Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 44

"Our client had
never seen
anything like it.
Once we explained
how it would
operate and the
benefits of it, they were on board."
KURT REICHELT
VICE PRESIDENT
HDR

The Balloon Loop, which was introduced in the 1990s, solves
one of those problems, allowing the train to turn around without switching the locomotive from one end to the other, but the
design requires a separate yard in front of the loop to stage trains
upon arrival or before departure.
THE INFINITY LOOP

Facing the size constraints of the client's site and the problems of
the conventional yard designs, Reichelt and Weber came up with
an innovative solution. They designed a staging yard with eight
loop tracks, spaced 15 to 25 feet apart, and inserted a balloon

loop loading and unloading track in the interior.
"The staging yard with an interior unloading balloon track
connected by a dual lead effectively forms a linear path 'Infinity
Loop' design that allows multiple unit trains to enter the facility
without conflicting with a separate unit train in the process of
loading or unloading," Reichelt says.
Unit trains now can be loaded or unloaded in succession, following the same path from the outer-loop staging tracks onto the
balloon track, through the loading and unloading facility, and
then either depart to the main line directly or return to the outerloop staging tracks for later departure, never crossing paths with
any other trains.
"Our client had never seen anything like it," Reichelt says.
"Once we explained how it would operate and the benefits of
it, they were on board. They were excited about getting the
throughput on such a small site."
"The railroad also had to buy into it," adds Weber. "When we
presented it to them, I do not know if 'shocked' is the word, but
they were pretty amazed about how it worked. It solves a lot of
the problems they have been dealing with for many years."
Because of its revolutionary design and potential impact on the
nation's freight transportation system, HDR's Infinity Loop received
a Grand Award in ACEC's 2019 Engineering Excellence Awards. ■
Gerry Donohue is ACEC's senior communications writer. He can be
reached at gdonohue@acec.org.

FIND
YOUR
Where today's
engineering job
seekers go to ﬁnd
their next jobs.

Since the ACEC Job Board's inception in August
of 2005, over 3,437 member ﬁrms have posted job
openings and more than 29,000 job seekers have
posted resumes.

NEXT

ENGINEER
on ACEC's
Job Board . . .

Find your next new hire at: www.acec.org/jobs
Where today's engineering job seekers go to ﬁnd their next jobs.

44

ENGINEERING INC.

SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2019

http://www.acec.org/jobs

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019

Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019
Contents
From Acec to You
Market Watch
Legislative Action
The Private Side
Powering Forward
Website Brilliance
Creating Compelling Proposals
Latest It Innovations
Restorative Spirits
The Infinity Loop
Mergers and Acquisitions
Members in the News
Business Insights
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Intro
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Cover2
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Contents
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 2
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 3
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - From Acec to You
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 5
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Market Watch
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 7
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Legislative Action
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 9
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - The Private Side
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 11
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 12
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 13
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 14
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 15
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 16
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 17
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Powering Forward
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 19
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 20
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 21
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 22
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 23
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Website Brilliance
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 25
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 26
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 27
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Creating Compelling Proposals
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 29
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 30
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 31
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Latest It Innovations
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 33
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 34
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 35
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 36
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 37
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Restorative Spirits
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 39
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 40
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 41
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - The Infinity Loop
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 43
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 44
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 45
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Mergers and Acquisitions
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 47
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Members in the News
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 49
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 50
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - 51
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Business Insights
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Cover3
Engineering Inc. - September/October 2019 - Cover4
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