Patented BTI Underpass Method

Every ninety minutes there is a vehicle/train accident at a railroad crossing somewhere in the United States.Crossings are a safety, operations, and maintenance headache for railroads and local governments.Tremendous momentum is building to eliminate as many crossings as possible.

Here in the Chicago area, there are plans being developed to separate the railroad from the roadway with bridges at 26 railroad crossings.Railroad companies, seeking to shut down a third or even more of these crossings, have begun to spend large sums to help municipalities build overpasses or underpasses type of construction can be exorbitantly expensive, however: projects vary in cost from $10 to $40 million, not including rail downtime.

Part of the reason this construction is so expensive is that, with conventional methods, temporary bypass railroad tracks must be created before construction may commence.After the construction is completed, the temporary tracks are torn up.The planning for these bypass tracks includes condemnation and acquisition of real estate. Of course, depending on the location, the real estate issues alone can cost in the millions of dollars and cause substantial problems and delays in planning.

Conventional Underpass Method, with Temporary Bypass Tracks and Temporary Roadway.  Foundations for New Permanent Underpass foundations are visible in foreground

BTI Underpass Method Eliminates the Need for Temporary Bypass Tracks (shown below)

We have developed a better way.  Our new method allows the existing rail tracks to be used during the entire duration of construction of the underpass, thus eliminating the need for temporary bypass tracks.

We have been granted a U.S. Patent on its highly innovative system. The BTI Underpass Method incorporates the following six-step process:

• Columns are driven or drilled into the ground outside each of the four corners where the railroad tracks intersect with the road;
• Tunnels are constructed under the railroad track at the location of each foundation;
• The columns are connected by pier cap beams through the tunnels;
• During a brief interruption to rail traffic, material between foundations is excavated to make room for bridge girders;
• Girders are installed to provide support to the railroad tracks, and rail traffic is resumed;
• The underpass is then excavated under the new bridge for the new road to be constructed.

BTI Underpass Method Drawing with view from the side and above.

We have completed our first contract to implement a hybrid version of the BTI Underpass Method.  The project is in Indianapolis, IN.  An existing underpass was lengthened to allow the road underneath to be widened.  Now that the efficiency and savings of this method are demonstrated by this first project, it is expected that there will be strong acceptance of the BTI Underpass Method.  We are currently pursuing approximately thirty other similar projects.

Site of First BTI Underpass Expansion Project Indianapolis, IN

*We have also developed a similar system for Overpasses.