In the wake of infrastructure-related service disruptions on the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority’s Metrorail system—and a highly critical National Transportation Safety Board report on a fatal 2015 electrical-system incident—the agency plans to launch next month an intensive, system-wide rehabilitation program, aimed at restoring safety and reliability by mid 2017.
A prolonged short circuit in the third-rail power system of Washington, D.C.’s Metrorail system has been determined to be the probable cause for a January 2015 electrical arcing and smoke incident that killed one passenger and injured dozens more, according to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
It is a contractor’s worst nightmare: Despite months of project preparation, daily safety briefings and double- and triple-checking jobsite protocols, an incident has occurred. And the news is not good.
A mobile maintenance backhoe struck by an Amtrak train near Chester, Pa., on April 3 was authorized to operate on the rail tracks within a scheduled 55-hour maintenance window, according to a preliminary report of the incident by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).
Nothing can stop a tornado, but the 2015 International Building Code (IBC) includes changes that may help improve the survivability of schools and other facilities against the destructive, often deadly winds.
South Carolina has the nation’s fourth-largest state-owned transportation network, but a labyrinthine project-upgrade priority system has hampered the state Dept. of Transportation’s ability to keep roads and bridges from worsening over the past decade, state auditors and Transportation Secretary Christy Hall testified on April 7.