The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) project will be provided with 89,175 CXT Concrete Ties by L.B. Foster Company and these ties will be installed in San Francisco Bay Area passenger rail system, which connects Sonoma County to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in Marin.
General contractors, Stacy and Witbeck Inc./Herzog Contracting Corporation Joint Venture, have been receiving these concrete ties since June 2012 and delivery is expected to be completed by June 2013.
Mark Hammons, L.B. Foster National Sales Manager for CXT Concrete Ties, stated that these ties were chosen after being researched for cost and environmental benefits when compared to wood ties. He also added that this project is an example of engineering firms and agencies working together to deliver proven life cycle cost benefits and environmentally sound ties for a critical transit system.
The transit agency stated that the cost of timber ties were high due to maintenance, green house emissions and use of wood preservatives, while the concrete ties reduce the costs and avoid disposal issues when removed from service. The design report by SMART project also noted that these concrete ties reduce costs from 10% to 15% and most of the commuter and transit rail systems on the West Coast use these ties.
L.B. Foster Company manufactures, fabricates and distributes products for rail, construction, energy and utility markets located in Europe and North America.
Source: http://www.lbfoster.com