Little is known about the distribution and habitat suitability of yellow rails (Coturnicops noveboracensis) throughout their breeding range. Yellow rail and vegetation surveys were conducted at 80 wetlands in south-central Manitoba in 2010-2011 to evaluate the effectiveness of repeat-visit, call-broadcast night surveys for detecting this species and habitat associations of this species at the 3-km landscape, patch, and plot scales. Yellow rails were detected at 44% of the study wetlands. Yellow rail detection was imperfect (0.63 in each year), but call-broadcast increased the number of yellow rails detected. Future yellow rail survey efforts should employ call-broadcast and at least three surveys per survey point. Yellow rail presence was positively influenced by the amount of marsh/fen in the landscape and the proportion of rushes at the study wetlands. These characteristics should be considered when identifying potential yellow rail habitat in south-central Manitoba.

This thesis has examined the 30km long rail corridor through the Lower Buller Gorge, on the Stillwater Ngakawau Line, between SNL96 and 126km, using a landslide risk management approach. The project area is characterised by high annual rainfall (>2,000mm per year), and steep topography (slopes typically ≥20°) adjacent to the rail corridor. The track formation generally follows the natural contour near the base of the hillslope through the Lower Buller Gorge, and consequently involves many curves but relatively limited cut slopes into adjacent rock outcrops. The distance between the base of adjacent hillslopes and rail is frequently <2m horizontally. A variety of basement and Tertiary lithologies are present, including granite, breccias, indurated sandstone/mudstone, and limestone. The primary focus of this thesis has been on upslope-sourced landsliding onto the rail corridor, and on two short lengths (20m and 450m) that currently have a 25km/hour speed restriction imposed at Whitecliffs and Te Kuha respectively. Rainfall-induced and earthquake-generated landslide triggering mechanisms were examined in detail. A landslide inventory has been compiled to determine the characteristics and distribution of identified slope failures over time, and to establish any correlation with topography and geology. Sixty individual landslide events were identified since the line became fully operational in the 1940s, based on desktop reviews, and field inspections for more recent events. To reflect the presence of small magnitude landslide events, a project-specific logarithmic classification of landslides was adopted from <10m³ (very small volume) to ≥10,000m³ (very large volume). An absence of a higher proportion of ‘very small’ to ‘small’ landslide volumes (<100m³) in the inventory reflects incomplete reporting of these comparatively lower magnitude, but higher frequency, events. The establishment of a robust landslide inventory to document future events, in a consistent and readily accessible format, is required for continued monitoring and review of landslide risk management practices in the Lower Buller Gorge. Combining landslide inventory data and physical characteristics of the project area enabled the development of a qualitative landslide zonation map that assigned ‘high’, ‘high-moderate’, ‘moderate’ and ‘low’ landslide susceptibility classes. The principal area of slope instability above the rail corridor is 22.5km in length between SNL103.5 and 126.0km, associated predominantly with basement lithologies (Tuhua Granite; Hawks Crag Breccia; Greenland Group). The most frequently occurring landslides are shallow, typically less than 3m deep, translational failures triggered in regolith or colluvium materials. Rainfall-induced debris slides and flows are dominant, given the high annual rainfall and associated high frequency of high intensity or long duration rainfall events. Very small to medium landslides (<1,000m³) have the potential to impact the rail corridor with an average frequency of around one every two years, causing damage to infrastructure or affecting rail operations. Very large landslides (≥10,000m³) can be expected every 10 to 20 years based on a limited historical record. The narrow rail corridor and absence of sufficient catch areas above or adjacent to the rail causes continual operational challenges due to upslope-sourced landslide debris, and high susceptibility to slope failures, particularly west of SNL103.50km. Development of a rainfall-threshold for proactive inspection of the rail corridor is recommended, including the establishment of a rain gauge network through the Lower Buller Gorge. Earthquake-generated landslides significantly impacted the rail during the magnitude 7.1 Inangahua earthquake in 1968 and to a much lesser extent during the magnitude 6.1 Westport earthquake in 1991. The rail was not fully constructed through the Lower Buller Gorge at the time of the magnitude 7.8 Buller (Murchison) Earthquake in 1929, which generated widespread landsliding in the Buller and Nelson regions. Earthquake-generated landsliding can be expected through the Lower Buller Gorge from earthquakes of magnitude ≥6, and track inspection is recommended in the event of magnitude 5 or greater earthquakes. Detailed geological characterisation and mapping at Whitecliffs and Te Kuha was conducted, including a LiDAR survey at Whitecliffs that enabled visualisation of the ground surface without the interference of vegetation. The limestone outcrop at Whitecliffs comprises 60-70m high near-vertical cliffs with a well-established talus apron at the base, extending to the rail corridor. Three widely spaced open fractures sets are present at the top of Whitecliffs that propagate into the cliff-face. There has been no detectable movement on selected key fracture sets since monitoring commenced in 1993 and there is no confirmed evidence of large-scale cliff collapse during the 1968 Inangahua earthquake. Whitecliffs is not as susceptible to failure as other slopes inspected in the project area due to structural controls, primarily being the dipping of strata back into the cliff-face and widely space joint sets. Establishment of inspection protocols for earthquake events impacting the area, including real-time monitoring of selected fractures at Whitecliffs is recommended. A 2km-length corridor site model produced for Te Kuha demonstrated ‘high’ landslide susceptibility is not confined to slopes above the existing 450m speed restriction zone. Removal of the speed restrictions at Whitecliffs and Te Kuha can be considered, as the increased exposure time is not considered sufficient justification given the extent of other susceptible areas to landsliding affecting the Lower Buller Gorge rail corridor. The principal conclusion from this thesis project is that there is on-going risk to rail operations predominantly from shallow translational landsliding in regolith-colluvium materials. The majority of these will be generated by long-duration or intense rainfall events. Development of threshold-based methods for effective track management is recommended, including the establishment of a rain gauge network through the Lower Buller Gorge, and landslide inventory database. Site-specific engineering measures could be adopted, such as catch benches or avalanche-type shelters, where justified on a cost-benefit basis.

