
6
Rockfalls
Rock cuts and slopes where falling rock can strike or block the track.
Our approach
A structured ground hazard risk management program, delivered in four phases.
MP 1
Identify
A network-wide inventory of slopes, cuts, fills, drainage structures, culverts, and scour-critical bridges.
MP 2
Assess
Likelihood and consequence ratings that rank each site by risk and support defensible capital decisions.
MP 3
Mitigate
Subsurface investigation, design of the appropriate remedy for each failure mode, and construction-phase oversight.
MP 4
Sustain
A program owned and operated by your staff, supported by GHRM and field training.
↻ The cycle repeats: sites are re-inspected and re-ranked as conditions change, so the program stays current.
Our approach was developed within a Class I railroad, refined across five Class I networks, and documented in Railway Ground Hazard Risk Management, by Dan Colwell and Mario Ruel.
Tools and resources
Reference material is available to all visitors. Benesch project material requires sign-in.
Integrity testing and inspection of drilled shafts, from SQUID and SHAPE through crosshole sonic logging, thermal integrity profiling and the pile driving analyzer, to reinforcing steel and concrete testing. A certification exam at the end issues a certificate of completion.
