Yesterday we learned the Rock Island Bridge across the Gasconade River, also the longest RR bridge span in MO state was on fire. This is a steel or iron works bridge where the decking was burning. Some speculate was a lightning strike as a few isolated thundershowers rolled thru just prior, could have been kids playing or at the worst a disgruntled property holder not wanting the RI Trail to go thru. Near Freeburg MO. Photos from KOMU TV http://www.komu.com/news/crews-respond-to-osage-county-railroad-bridge-fire
So by mentioning a trail, this line had been abandoned? Is this line one which had some time back had people wishing to reactivate it?
My old employer bought the Line as the Rock closed. It is still active thru Union MO then comes to a halt and has become a trail in due payment to MO for the incident at Taum Sauk Reservoir when that dam breached. The Bridge was to be restructured for a walking trail at well over a quarter mile in length. https://bridgehunter.com/mo/osage/gascondy/ A couple of bridges were already removed for road work, the trail was to be established by 2019 but this will cut it in half with no options to reconnect or devise a road path as on the KATY Columbia MO.
The report finally came out. The track removal crew finding the structure to retain the rails on the old bridge daunting resorted to a Cutting Torch. They totally discounted the age of the old ties even the wooden support structure for the ties and a spark or piece of slag fell into a pocket smoldering until the bridge lit off. Work by a outside engineering service is looking at the metal structure to see if will be a safe usable structure for the trail.
Lord Almighty. Do bicyclists really get that fat in Missouri? It takes well over a thousand of them to equal the weight of one measly locomotive. Will that many fit on that bridge at once? Save us from government consultants! They're going to charge, what, a cool million for that rubber stamp?
The fear is the steel that was already aged well of the structure may have suffered structural damage where the weight of the structure itself could fail it.
The state people had the Salvage crews remove ALL the old wooden support materials off the bridge, shows minimal heat impact but with no decking or timber to attach decking may become a moot point as to a trail. Also three cavernous tunnels on the line, two of which are concrete reinforced and in decent order, the third was hard rock cut and crumbling in many spots. The state is now reconsidering the ability to trailhead the roadbed, it may go back to the owner(my old employer as to tax base expense) or may revert to the existing land owners.
One would think the 'outside engineering concern' that caused the problem would be required to restore the bridge to the condition that existed when they started their project.
The one concern my older brother has as a engineer is how much heat on an already dated structure occurred. The old steel and iron works bridges were riveted, cannot always see a bad rivet and heat distortion can cause already age weakened rivets to fail but generally do NOT fall out. When installed these rivets were swaged into the bores of multiple parts, a Tight Fit where they can break at the gap and still be tight in the components. A rap with a smallish 4# hammer a good one will Ring a bad one thumps or thuds.
