Concrete Ties Fail on Old Colony Lines

cytotoxictcell wrote:I think Bus #230 should be extended from Montello to Campello

Actualy, "and then some", in other words, further extend the 230 to Bridgewater and even Lakeville, especially on weekends.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaki ... st_76.html

The MBTA today sued the manufacturer of faulty concrete ties used on the Old Colony commuter rail line, demanding that the company pay for the $91.5 million the T says it will have to spend to replace the ties.

The 147,500 ties sold by Rocla Concrete Tie Inc. to the MBTA were marketed with a 50-year life span and sold with a 15-year warranty, but several thousand of them began crumbling and cracking just a decade after the Old Colony resumed service in 1997.

"When confronted with the discovery of the defective ties, Rocla admitted that the MBTA would need to replace the entirety of the concrete ties installed on the Old Colony Line and that its concrete ties should never have been marketed as having a 50-year life span," the T said in the lawsuit filed today in Suffolk Superior Court.

A spokesman for the Colorado-based Rocla did not immediately return a call seeking comment today.

Last month, the T said all of the ties would have to be replaced, starting this summer, to keep the trains running safely and on time.

Problems with the ties have already forced the T to impose speed restrictions and slowed travel times for riders on the Old Colony branches to and from Plymouth/Kingston and Middleborough/Lakeville.

The replacement project, scheduled to begin in August and last nearly two years, will require the T to cancel all weekend service on those branches and to replace midday rail service with buses.

Trains will continue to run during peak commuting times, albeit in reduced speeds over areas with faulty ties. The T's upfront investment in the tie replacement work will also divert funds from previously prioritized projects planned by the cash-strapped transit agency, officials said.

If the T carries out that opinion they will have to send out more buses along Rt.230 and more buses means more drivers to get the job done during the day. As far as the weekends go I don't know were to start. But does those areas have public transit that could be repliable for passengers between Middleborough/Lakeville to Montello at least???

Maybe the GATRA from Middleboro to Campello, then the BAT 12 from there to Ashmont Station, while the 238/240 serve Randolph Station

That sounds like it would work for everyone in the areas, forgot the GATRA runs through Bridgewater.

So do we think the T is going to get their money, or is Rocla already bankrupt?

They will be if the MBTA gets the full (what is it, 92 million?)

I believe that Amtrak and another commuter agency (Metro-North?) already sued Rocla for the defective ties

I am glad to here the problem was with Rocla Concrete Tie Inc. and not SanVel/Lonestar of Littleton, MA.

Didn't this same problem happen on the Needham line in the early 90's? As I recall, when the Needham line was rebuilt in the 80's, it was tracked with concrete ties. A few years later, it was discovered that the concrete ties were defective, and were replaced with Wooden ties. Now this is happening all over again. I do wish however, that the old colony ties would be replaced by new concrete ties that aren't defective, rather than wooden ties, which only last 5 years and have to be replaced as much, not to mention that the ride is not as smooth on wooden ties as it is on concrete ties.

That being said, is there any reason other than union protections that this work can't be done overnight to minimize service disruptions?

Dunno about Needham, but a similar thing happened on the South Shore Extension back in the '90s.

On a semi-related topic... the concrete ties on the green line seem to work fine

diburning wrote:On a semi-related topic... the concrete ties on the green line seem to work fine

I think only part of the B line has them, no?

Isnt providences concrete ties falling apart or this just related to old colony?

From what I have seen on the NEC some of the ties are getting replaced but not falling apart.

what are you going to do with concrete ties they removed? All they are in piles right next to the tracks.