Railroaders' Nostalgia > Tuesday Track & Time: Ventura River Bridge Washout

In early March, 1978 we got word that the Ventura River Bridge was washed out. (I don’t have any pocket notes for 1978, maybe others can provide the exact date) We were first notified by the California Highway Patrol, an officer had seen the bridge gone but the track still hanging, from the freeway. For the rest of my life I’ve been thankful for his phone call. With the rail still in place the track circuits were working as intended and a train could have run off under a green signal.

A note about this series: I’m going into some detail with my personal experience not to brag about myself or the SP, but as an example of what railroaders throughout the country and throughout the years deal with. The whole profession of Railroad Engineering has a tremendous sense of team play and supporting the transportation mission of the company and the nation. It is a sense of duty found in other public utilities, public safety officers, and of course the military. From mudslides in Washington to high water in North Dakota to blizzards in New York to derailments in Iowa, these guys are out there in 2014 and beyond. I wish that the bean-counting MBAs appreciated them as much as practical railroaders do. Please use these posts as a window onto a much wider world than what I’ve managed to report here.

The first image is looking west from the air on 3/8/78, the second day after we started work. This shows how the river meanders east and west along the beach. The channel under the truss bridge in the far distance has carried substantial flows in the past and would again in the 1990s. For many years the main channel flowed alongside the east levee and under the truss bridge there. In 1978 the river decided to veer to the right and it set up turbulence as it bent around the end of the bridge, undermining the first pier east of the west abutment. The pier collapsed, dropping two 50-foot steel deck plate spans. It took a big bite out of the embankment behind the west abutment, you can see the hole. This area must have given trouble in the past as there was already some heavy rip-rap, but the water flowed over and around it to erode the embankment. We eventually found the west span several yards seaward and I think it is probably still there. Whether you can find it depends on the amount of sand and silt the river, wind, and waves have moved in or out. I don’t know if we ever found the east span.
Throughout the whole process of building the temporary bridge the old track, with its wonderful 136-lb CWR remained in place, making quite easy access. The bridge ties were very new and securely fastened to the rail and the walkways and handrails were holding up just fine. A wonderful theory but all of us had seen Detail Fractures and other hidden fatigue cracks, bad welds, and other rail flaws, we just figured that if it had withstood the shock of having the steel girders knocked out from under them, a few hundred pounds of employees walking around wouldn’t cause the rail to break.

The immediate repair plan was to use the locomotive crane to drive H-section steel pile bents at 15-foot spacings and make steel caps for timber stringers. The second and third images show the pile driving on the first day, 3/7/78. Work here was challenging due to the truss bridges on both sides of the washout, meaning that the pile driving leads and crane booms had to be lowered each time they ran into the clear. Note the Hy-rail “Bantam” crane in the distance, his job is to bring out the material (steel for pilings and caps, timber stringers) so the pile driver can continue what is the slowest work: driving piles. We got excellent track time, partly because of storm damage further along the coast and partly through an understanding operating department, thanks again, guys.
Note the accumulation of “drift” piled against the bridge. Almost all flooding situations deal with drift, it clogs openings, fills up channels, and makes a mess to clean up. Mother nature and the laws of hydrology at work, what can you do?

The plan for this temporary bridge was clever, (and I can say so because I had nothing to do with it) what I think is a very good example of practical RR engineering. The 15-foot bent spacing meant that there would be no bent at the 50-foot position, thus enabling us to build a large permanent concrete pier there while trains ran overhead. The temporary bents were made with extended caps that would support the concrete beams for the replacement bridge until we were ready to install them.

The new center pier was made using an old SPMW tank car body as the steel shell for a large diameter concrete pile. I don’t have any pictures (that I have found) that show this clearly. The ends and dome were cut off and the dome and outlet openings plated over. The “can” was stood on end and jets of water were used to dig out sand and gravel, letting it settle into the river bed. When it was believed to be deep enough a cage of reinforcing steel was lowered into the can and it was filled with concrete. I suspect, but don’t know for sure, that an enlarged footing was placed around the base of the can. (Off topic but worth knowing, there are any number of old SPMW tanks functioning as culverts on the SP lines and I suspect this was done on other RRs too.)

---

---

---

I observed an SP piledriver setting steel piles in Yolo County between Davis and Sacramento. Hearing one of these machines at work gives a new meaning to the term "heavy metal music". Back around 1950, I saw a Pacific Electric steam piledriver at work in Monrovia. As I recall, it worked like a guillotine, raising the hammer and letting it drop. Slow, but it got the job done.

In April of 1979 everything (including the budget) was in place to change out the temporary bridge. We could not keep it due to the short spans and 15-foot bent spacing it would never carry a flood with drift like the last one.

These 50-foot prestressed box girder segments required two cranes to lift. We moved the girders out to the bridge on the flat cars used to ship them and pulled by one of the cranes. Once at the bridge, the two cranes would lift them off the car and set them on the wide extensions on the temporary bents.

On 4/18/79 we installed the first span, and I think we did the second span the next day.

The images:
Fourth Image: No. 13, the Coast Starlight, is the last train until we get done. On time today.

Fifth Image: Lifting out the old deck. The new girders are on the sides. I think that one of the San Francisco Sr. Bridge Inspectors, Harvey Prober, is on the far side with his wide brim hat. On the right is Don Knosp, Asst. Bridge Supervisor on the Los Angeles Division.

