Tie Model: A Crosstie Replacement Planning and Costing Model

by Dharma R. Acharya, Association of American Railroads, Washington, United States,
Michael B. Hargrove, Association of American Railroads, Washington, United States,



Document Type: Proceeding Paper

Part of: Infrastructure: Planning and Management

Abstract:

The Tie Model described in this paper is a maintenance planning and life-cycle costing model for wood crossties. The model includes a number of different failure modules to predict crosstie renewal and spotting renewal and spotting requirements for a given route-segment, traffic-mix,and crosstie maintenance policy. Based on the predicted annual number of ties failed and tie spotting requirements, a tie renewal program for the entire planning horizon is developed. Life-cycle costing of tie renewal and spotting costs are then performed to predict the Equivalent Uniform Annual Cost (EUAC) per mile of ties for each segment. The parameters used in different modules of the Tie Model have been calibrated using actual tie replacement data for different decay potential zones and for hardwood and softwood ties. Finally, some sensitivity analysis results from the model are also presented in this paper.

Subject Headings: Sensitivity analysis | Mathematical models | Benefit cost ratios | Maintenance and operation | Life cycles | Wood and wood products | Rail transportation

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