SPECIAL NOTICE
22 -- RAIL-NT PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION AND EVALUATION
- Notice Date
- 1/14/2013
- Notice Type
- Special Notice
- NAICS
- 541330
— Engineering Services
- Contracting Office
- Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, Mail Stop 50, West Bldg, 3rd Floor, 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, District of Columbia, 20590
- ZIP Code
- 20590
- Solicitation Number
- DTFR53-13-002
- Point of Contact
- Renee N. McElrath, Phone: 2024936122, Tremayne W. Terry, Phone: 2024936164
- E-Mail Address
-
renee.mcelrath.ctr@dot.gov, tremayne.terry@dot.gov
(renee.mcelrath.ctr@dot.gov, tremayne.terry@dot.gov)
- Small Business Set-Aside
- N/A
- Description
- The Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration (FRA), intends to award a contract on a sole source basis to Rail Inspections, LLC of San Diego, CA, for the execution of a Rail-NT Prototype Demonstration and Comprehensive Evaluation project. A Rail-NT prototype was developed by the University of California-San Diego (UCSD), under FRA research and development grant. This prototype uses nonlinear ultrasonic guided waves propagating in the rail web to determine an accurate measurement of the rail neutral temperature without the need of a zero reference stress. This innovative technique may have the potential to be a breakthrough in addressing the perennial challenge of in-situ measurement of rail neutral temperature and may effectively address track accidents due to thermally induced stresses which have been a long standing challenge for the railroad industry. The proposed contractor, Rail Inspections, LLC, is the exclusive UCSD licensee for this technology, and therefore, the only entity that can legally transition this unique technique from the University to the railroad industry. Because of railroad safety related urgency of the project, award of contract is anticipated within 45 days of the publication of this announcement. The contractor is to fabricate four (4) fully functional Rail-NT ruggedized prototype units, similar to a previously demonstrated prototype, to be delivered prior to the heat season of July and August 2013 for in-field rail neutral temperature measurement testing. Three units will be installed at cooperating railroad sites, and one unit to be held as a spare for use if needed by the Government. These prototypes are expected to meet the following required criteria: Accuracy: Rail NT measurement of ±5 °F, Calibration: No need for calibration for different rail sizes, different rail manufacturers, different steel microstructures, or different residual stress distributions (i.e. no need for "baseline" measurement), Reference Value: No need for a reference value of stress (i.e. no need to measure the zero-stress condition of a given rail), Rail Support: No influence of rail supports or tie-to-tie variation i.e. system must work equally well on wood ties and concrete ties and with any type of rail fastening system, and Installation: The system can be permanently mounted as a wayside system or temporarily mounted as a portable system but must not interfere with normal revenue trains, thus avoiding traffic interruption. The contractor shall provide all the labor, materials, and equipment needed for project execution, for the envisioned comprehensive evaluation of Rail-NT prototype, to include the preparation of a final report documenting to be published for availability to the general public, in accordance with the FRA R&D policy on technical information sharing. It is estimated that about 1200 professional labor hour will be required for prototypes final design, fabrication, field installation, data acquisition, data analysis, final report preparation, and other related project execution activities. The related activities include training FRA and/or FRA designated technical support contractor personnel on the system operation and maintenance in conjunction with its inclusion in the FRA R&D Equipment Inventory. The overall result of this project is anticipated to be a significant advancement in safety related railroad technology that will aid in the fulfillment of the FRA agency mandate.
- Web Link
-
FBO.gov Permalink
(https://www.fbo.gov/spg/DOT/FRA/OAGS/DTFR53-13-002/listing.html)
- Place of Performance
- Address: Washington, District of Columbia, United States
- Record
- SN02964983-W 20130116/130114234306-dd49165b7a5db5000cf6ed25aa86aed7 (fbodaily.com)
- Source
-
FedBizOpps Link to This Notice
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