00483678

Component

http://onlinepubs.trb.org...epubs/sr/sr221/221-027.pdf

Light rail transit (LRT) intersections and turning movements in downtown areas present some unique and complex problems in overhead contact system (OCS) design. However, OCS design procedures and principles can be applied at such locations to provide both economic construction and trouble-free vehicle operation. SPIDER has been developed as a software tool to facilitate OCS design at complex intersections. The program is interactive and permits efficient and accurate design of complicated overhead guying networks. It performs the following analyses: layout of overhead hardware, calculation of tensions in guying network, optimization of trolley wire profile, and determination of resultant pole loadings. Through the interactive process, the program allows the designer to optimize the overhead contact wire profile by adjusting guy wire tensions and attachment heights. Plan drawings can then be generated at any scale and transferred to a computer-assisted drafting (CAD) system for plotting final construction drawings. The SPIDER program, with its CAD interface, has been used extensively for OCS design of LRT projects including the Sacramento, Guadalupe, and Long Beach-Los Angeles LRTs, the Lowell Historic Trolley, and on several electric trolley coach projects in San Francisco and Seattle. The program has demonstrated economics in both the design and construction processes.

This paper appears in Transportation Research Board Special Report No. 221, Light Rail Transit: New System Successes at Affordable Prices - Papers presented at the National Conference on Light Rail Transit, May 8-11, 1988, San Jose, California, Conducted by the Transportation Research Board. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved

00483651

pp 408-425

1989

Transportation Research Board Special Report

National Conference on Light Rail Transit

0-309-04713-7

Print

Figures (9) ; Photos (1)

Arrester wires; Central business districts; Charge collectors; Computer aided design; Conferences; Design; Drafting; Height; Intersections; Layout; Light rail transit; Optimization; Overhead utility lines; Software; Tension; Turning traffic; User interfaces (Computer science)

Interactive computing; Turning movements

Design; Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Public Transportation; Vehicles and Equipment

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

May 31 1990 12:00AM

• A COMPARISON OF SOME NEW LIGHT RAIL AND AUTOMATED-GUIDEWAY SYSTEMS
• ADVOCACY FOR CONVENTIONAL LIGHT RAIL
• ALTERNATIVE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT IMPLEMENTATION METHODS FOR HENNEPIN COUNTY, MINNESOTA
• AN EVALUATION OF AUTOMATED AND CONVENTIONAL RAIL TECHNOLOGY FOR THE CENTURY FREEWAY RAIL LINE
• ASSESSING THE PERFORMANCE OF PORTLAND'S NEW LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES
• AT-GRADE OR NOT AT-GRADE: THE EARLY TRAFFIC QUESTION IN LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT ROUTE PLANNING
• BOSTON'S LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PREPARES FOR THE NEXT HUNDRED YEARS
• BUFFALO'S LIGHT RAIL VEHICLE
• BUILDING LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT IN EXISTING RAIL CORRIDORS: PANACEA OR NIGHTMARE? THE LOS ANGELES EXPERIENCE
• CALIFORNIA PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT REGULATORY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
• DELAY AT LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT GRADE CROSSINGS
• DESIGNING AT-GRADE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT
• DESIGNING TO FIT: THE BOSTON EXPERIENCE
• DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF GREATER MANCHESTER'S LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT
• EDMONTON TRANSIT'S LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT EXPERIENCE
• ELDERLY AND HANDICAPPED ACCESSIBILITY: THE CALIFORNIA WAYS
• ENHANCING THE SELECTION PROCESS FOR OPERATIONS CONTROL CENTER PERSONNEL AT SAN DIEGO TROLLEY, INC.
• EXCLUSIVE BUSWAYS VERSUS LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT: A COMPARISON OF NEW FIXED-GUIDEWAY SYSTEMS
• HIRING PRODUCTIVITY FOR MAINTENANCE STAFF
• HUDSON RIVER WATERFRONT TRANSITWAY SYSTEM
• INFRASTRUCTURE REHABILITATION AND TECHNOLOGY SHARING IN BRINGING LRT TO ST. LOUIS
• INTEGRATING LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT INTO DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS ON THE HUDSON RIVER WATERFRONT
• ISSUES AND REQUIREMENTS OF REAL ESTATE DEVELOPERS
• KEYNOTE ADDRESS, NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT, MAY 8-11, 1988, SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA
• LESSONS LEARNED FROM NEW LRT START-UPS: THE PORTLAND EXPERIENCE
• LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT TRACKS IN PAVEMENT
• OPERATIONAL ANALYSIS OF AT-GRADE LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT
• OPERATIONAL ENHANCEMENTS: MAKING THE MOST OF LIGHT RAIL
• PEER REVIEWS: GOOD ADVICE AT A REASONABLE PRICE
• PITTSBURGH'S LIGHT RAIL VEHICLES: HOW WELL ARE THEY PERFORMING?
• POTENTIAL BENEFITS TO TRANSIT IN SETTING TRAFFIC SIGNALS
• PRELIMINARY GEOMETRIC DESIGN ANALYSIS FOR LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT
• PREPARATION FOR "SHOW TIME": THE LOS ANGELES STORY
• RAIL START-UPS: HAVING THE RIGHT PEOPLE IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
• RIDERSHIP FORECASTING CONSIDERATIONS IN COMPARISONS OF LIGHT RAIL AND MOTOR BUS MODES
• RT METRO: FROM SACRAMENTO'S COMMUNITY DREAM TO OPERATING REALITY
• RT METRO: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF A LIGHT RAIL START-UP
• RUBBER-CUSHIONED WHEELS FOR LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT
• SCHEDULING TECHNIQUES FOR MAXIMIZING URBAN PASSENGER RAIL SERVICE WHILE MINIMIZING VEHICLE REQUIREMENTS
• STREETCARS FOR TORONTO COMMITTEE: A CASE STUDY OF CITIZEN ADVOCACY IN TRANSIT PLANNING AND OPERATIONS
• THE CASE FOR AUTOMATED-GUIDEWAY TRANSIT
• THE GREAT DEBATE: POTENTIAL ROLES OF DIFFERENT TRANSIT MODES
• TORONTO'S HARBOURFRONT LINE: LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT IN RESERVED RIGHT-OF-WAY AS A LOCAL TRANSIT ALTERNATIVE
• WEST SIDE MANHATTAN TRANSIT STUDY
• WHAT'S NEW IN EUROPEAN AND OTHER INTERNATIONAL LIGHT RAIL PROJECTS?
• WHAT'S NEW IN NORTH AMERICAN LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PROJECTS?