Just north east out of Houston a UP freight almost went in the drink. This is from the Houston newspaper. Don't know how long the immage will stay on the web. High water in the Trinity River caused the pier to shift.
I'll bet that the crew needed to check their underwear! The pier at right looks like it's more recent than the one that is tipped. Guess that bridge will be closed for quite a looong time to come. It would be interesting to watch them move those cars off the bridge. Boxcab E50
Here is theHouston Chronicle Article They say it will be less than a week before trains are running on the "Rabbit" line again. The line got its name because there were so many little hills that the trains seemed like they were hopping down the tracks.
I'd really like to see how they do the repairs. As the article says one week, is that a temporary fix? Seems as though it would require more time to replace a pier such as that one. Would you please post any follow up information? Boxcab E50
That's an excellent view of the problem. I was thinking that the footing had failed at bedrock. But this looks like it was between the footing and pier. Boxcab e50
That's what I figured they'd be doing.The question is- Are those wooden, (temporary), piles? Or steel? The latter probably being permanent. I'd be surprised if they actually re-used the old footing. Thanks for the update. Will be interested in seeing any other photos/info! Boxcab E50
I believe those are just the interlocking cofferdam pieces. They ring the entire way around the pier and then pump out all the water. They will go down and find solid pier and attach to that.
Had the following quote forwarded to me by a friend. Not certain of it's exact source: "UPRR spokesman Mark Davis said the accident occurred around 9 PM Thursday (Feb 19) as the 30-car freight was en route from Pine Bluff, Ark to Freeport, TX. "What happened was one of the piers on the bridge shifted to the side about 4 feet and this caused the track to become misaligned," he said. "In order to repair the bridge, they will drive 2 new piers on either side of the damaged pier and replace the span of bridge once that's completed." He estimated the repairs would take about a week. The bridge is thought to be about 70 years old and averages 8 trains a day." I had a feeling that they would not be using the old footing. Boxcab E50
That's pretty much the same information that was in the newspaper article above. Things have changed and it is taking a lot longer that they thought. Latest photo
Latest Photo From this photo it looks like they are making two steel trestle piers and just leaving the remains of the old concrete in the middle after the removed the top.
This is how I was guessing they'd make the permanent repair. I now wonder if they'll re-use the old stringers, or go with new ones. Doing it this way will work very well. As long as some non-genius doesn't come along, and whine about the old footing and pier base sitting there... Removing that could cost quite a few pennies. And is not even close to practical, (or safe), until well into summer. Boxcab E50
My guess is they will pour concrete caps on the two piers and then lay pre-stressed concrete beams across them to put the new track on top of that.
Very cool-- Thanks for the incredible shots, its been a fascinating project to watch, especially as a Civil Engineering major who'll have to deal with something like that someday
Fascinating thread! Seems incredible that something like that can be repaired and ready for use so quickly
