U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Railroad Administration, Office of Acquisition and Grants Services, Mail Stop 50, 400 7th Street, S.W., Washington, DC 20590

A -- STUDY OF EFFECT OF HOLLOW-WORN WHEELS ON TRUCK HUNTING SOL DTFR53-93-C-00001, T.O.126 POC Contracting Officer, Robert Carpenter, 202-493-6153 The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) intends to negotiate on a sole source basis with Transportation Technology Center, Inc. (TTCI), a subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads (AAR), the award of Task Order No. 126 under the subject contract for a railroad research study of "Effect of Hollow-worn Wheels on Truck Hunting." The work will include modeling to examine the behavior of hollow-worn wheels on three types of railroad cars (roadrailer, tank car, and bulkhead flatcar) which are typically run in freight service at speeds up to 65 mph. The AAR's NUCARS rail vehicle dynamics program will be used in the modeling work. One of the vehicles used for the modeling will be chosen for on-track testing to verify the modeling results to measure the speed at which hunting begins for a range of wheel profiles. At least three wheel profiles will be tested, including a tapered and two hollow-worn wheels. The influence of hollow-worn wheels on rail roll over and the risk of other types of derailmenthazards will also be examined. The proposed testing and evaluation will be conducted at the Transportation Technology Center (TTC) in Pueblo, Colorado where TTCI is the facility management contractor. The 52-square mile TTC property is managed and operated by TTCI for the Federal Railroad Administration, and is the only known facility with the unique capability and circumstances suitable for such highly specialized and potentially hazardous railroad test operations safely away from revenue service rail lines. The work will involve analyses by TTCI engineers using existing track configurations at the TTC of this testing. The applicable authority for this procurement is 41 U.S.C. 253 (c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, "Only One Responsible Source." This announcement is for information purposes only relating to potential subcontracting opportunities. Interested parties may contact the TTCI contract manager, Ed Walsh, at (719) 584-0534 for information regarding potential subcontracting opportunities, if any. This is NOT a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) and a competitive soliciation is NOT available. Posted 07/07/99 (W-SN351346). (0188)

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