SMART taps L.B. Foster for concrete ties

L.B. Foster Co. was awarded a contract to provide 89,175 of its CXT Concrete Ties for the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) project. The CXT Fastclip ties will be installed on the new San Francisco Bay Area passenger rail system connecting Sonoma County to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in Marin.

L.B. Foster began shipping ties to the general contractor, Stacy and Witbeck Inc./Herzog Contracting Corp. Joint Venture, in June 2012 and will complete delivery during the second quarter of 2013.

SMART specified CXT Concrete Ties over wood ties for this important transit project after researching the environmental and cost benefits of both products.

A SMART Project design report notes "the use of concrete ties resulted in estimated track costs from 10% to 15% lower than the use of timber ties using conventional track construction methods. If a mechanized track laying system were to be employed, costs could be as much as 40% lower."