Rail & Transit
TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Rail & Transit

We have a long history of planning and design for passenger light rail, commuter heavy rail and freight rail transit facilities. Services have ranged from project planning and feasibility studies to track design and site engineering, as well as design/rehabilitation/repair for maintenance facilities and aerial structures. Rail lines have included Maryland’s MARC commuter rail, Baltimore Metro, Baltimore Light Rail, Washington Metro, Norfolk’s Tide Light Rail, Maryland Delaware Railroad and other freight rail lines, and the proposed Baltimore-Washington Maglev.

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Baltimore Central Light Rail, Baltimore, Maryland

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Tide Light Rail, Norfolk, Virginia

Featured Work

Rail & Transit Projects

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    Tide Light Rail Maintenance and Storage Facility

    Hampton Roads Transit

    The Tide Light Rail is a new light rail transit system with eleven passenger stations and a maintenance yard/shop complex, stretching 7.4 miles from Eastern Virginia Medical Center, through downtown Norfolk, to an eastern terminus at Newtown Road near the border with Virginia Beach.

    RJM Engineering Inc. was responsible for final design, plans, specifications and input to estimates for the civil work associated with the train maintenance and storage complex. Design elements included yard and train storage tracks; lead tracks and access road for shop and yard facility; drainage facilities including a major multiple cell box culvert; site water and sewer facilities; utility coordination; SWM facilities design and permitting; and site fencing and security features.

    Design of train storage tracks included a five track stub-ended layout using No. 8 switches, a run-around track to accommodate train car wash facility, and twin lead tracks for ingress/egress to main lines.

    Services also included a drainage structures feasibility study for Ohio Creek. RJM completed HY-8 and TR-20 analysis for the existing 6’x 8’ culvert under I-264, and performed the same analysis to evaluate the feasibility of installing an additional pipe under I-264.

    Additional design services included extension of a pedestrian sidewalk from the existing baseball field entrance to Brambleton Avenue. The new five-foot wide 1800-foot long walk required design of a top-down retaining wall to minimize excavation of existing roadway embankment and extension of existing culverts. RJM Engineering also provided structural design for light pole foundations and MSE retaining walls. RJM prepared quantity take-offs for all design items, as well as project coordination during construction.

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    Services Provided

    • Track design
    • Site design
    • Stormwater management
    • Drainage
    • Multiple box cell culvert
    • Water and sewer
    • Utility coordination
    • Site fencing and security features

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    Freight Rail Grade Crossing Inspection, Design of Repairs and Track Surveys

    Maryland Transit Administration

    RJM Engineering provided safety inspections and reports for freight railroad grade crossings throughout Maryland’s Eastern Shore and in Western Maryland for multiple inspection cycles. All safety evaluations complied with FRA guidelines and MTA’s Freight Railroad Grade Crossing Inspection Manual, which was originally developed by RJM Engineering. RJM developed recommendations for crossings requiring immediate, near-term and long term repair based on a numeric rating system. Conceptual design of repairs and cost estimates were provided for crossings with “poor” ratings.

    RJM later was asked by MTA to prepare the design for the replacement grade crossings located on the Seaford Freight Line. RJM Engineering provided preliminary analysis to optimize the types of crossing replacement surfaces needed for each location, considering roadway traffic crossing surface types and past performance for similar application. RJM prepared replacement designs that minimized reconstruction of existing pavements, and coordinated with Maryland and Delaware Railroad (MDDE) to establish track outage requirements for scheduling construction of the crossings in order to minimize impacts on train operation.

    Separately, RJM provided a condition survey, for a 13-mile segment of the Hurlock-Cambridge Freight Line of the State-owned Maryland and Delaware Railroad (MDDE)-operated track and structures. All active tracks, including special track work, spurs and sidings were included in the evaluation. Track was evaluated by traveling high-rail equipment and by taking two walking samples every mile, as well as walking inspections of all active spurs, sidings and special track work. RJM provided recommendations and cost estimates for rehabilitation, in order to develop a track rehabilitation budget in anticipation of heavier rail cars.

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    Services Provided

    • Development of inspection manual
    • Safety inspections
    • Design of repairs
    • Condition survey
    • Recommendations for rehabilitation

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    Light Rail Grade Crossing Designs

    Maryland Transit Administration

    RJM provided design services for multiple grade crossings on MTA’s light rail line in Baltimore, Maryland, including Timonium, Warren, McCormick and Pepper Roads, Schilling Circle and North Avenue light rail yard. RJM’s design details compliment and replacement of modular grade crossings with cast-in-place concrete embedded crossing systems. Design documents were submitted at the 60% and 100% stages, and included track alignments and profiles, crossing plans, roadway pavement restoration plans, site plans, and pavement markings.

    Site design services included developing site grading and drainage plans, stormwater management report, and erosion/sediment control plans and details, as well as coordinating and attending meetings with Maryland Department of the Environment. Plans for maintenance of traffic (MOT) during construction were provided.

    RJM also provided construction phase services for MOT shop drawing reviews, as-built drawing preparation, restructuring of contract plans for construction using redline changes, and miscellaneous details.

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    Services Provided

    • Rail crossing design
    • Stormwater management
    • Erosion/sediment control
    • Permitting
    • Maintenance of traffic during construction