It has been desirable for years to develop non-intrusive/non-invasiveprocedures to determine the pressures and stresses at various levels andinterfaces in the railroad track structure in order to optimize track designs andimprove subsequent track performance. Recent research has developedsatisfactory procedures for measuring pressures in the track structure at theballast/subballast/subgrade levels using earth pressure cells. The researchreported in this thesis documents the development of a technique for measuringthe pressures in the track, at the rail/tie plate/tie interfaces, using a very thinpressure sensitive Tekscan sensor. The Tekscan Measurement System uses asensor composed of a matrix-based array of force sensitive cells, similar to ministrain gauges, to obtain accurate pressure distributions between two surfaces inthe track. This thesis specifically describes: 1) the optimum procedure to installthe sensors into the track, 2) the recommended practices to effectively collectdata with the software, and 3) the accepted techniques for analyzing the results.Both laboratory calibration and in-track testing have been conducted and theresults are presented. The findings attest to the usefulness and practicality of theprocedure for accurately measuring pressures in railroad tracks. The proceduremay also be applicable for a wide variety of specific track related measurementssuch as validating curve geometric criteria, assessing crossing diamond impactpressures, and evaluating the advantages/disadvantages of various types of tieplates, fastenings and tie compositions.

Many cities today are contemplating major investments in rail transit systems, especially Light Rail Transit (LRT), to address two significant planning issues which have characterized North American metropolitan growth patterns: increasing automobile use and decentralizing population and employment. Proponents of these systems argue that by building rail transit, travel behaviour and land use patterns can be changed. The experience in cities which have built these systems is mixed, but transportation and land use outcomes typically go hand-in-hand: San Diego, Denver, and Portland have increased transit ridership and intensification in station areas, whereas Buffalo and Cleveland have had minimal change occur as a result of investments in LRT. Calgary, Alberta presents an interesting case as its LRT system, first opened in 1981, generates tremendous ridership but has had relatively modest land use change in station areas. This thesis aims to understand why intensification has been so marginal at many stations, and to uncover what are the unique facets of Calgary???s experience which shaped this outcome. The approach taken is to examine the evolution of the City of Calgary???s planning philosophy towards transportation and land use since the need for rapid transit was first identified in 1966. This evolution is also placed within the context of the particularly severe cyclical economic forces that influenced both the city???s growth and policy planning approaches taken to manage this growth. The research finds that the combination of transportation and land use policy, in conjunction with market forces, which existed during the design, construction and operation of the first three LRT lines favoured intensification in Calgary???s downtown and low-density decentralization in suburban areas. However, the evolution of planning policy and market forces indicate that this less likely to be true in the future, both in the near and long term. The City is transitioning from a highly centralized mono-centric city to a poly-centric and increasingly multi-modal metropolitan region. The LRT, and other transit service, will be a key means of facilitating and managing this transformation.

Little is known about the distribution and habitat suitability of yellow rails (Coturnicops noveboracensis) throughout their breeding range. Yellow rail and vegetation surveys were conducted at 80 wetlands in south-central Manitoba in 2010-2011 to evaluate the effectiveness of repeat-visit, call-broadcast night surveys for detecting this species and habitat associations of this species at the 3-km landscape, patch, and plot scales. Yellow rails were detected at 44% of the study wetlands. Yellow rail detection was imperfect (0.63 in each year), but call-broadcast increased the number of yellow rails detected. Future yellow rail survey efforts should employ call-broadcast and at least three surveys per survey point. Yellow rail presence was positively influenced by the amount of marsh/fen in the landscape and the proportion of rushes at the study wetlands. These characteristics should be considered when identifying potential yellow rail habitat in south-central Manitoba.

