Gov. Bob Wise has awarded $75,000 to West Virginia Universitys Constructed Facilities Center to develop modular track panels to improve safety in mining and rail transportation.

The modular track will lead to improved coal mining productivity and safety in West Virginia. Researchers will also explore the tracks capabilities for improving safety at railroad crossings and light rail passenger platforms in railroad stations.

“Safety is a top priority of my administration, and I am happy to help with the development,”Wise said.”I appreciate the dedication from Sen. (William) Sharpe in ensuring that this project is completed.”

The grant will provide support for testing and evaluating a ballastless tangent modular track panel over the next year. The panels consist of two parallel post-tensioned concrete beams interconnected at discrete intervals by steel cross ties to be used initially in the mining railways. The use of such a low-maintenance modular track system will provide continuous support, reducing track bed settlement and improving overall efficiency and safety. The modular track panels will then be evaluated for passenger and freight railroads and highway crossing elements.

The CFC and Interrail Inc. of Grafton, under the direction of Chuck Poe, are conducting preliminary design and analysis of the proposed modular track. The laboratory testing to be conducted by CFC will involve constructing two full-scale modular track panels and two adjacent half panels subjected to static and dynamic loads. The testing will simulate the panelsresponse under tangent track conditions.

The principal researchers are Hota V.S. GangaRao, CFC director, and Samer H. Petro, an engineering scientist with the center.