0-9
1% grade
The design standard grade for railroads, though 2% slopes are common.
See also: slope
6% grade
A typical maximum grade for roads. The actual design slope depends pn traffic speeds.
See also: slope
A
AECOM
AECOM is the engineering consulting firm hired by the City of Palo Alto to design and evaluate each grade crossing alternative.
B
box jacking
Box jacking involves the placement of cast rectangular sections using hydraulic jacks. The sections are constructed at a site adjacent to where they are to be installed and then thrust forward horizontally with excavation taking place from inside the box.
C
CBOSS
Caltrain Communications Based Overlay Signal System (CBOSS) is the name of the project deploying PTC.
Connecting Palo Alto
Connecting Palo Alto is a community-based process to address the increased traffic congestion expected when Caltrain electrifies the tracks and runs more trains through the corridor.
E
electrification
The addition of power distribution and other infrastructure to allow electric locomotives to operate on a railroad. Caltrain is electrifying its tracks and expects to be done by 2021.
G
grade
A measure of the sttepness of a road, often expressed as a percentage. A 1% slope rises 1 foot in evert 100 feet.
See also: slope
grade separaion
A physical separation netween a railroad and roadways or pedestrian pathways.
J
jacked box construction
A method for constructing underpasses that avoids disruption of rail operations and eliminates the need for shoofly tracks.
See also: box jacking
P
PTC
Positive Train Control (PTC) is a federally mandated system designed to automatically stop a train before certain accidents occur. PTC is designed to prevent train-to-train collisions, derailments caused by excessive train speed, and train movements throu
S
shoofly
A shoofly is a temporary detour around a construction zone or other blockage on the mainline tracks.
slope
A measure of the sttepness of a road, often expressed as a percentage. A 1% slope rises 1 foot in evert 100 feet.
See also: grade
X
XCAP
The Expanded Community Advisory Panel (XCAP), is a group of Palo Altans and other stakeholders tasked with evaluating all the information related to the grade crossing alternatives. The group can vote and make recommendations directly to the City Council.