U.S. State Department Taps Volpe Expertise to Improve Iraqi Railways
"I was part of a transportation security convoy in the middle of Baghdad. There were sirens and flashing lights all around me as we traveled to the Iraq Railway's Central Station. When I looked up at the helicopter above me, I saw a soldier with a machine gun pointed out the window providing the convoy with extra security."
James Lamond, Engineer and Team Leader for the Iraqi Republic Railways project
JIM LAMOND, PROGRAM MANAGER/CIVIL ENGINEER, visited Iraq prior to his retirement this fall to see first-hand how Volpe's work played a critical role in the implementation of the Iraq Railway's new train control system. This state-of-the-art system makes Iraq's railway network safer and more efficient, as it facilitates the rapid movement of goods, people, and raw materials throughout the country.
Dispatchers can track and control movements throughout the entire railway network, and railroad operators know the exact position of every train with significantly greater accuracy.
The U.S. State Department came to the Volpe Center in 2006 for its expertise in rail and transportation systems. Volpe was asked to provide assistance to the U.S. Department of Transportation Attaché Office in Iraq with the design and installation of the communication infrastructure, which was to serve as the backbone for the Iraq Railway train control system. The Volpe Center's engineers were asked to provide project management, leadership, and technical expertise. Volpe acquisition professionals awarded a multi-million-dollar support contract to assist the Volpe Center in performing specific work for this effort.
Building a communication system throughout Iraq during a very turbulent time period presented a unique set of challenges for the Volpe team. Jim Lamond and his team overcame the challenges one might expect from a project being conducted in a war zone almost 6,000 miles from Cambridge, MA, such as language barriers, understanding local customs, ensuring security, and frequent Embassy personnel changes.
Coordinating meetings was an unexpected challenge since the meetings could not take place in Iraq and translators were required for every meeting. The Volpe Center staff facilitated these meetings in Jordan and Turkey. U.S. Embassy staff, Iraq Railway employees, and contractors were brought together frequently to discuss how to resolve issues in a timely manner.
The construction team had a difficult time physically traveling throughout the country, and the movement of equipment and materials was often delayed. There were 33 construction sites and each had its own set of engineering and security issues, which had to be resolved. For example, during the tower construction, unexpected high water tables were encountered, requiring extensive de-watering. In addition, there is no "dig safe" database in Iraq; therefore, utility pipes were often discovered and had to be relocated.
Unique to this project was the way the workmanship was verified. Since the microwave communication shelters and tower components were built in the United States, the Volpe team had to inspect and test all of the materials prior to shipping them to Iraq. Training on the system was done outside of Iraq and often required bringing Iraq Railway personnel to the United States.
The Digital Microwave Radio Communication Network system that Volpe helped design and install is 1,100 kilometers in length and consists of microwave radio base stations equipped with microwave antennas. There are 33 transmission towers (ranging in height from 180 to 360 feet) and telecommunication equipment shelters and an auxiliary power system at each tower site.
The microwave system transmits the voice and data for the train control system that provides each locomotive a movement authorization from the dispatcher. These authorizations allow the train to move between stations at a specific speed. If the locomotive driver violates the limits of the authorization, the on-board computer will stop the train. Besides the on-board computer, the system consists of a centralized dispatching office, a digital track database depicting the Iraq Railway track system, and programmable track tags, which are read by passing locomotives and provide exact data locations to the dispatching office for each train. With this system now fully operational, more trains are able to move around simultaneously and additional people can safely travel throughout the country. The result: increased economic growth for the country.