ZETA-TECH Associates, Inc. is a technical consulting company with strong expertise in the areas of railway engineering, rail transportation cost analysis, track component failure, vehicle/track dynamics, operations analysis, maintenance planning, and information system development and implementation. Its President, Dr. Allan M. Zarembski, is an internationally recognized authority in the area of railway component failure, the effect of heavy axle loading on component lives, and in maintenance planning. ZETA-TECH personnel have experience in developing operations and costing models for railroads and rapid transit systems, designing and implementing computerized data base and maintenance planning systems for railroads and rail transit systems, and developing track and track component failure/degradation models.
ZETA-TECH has had active involvement in the analysis of rail, rail problems, development of rail component failure models, rail maintenance standards, and in developing costing and pricing data for various aspects of railway operation. Among its clients are all of the major U.S. and Canadian freight railroads, most of the major commuter and/or transit systems in the United States, Amtrak, the U.S. Department of Transportation, the Association of American Railroads, the World Bank and foreign railways as well as private suppliers of railroad components.
ZETA-TECH has particular expertise in the area of rail failure, rail surface defects and wheel/rail interaction. ZETA-TECH has been actively involved in the evaluation, analysis and maintenance of rail surface defect conditions such as corrugations for all rail systems (freight, commuter, heavy rail transit, and light rail transit). ZETA-TECH has expertise in the area of rail grinding, rail lubrication, and rail maintenance practices. It has extensive experience in wheel/rail dynamic interaction for freight, commuter, inter-urban and transit systems, both from the wheel/rail contact point of view and the vehicle/track interaction perspective.
Among its clients in this area are such transit systems as Los Angeles Red Line, SEPTA, MBTA, Pittsburgh Authority of Allegheny County (PAT), Baltimore MTA, BART, and many others. In the freight area, clients include AT&SF, Conrail, CSX Transportation, Norfolk Southern, Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, Burlington Northern Railroad, etc.
ZETA-TECH has performed numerous engineering studies for the determination of track component life for both freight and passenger service. This includes the development of component life models for such key track components as rails, ties, ballast (surfacing), turnouts, etc. These models are also used in ZETA-TECH developed maintenance planning software packages to determine short and long term maintenance requirements and budgets.
ZETA-TECH Associates, Inc. has an extensive array of computer systems and an extensive library of engineering and statistical analysis software. ZETA-TECH also maintains an extensive library of railroad technical literature at its Cherry Hill, New Jersey headquarters containing data and research studies in virtually all areas of rail operations.
Rail Grinding/Corrugation Projects
Speno Rail Services
Development of wheel/rail profiles, recommended rail head contours, grinding standards. Analysis of wheel/rail dynamic interaction.
CSX Transportation
Development of wheel/rail profiles, recommended rail head contours, grinding standards. Analysis of wheel/rail dynamic interaction.
MBTA (Boston)
Development of rail head standards, rail profiles, and recommended grinding practices.
MTA (Baltimore)
Investigation into the development of rail corrugations. Monitoring of rail corrugations, to include field measurements. Development of rail head standards, rail profiles, and recommended grinding practices.
Noise Reduction Projects
Orgo-Thermit
Evaluation of RIFLEX noise reduction treatment of rail head. Evaluation of RIFLEX treated rail performance on SEPTA and WMATA (Washington). Analysis of RIFLEX application in transit and light rail applications.
Advanced Track Systems
Analysis of prototype noise abatement tie plate designs. Detailed analysis of tie plate and fastener performance and capabilities. Evaluation of tie plate for WMATA application.
Pandrol Inc.
Analysis of alternate rail clip/fastener systems for vibration attenuation and performance under non-conventional wheel/rail load and environmental loading conditions. Analysis of transit, commuter and freight applications.
Landis Corp.
Analysis of direct fixation fastener system for noise and vibration reduction.
PATCO
Analysis of alternate rail clip configuration for Ben Franklin Bridge Application.
MBTA
Analysis of alternate techniques for noise reduction using fastener/pad systems.
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