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Late September, Strukton Rail completed its first catenary inspection in the North American market utilizing its state-of-the-art Strukton Wire Scan system.
A full overhead wire survey of Utah Transit Authority’s (UTA) Transit Express (TRAX), a 103-mile light rail system in Salt Lake City, was completed within 6 days. The system provides an automated solution for live contact-wire inspection. The new technology is based on non-contact measurement principles.
The Strukton Wire Scan measures – with the highest accuracy and fully automatic at speeds up to 18mph – the thickness and lateral position of all types of live contact wires. Simultaneously, the contact wire height and dynamics are measured. With these measurements it is possible to detect anomalies and predict when and where future complications might occur. A GIS based portal gives an overview of all the collected data in an interactive mapping environment, including the option to color code wear indicators as well as the opportunity to watch 4k UHD video recordings of the wires being scanned.
“The Strukton Wire Scan is based on an innovative technology specifically developed to incorporate the challenges and demands of a modern and dynamic rail market where reliable and readily available information is essential,” said Mark Lentini, Reliability Engineer of Strukton Rail North America. “The high accuracy of our system in detecting weak spots is where our customers truly benefit from a maintenance optimization standpoint.”
The Strukton Wire Scan has been in service since 2012 with impressive results. The system has been able to detect anomalies; output data is analyzed for wire degradation patterns; and, Strukton Rail teams have utilized its measurements to pinpoint, via accurate GPS locations, areas of concerns for a variety of clients while at the same time providing recommendations to optimize maintenance planning.