Newark Penn Station, one of the busiest passenger rail train stations in the northeastern United States, was constructed over the course of eight years in the early 1930s. Newark Penn Station is owned by New Jersey Transit (NJ Transit), and Amtrak maintains an easement that grants exclusive use, occupancy, and responsibility for various platforms within the station.
The various platforms and structures operated by Amtrak exhibit numerous deficiencies, including cracks on the station walls, cracks and spalls on the station platforms, and settlement issues near the West Portal. Amtrak retained the services of KS Engineers, P.C. (KSE) to perform investigations to determine the cause of the defects at Newark Pennsylvania Station, and to provide proper recommendations for repairs.
In February 2019, KSE performed a limited site visit of the platforms maintained by Amtrak. During this inspection, KSE noted the following deficiencies:
- Diagonal cracks in the brick masonry walls at Platforms B and C, mainly near the West Portal between Pier 26 and the West Abutment
- Vertical cracks in the walls at numerous locations throughout the brick walls adjacent to Platforms B, C, and D
- Severely deteriorated expansion joints at all station platforms
- Spalls and cracking at all station platforms
- Water leakage at Platform C
- Settlement near the West Portal
In order to determine whether the observed cracking was related to differential deflection of the girders under asymmetric track loading, a comprehensive load testing was performed by Bridge Diagnostics, Inc. under contract to KSE. The testing was performed in November 2019.
KSE used the results obtained from the instrumentation program to develop a finite element model that directly represented the true field conditions, and then used that model to determine the root causes of the station’s deficiencies, as well as develop an effective repair measure that will address the cause of the deficiencies.
KSE determined that the root cause of the station’s deficiencies was the unintended composite action between the station girders and the platform slabs. Deteriorated expansion joints also played a role in the observed cracks and spalls in the platforms.
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