Iowa Interstate taps L.B. Foster for new rail
Written by William C. Vantuono, Editor-in-ChiefL.B. Foster Co.’s Rail Products Group, Pittsburgh, is supplying 1,553 tons of new continuous welded rail (CWR) to Iowa Interstate Railroad, for new track installation and spur improvements. A specially-equipped L.B. Foster work train will deliver approximately 80,000 linear feet of 115-pound AREMA-standard CWR in May to an Iowa Interstate interchange point.
The rail is manufactured and welded in lengths up to 1,600 feet by Steel Dynamics, Inc. (SDI) at its Rail Products facility in Columbia City, Ind., and shipped on L.B. Foster’s company-owned weld train. “SDI is a strategic partner of L.B. Foster and a supplier of quality welded CWR strings to our Pittsburgh-based rail products company,” said L.B. Foster Sales Manager Jay Roach. “Maintaining our own weld trains helps to expedite CWR shipments from our supplier plants and provides better coordination of delivery to staging areas nationwide.”
Iowa Interstate Railroad, a subsidiary of Pittsburgh-based Railroad Development Corp., is a Class II railroad that connects Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Chicago and Peoria, Ill. L.B. Foster Company is a leading manufacturer, fabricator, and distributor of products and services for the rail, construction, energy, and utility markets with locations in North America and Europe. The Rail Products Group of L.B. Foster Co. markets new rail and accessories, used rail (relay rail), crane rail, direct fixation fastener systems, conductor rail systems, rail boot systems, two-block tie systems, insulated rail joints, friction management, trackwork materials, rapid response/emergency track panels, load securement systems, car repair, and experienced professional rail project management services worldwide.
