Gannett Fleming Responds to Increased Federal Oversight of Nation’s Railroad Bridges
May 27, 2011
 (Harrisburg, Pa.) In order to ensure the safety of more than 100,000 bridges throughout the U.S., the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) announced a Final Rule in 2010 under the Rail Safety Improvement Act of 2008 that will further strengthen the federal oversight of all railroad bridge maintenance programs. The FRA will institutionalize best engineering and inspection practices for each of these bridges to keep railroad employees and the travelling public safe. Gannett Fleming is well-positioned to help clients meet these federal requirements.
Since 1965, Gannett Fleming’s bridge staff has inspected more than 600 railroad bridges across the U.S. for such clients as the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Amtrak, Conrail, Union Pacific Railroad, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Penn Central. Many of its bridge professionals are National Bridge Inspection Standards-certified team leaders and inspectors with extensive experience in railroad bridge design and inspection. This familiarity with railroad operations is enhanced by its national Transit & Rail Practice’s intimate knowledge of rail operations and long-term relationships with rail clients.
Gannett Fleming has performed element-level inspections of thousands of bridges throughout the U.S., and it has extensive experience in highway and railroad bridge analysis, design, and rehabilitation. In addition, it has significant experience developing databases for asset management and preservation.
The firm developed the first-of-its-kind National Tunnel Management System for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and Federal Transit Administration. It also developed the Structure Data Management System, an inspection database created for the FHWA Eastern Federal Lands Highway Division to facilitate its Bridge Inspection Program Group in managing its more than 2,300 bridges.
Effective asset management programs allow owners to track asset performance and identify assets in jeopardy from a safety standpoint. Once condition findings are recorded, they are analyzed to identify required maintenance and program future preventive maintenance. The firm’s systems also include a GIS-style graphical interface that allows owners to easily store data about bridge conditions and analyze it by simply clicking on maps and drawings, thus enabling owners to identify potential problem areas and conduct critical repairs.
For more information, please contact Dave Thomas at (954) 916-2672 or via e-mail, or Tom Leech at (412) 922-5575 or via e-mail.
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