MERMEC Inc. awarded Amtrak contract to supply Catenary measuring and inspection systems
MERMEC Group, global leader and technology innovator in development of diagnostic and signalling solutions, was awarded a contract by Amtrak to equip a dedicated measuring coach with a complete Catenary inspection solution to meet the needs of the most important passenger operator in North America.
USA – MERMEC Inc. will supply AMTRAK with a non-contact Measuring and Inspection System conceived to check main Catenary parameters such as Wire Height, Stagger and Wear and a video surveillance system to detect any critical defects of the overhead line structures.
AMTRAK aims to replace its old Catenary inspection system with a state of the art automated solution able to monitor the Catenary on the high speed Northeast Corridor. The system will be installed on a dedicated coach to measure the Catenary on a daily basis in order to increase network safety and availability.
The system to be supplied for Catenary monitoring is based on advanced laser triangulation and is able to check wire parameters detecting and measuring up to 8 individual wires and to discriminate between 6 wire types. The system will be equipped with 4 cameras to measure wire wear and 4 cameras to monitor geometry: this configuration will allow to monitor a very wide field of view (up to 4 feet for stagger and of 10 feet for height) inspecting all the Catenary infrastructure.
The video surveillance system can continuously acquire longitudinal images of the Overhead line and store them together with the localization parameters, allowing a post processing and analysis by an operator off-line.
Thanks to its innovative technology the integrated solution supplied by MERMEC is able to operate at speeds up to 135 mph and in tough environmental conditions such as rain, snow and fog.
“This is the first of a kind of train borne wire wear monitoring systems installation in North America”, said Luca Ebreo, MERMEC Inc. Chief Executive Officer “we are the only US Company that has the references and capabilities to provide this type of Catenary monitoring solution. The accuracy specifications required by AMTRAK are very challenging not only in terms of accuracy but also for the reliability of the system. We are very proud to be the only company in North America able to satisfy the high standards of the most important passenger operator in the US”.
The scope of supply also includes a localization system and other auxiliary systems. The project is expected to end with the delivery and commissioning of all systems in the first half of 2013.
