When construction happens near an active railroad, a directional bore, utility crossing, pile driving, or excavation adjacent to the tracks, even small ground movement can shift the rails enough to affect train safety. Horizon Engineering’s remote track monitoring service tracks that movement in real time, giving railroads, contractors, and project owners the data they need to keep work moving without putting rail operations at risk.
What Is Track Monitoring?
Track monitoring is the ongoing measurement of a railroad track’s position, surface, alignment, and elevation, before, during, and after nearby construction. Our crews mount survey prisms directly to the rail and use robotic total stations to record precise geometry data throughout the life of the project, comparing it against an established baseline to catch even fractions of an inch of movement.
- Prisms mounted directly to rails at regular intervals
- Robotic total stations for continuous, automated readings
- Baseline data captured before work begins
- Ongoing readings recorded during active construction
- Final documentation once work is complete
Why Remote Monitoring Matters
Railroads operate under strict safety tolerances, and even minor track movement during nearby construction can trigger a stop-work order, or worse, a safety incident. Remote monitoring protects everyone involved:
- Protects rail safety by catching movement before it becomes a hazard
- Keeps projects on schedule by giving contractors early warning instead of a surprise shutdown
- Supports compliance with railroad and agency requirements (e.g., Amtrak, PennDOT, short-line operators)
- Provides a defensible record monitoring reports for every phase of work
Remote, Real-Time Access to the Data
“Remote” monitoring means the data doesn’t just sit in a field notebook. Readings are logged and made available through a secure online platform, so engineers, contractors, and railroad personnel can track movement and respond quickly if a threshold is approached, without waiting on a phone call or a site visit.
Built for Time-Sensitive Rail Work
Work near an active railroad often happens on a tight, railroad-approved schedule. There’s rarely room to reschedule once a track outage or work window is secured. Horizon Engineering runs multiple survey crews, giving us the flexibility and capacity to staff time-sensitive monitoring work reliably, even when project schedules shift.
Typical Applications
- Horizontal directional drilling (HDD) or utility crossings beneath active tracks
- Pile driving or excavation adjacent to rail lines
- Bridge and culvert work near railroad right-of-way
- Any construction activity within a railroad’s monitoring zone
Get a Track Monitoring Quote
If your project involves construction near an active rail line, talk to Horizon Engineering about setting up a remote track monitoring plan before work begins.