Aerosol emissions from diesel combustion and other activities in rail yards can affect the health of urban populations. Fine particulate (PM[subscript 2.5]) concentrations near the Inman and Tilford rail yards in Atlanta, Georgia, are the highest measured in the state. The rail yard complex is surrounded by homes, schools, businesses and other industries. The impact of the aerosol emissions from these rail yards on local concentrations of PM[subscript 2.5] was quantified. Specifically, black carbon and PM[subscript 2.5] fuel-based emission factors from the rail yards were estimated by carbon balance using high time-resolution monitoring, a BC and PM[subscript 2.5] emissions inventory was estimated and dispersion modeling was applied to assess the impact of the rail yard activities on local air quality and the cost and benefits of upgrading locomotive engines with cleaner technologies was assessed. Further, baseline information that will allow a later evaluation of the improvement of local air quality as locomotives operating in the rail yards are upgraded was generated, and a composition profile of the rail yard aerosols was developed using chemical speciation techniques. These results found that activities from locomotives in the Inman and Tilford Rail yards lead to and an average emission factor of 6.0 ± 0.5 g of PM[subscript 2.5] per gallon of fuel and are responsible for increases in annual average concentrations of approximately 1.3 µg/m³ of PM[subscript 2.5] as far as 1 km from the perimeter of the rail yard complex. Approximately 11.7 tons of BC and 26 tons of PM[subscript 2.5] per year were emitted from the rail yards in 2011. The rail yards were found to be important sources of hydrocarbon-like organic aerosols (HOA) and black carbon from fuel (BCf). Upgrading the engines at the rail yards would decrease PM[subscript 2.5] emissions by about 9 t/year, reducing PM[subscript 2.5] concentrations around 0.5±0.1 µg/m³ as far as 1 km from the perimeter of the rail yard complex and producing monetized health benefits of approximately 24 million dollars per year.

Rail is a very expensive component of the railway track. Therefore, research methods extending rail life have great economic importance. During the past thirty years and, particularly during the past ten years there has been an increasing awareness throughout most rail networks in the world of the need to introduce improved design criteria, better construction techniques and higher standard track generally. This implies that quality control at all levels is mandatory if these objectives are to be achieved. With the improved understanding of degradation of track, a more complete comprehension of the costs associated with different operating and infrastructure conditions should also be developed, aiding in the determination of efficient maintenance costs and their contribution to access charges. Track and structures together account for 60% of maintenance costs, with 50% of the total being track. The UIC has done a lot of work on comparative performance indicators, and these show what potential savings much be out there for the taking, just by adopting current best practice. The old wisdom is that it's not enough o do things rights; we have to make sure that we do the right things. These developments have largely resulted from the demand for higher speeds particularly in passenger services and the demand to accept heavier axle loads of freight traffic. Whilst the conventional railway track structure is not likely to change significantly over the next ten years there will be a requirement over that period for better quality track infrastructure. This means less rail surface defects, less internal defects and less wheels irregularities. The presence of rail surface defects generally increases the roughness of the track leading to a poor passenger ride and increased safety risk with freight traffic. In addition, rail surface defects will generally increase the degradation rate of other track components; however, not all defects will produce visible track deterioration. Dynamic impacts produced by the rollingstock running over rail surface defects, such as poor welds, will, over time, create continuous rail defects, loosening of fastenings, abrasion and skewing of sleepers, crushing of ballast and loss of formation geometry. It is only in the recent years that the importance of poor welds in track has been identified. Dips and peaks must be recognised as a severe track irregularity that needs to be addressed and removed. Current maintenance activities have little effect on removing misaligned welds in track and the improvement obtained after the maintenance works is generally short lived. On the other hand, straightening operations have proven to solve the problem and maintain the results following 7 months of traffic. As part of this project, a six kilometre test section was selected on the Mt Isa Line and all welds located in this region were monitored for over 9 months to increase the understanding of the effect of individual maintenance activities on the track roughness. Three 2km Divisions were established; each Division had different maintenance activities and levels of intervention completed over the duration of the project. Over 15,000 readings were recorded and analysed. The following conclusions were drawn. The effect of cycle tamping was clearly identified when comparing the means of weld located in Division 1, 2 to the mean of welds in Division 3. Cycle tamping showed to have a significant positive effect on the dipped welds geometry and an increase in severity of peaked welds prior to their correction. Straightening operations completed in Division 1 and 2 reduced the overall mean of weld misalignments. These Divisions were subjected to different levels of straightening intervention however they produced similar results. Division 1 all dips were straightened and Division 2 only dips &gt0.3mm were straightened. This means that no additional benefit, in terms of overall misalignment of welds, can be gained when straightening operations target dips with a misalignment smaller than 0.3mm. Cycle grinding proved to have little effect on the removal of both dips and peaks. In fact, due to the configuration of the grinding machine, grinding operation produced a slight worsening of the dips misalignments and only a minor improvement of peaks. Although long term monitoring of the site may show minor variations in weld geometry performance, after approximately 3.9 Mgt of traffic the mean of dipped welds in Division 1 and 2 appeared to remain unaltered, as Division 3 showed a minor worsening. Furthermore, the mean of peaked welds in Division 1 and 2 appeared to remain unaltered, as Division 3 showed a minor worsening.

Dissertation (M. Appl. Sc.) -- Lincoln University, 2008. / Also available via the World Wide Web.

Thesis (M.S.)--Eastern Illinois University, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 23-26).

Zugl.: Karlsruhe, Universiẗat, Diss., 2008.