Inactive

BACKGROUND: FRA seeks to award a contract to National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to continue the coordination of International Collaborative Research Initiative (ICRI) and continue collaborative... BACKGROUND: FRA seeks to award a contract to National Research Council of Canada (NRC) to continue the coordination of International Collaborative Research Initiative (ICRI) and continue collaborative research in Rolling Contact fatigue (RCF) and rail surface inspection. The objective of this work is to conduct research through NRC’s other international collaborative research projects and revenue service testing projects and to obtain the resulting technical reports and corresponding data sets in the areas of vehicle-track interaction, rolling contact fatigue and wear, and rail integrity. The NRC conducts such research through international collaborative research projects and revenue service testing that are currently underway with support from North American railroads, FRA, Transport Canada, and various international partners. FRA supports this research with the objective of making resulting reports, empirical research data, expert technical exchanges, and other technical findings available to FRA’s stakeholders, including railroads, universities, and other DOT modes. The FRA will continue to support the cooperative research that is led by NRC and aimed at improving safety and productivity of rail services in North America by studying the impact of vehicle track interaction on rail and wheel damage evolution and then the impact of that damage on rail integrity. FRA requires NRC to continue to drive ICRI-Safety projects: quantifying Risk and Damage; modeling broken rails and broken rail derailments; findings on the relationship between surface fatigue and the effectiveness of ultrasonic detection; ICRI field study with a Class I railroad; advancing technologies and techniques for assessing the surface condition of rails that have relevance and application to remediation (e.g. through rail grinding) and risk assessment (by relating surface condition to inspection reliability and rail failure); and performance of the AMTRAK-NRCC wheel profile on Amtrak and other commuter systems. The work includes an important option for FRA to conduct cold weather brake system research using NRC specially constructed cold weather test facility that accommodates multiple freight train air brake systems emulating a portion of train. This uniquely designed facility allows research into the operations of freight train air brakes under controlled and repeatable cold weather conditions (e.g., testing performance of brake system valves at zero degrees Fahrenheit and below to -40 deg F and performance of valves of varying ages in cold weather temperatures, minimally at 10 years, 15 years, and 20 years, if possible, on trains with 150 cars or more, if possible). The total value of the acquisition, with options, is estimated to be approximately $500,00 to $700,000. The Period of Performance (PoP) is expected to be five (5) years – a Base Period of 18 months, an Option Period of 18 months, and an Option for Cold Weather Brakes Research with an expected duration of approximately 24 months. CONTRACTING AUTHORITY: The single-source procurement will be conducted under the authority of 41 U.S.C.1901 [in FAR 13.501(a)]. RATIONALE for NONCOMPETITIVE ACTION: The internationally recognized expertise, objectivity, longstanding railroad industry partner outreach, and audience acceptance of NRC in its collaboration with ICRI makes NRC uniquely positioned to provide FRA access to required research project collaboration and research results. FRA’s continued support of NRC/ICRI’s ongoing and new research is critical to making NRC/ICRI’s resulting reports, empirical research data, expert technical exchanges, and other technical findings available to FRA’s stakeholders, including railroads, universities, and other DOT modes. NRC’s uniquely designed and constructed cold weather test facility would allow research that is important to FRA on the operations of freight train air brakes under controlled and repeatable cold weather conditions.