There appear to be only four spans remaining of the original nine spans where CSX crosses Rigolets Pass. Rigolets Pass connects Lake Pontchartrain with the Gulf of Mexico about 25 miles east of Gentilly Yard in New Orleans. We were crossing Lake Pontchartrain on the I-10 Twin Spans about 6 miles from the bridge, so it was difficult to see any details. However, we could not see any of the five missing spans above the water on the horizon. Also, it appeared that one of the remaining spans was missing much of its top structure.
How are they coming along, with the restorations of lines damaged? Any esitmates heard, of how long, how costly the repairs? Boxcab E50
CSX has estimated $250+ Million and March or April for completion between Mobile and New Orleans, but they admit that's iffy at best. From our vantage atop of the I-10 High Rise, the west half of Gentilly Yard was totally empty, and the east half appeared less than 50% occupied. I don't know the functions of each yard half, possibly inbound and outbound...? There was a Dash-7 (or U-Boat) and a short string at the west yard throat, but doubt if it was running. All the rails within the yard and out towards the west and the Huey P. Long Bridge were heavy with rust. Obviously nothing had run on them for two months.
CSX is spending this money to get the line operational ASAP. At the same a majority of local, State, and Federal officials are actively seeking funding and political consensus to move this line 5-10 miles to the north. CSX is cooperating in these discussions, as is Sen. Trent Lott (R-MS), Rep. Gene Taylor (D- 4th MS), MS Gov. Haley Barbour, and more than half of the local citizens. CSX's main interest is to reduce the grade crossing accident rate, the third highest in the Nation, and to increase speed limits to 79 mph throughout the area. The move would involve 80-100 miles of ROW across the MS Coast from about 15 miles west of Mobile, AL to the LA line at the Pearl River. The project has been estimated at about $2 Billion, so it is obvious that nothing will happen without Federal funding. Most parties assume this project will go to completion, although probably not before 10-15 years, perhaps longer. Stay tuned........
hank, from the I-10 could you see the NS bridge across ponchtrain?? is it operational? how does the City of New Orleans cross Ponchtrain? thanks Ed Dillard
According to a article in Trains Magazine NS had its tracks back in service sixteen days after the hurricane. There is a cool photo showing a line of nine barges, each with a crane, fishing the track out of Lake Pontchatrain back onto the concrete deck.
Ed, as Russell said, the NS trestle across Lake Pontchartrain has been operational for about 8 weeks now. One might draw a conclusion that wooden trestles survive hurricanes better than concrete and/or steel, but then again looking at all the rubble from wooden buildings.... We saw a northbound freight on the trestle as we were going into New Orleans this past Tuesday. Also, Amtrak's Crescent uses that trestle daily, #20 northbound shortly after 7:00 AM and #19 southbound shortly after 7:00 PM.
But then again, the NS tracks are farther from the Gulf and away from the more powerfull storm surge that hit the CSX tracks. From the photos in Trains the NS trestle looks like it is all concrete. The wave action swept the rail off the NS trestle for about a five mile stretch.
Hank- Have you heard any further news on the CSX trestles, as far as a survey of damage? Will they be able to re-use most of them? Or did those tracks being scalped off by that storm, cause damage to fastening systems, etc? Boxcab E50
Ken, I haven't heard/read anything definitive regarding the bridges or trestles. But from aerial photos, it appeared that the trestles that cross the Bay of St Louis and Biloxi Bay had all their platforms pushed into the water. These trestles consist of ballasted track laid within concrete slab platforms mounted atop concrete pilings. The photos showed that only the pilings remained, and it appeared that some of them were damaged and missing also. The storm surge in the Bay of St Louis was about 35 feet, and about 20 feet in Biloxi Bay, with 20 foot wind-driven waves atop that. The tracks on both trestles are 8-10 feet above the water. Sadly, the laws of physics were obeyed.... As far as the embankments, fill, and minor trestles through the swamps and bayous, I have to assume that these were mostly destroyed. There is virtually no firm land in the 30 miles between Gentilly Yard in east New Orleans and the Pearl River which is the MS/LA state line. I saw a photo showing 100-200 feet of track suspended in mid-air where its roadbed had been totally washed out by the storm surge. This was in a residential area somewhere in Waveland, about 10 miles west of the Bay of St Louis and about 20 miles east of the Pearl River. The $250 Million estimate to repair this line may end up being too conservative.