Sixth Image: Lifting out one of the bents. Roadmaster W.L. "Sonny" Mahon is nearest on the right side.

---

---

---

Seventh Image: Setting the south girder, looking from the ocean side.

Eighth Image: Setting the north girder, looking westward. The MofW trailers in the distance are the support tool houses for the bridge gang. They are on new fill and rip-rap that we had placed to not only repair the storm damage but to also try and divert the river at a less steep angle to the bridge openings.

Ninth Image: Setting the track panel.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/24/14 22:16 by railstiesballast.

---

---

---

Tenth Image: Shoving the ballast car out on the bridge. The crane will pull it back eastward with the doors open and ballast flowing out.

Eleventh Image: The first train is 2-830 with a new tunnel motor. This is a good view of how the 15-foot bent spacing worked out. To the left of the picture the old bridge is carrying the train and the girders are setting out on the shoulders. The little circles around the front of the engine are coils of handrail cable staged for completion of the walkway. In another day the west girders will be moved into position, where they continue to function today.

---

---

You guys worked fast that day

"Worked fast"?

First, this was possible only due to careful preparation, teamwork, and tons of experience.
I was one of the young guys there, to learn more that to act as a Division Engineer.
In looking at these photos now they do seem over-populated.
But having lots of supervision there was wise, it was some depth in all positions and it was a learning and testing venue for newer employees.

In my opinion one of the most miraculous storm recovery efforts was after Hurricane Katherine in New Orleans. Almost none of the local people were in a position to help, they all had family emergencies. The NS, CSX, IC/CN, and KCS were able to bring in people of all levels from around their lines and hire contractors (e.g. floating cranes) to restore service far ahead of the public agencies. This is where those RRs will find their future leaders: among their own employees who had a chance to show what they could do in trying times. They don't teach this a Harvard, Stanford, etc., instead the business schools seem to look at costs almost ignorant of the primary mission. End of opinion today.

It looks like the temporary piles were cut off and then the tops removed. Is that correct and were the remaining parts of the piles ever removed?

I really, really enjoy reading these (and those of others) posts dealing with the engineering aspects of RRs, Maybe that is the frustrated engineer in me! Like others have noted, frequently there seems to be an overage of "suits" in some of the scenes. Part of that -- as you noted -- is due to the learning/training process for newbies. While my academic expertise is in other areas, my real-life experience says that one person can effectively oversee three to seven workers. The more complicated the task, the fewer workers should be overseen by one person. Not sure sure how RRs follow that guideline but it seems to work in emergency services! Keep up the reminiscing!

Bruce
Mid-Missouri

UP replaced the bridge over the Willamette River between Harrisburg and Junction City. It wa a big project that took months of preparation. They shut down the mainline for over 36 hours and things are just now getting going again this afternoon. Although the work was in an area unavailable except by boat or airplane, it seems not unlike dancing with elephants.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/25/14 18:31 by roustabout.

Another excellent post. Really interesting, informative and educational for those of us who are outside the profession. And your words in the first paragraph are most appropriate.

I'll say it again, "keep 'em coming!" Many thanks for an outstanding series.

MC
Columbia, Missouri

Thank you for the kind remarks.
The temporary bridge piles were cut of at a convenient length on the day of the change-out just to get rid of the top of the bent.
Later on we removed them as much as possible to prevent them from catching drift and blocking the channel.
This becomes even more critical in water with recreational swimming or boating, you just can't leave something like that where it can cause an accident.

This is such an amazing story.

How long were the tracks out of service from the time the river washed the bridge out to the time you had the temporary replacement open?

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

Looking at the area today it appears that the thru-truss span (pic #1) in the distance (around the curve) has been replaced with a pile supported trestle.

Mike Harris

IIRC it took about four days to get the piling driven and the temporary trestle built. I don't think we worked nights.
The Coast Line as a through route was blocked at the Santa Ynez River bridge at Surf for longer than that.
While this bridge was out we also had slides and blocked culverts which threatened to become washouts at many other places.
There were small washouts at West Colton, on the Colton Cutoff, and in San Timetao canyon (Beaumont Pass) due to the same storm sequence.
We needed to get to Surf and the Lompoc Branch to ship diatomatious earth, it is a vital product for many chemical, food, and water treatment applications.

I've been over that bridge many times in my career on Amtrak, through freight, work trains, and Locals...The new bridge has held up well over the years...Good job!

railstiesballast,

As a civil engineer myself but in a county government role, I absolutely love your posts and read them all. I always look at your posts as a learning experience. Much of the engineering I do from day to day is what I refer to as "meatball" engineering. Trying to repair things that were constructed or designed long ago. Very rarely do we get to design or construct things from scratch.

This is an excellent example of how to fix a washout quickly and safely. I also like the forethought that went into the temporary fix to accommodate the permanent fix.

So thank you very much for sharing this story with us.

Christopher Vitz, PE

The bridge work on 4/18/79 must have started around 12:30pm as #13 went through Ventura at 12:15pm with engines 539 and 615.

There were a bunch of trains run prior to the work that day, including 1-830 (ERWCY) with 9111/UP3337/8597 by Ventura at 8:05am, 01-LAOAF with 9363/9372 by Ventura at 8:40am, WCOAZ with 9290/7922(dead)/9393 by Ventura 9:05am, 02-LAOAF with 8625/8477(?)/9202 by Ventura at 9:50am. All these trains were cleared by the red conditional stop signs and through the limits of "Y" order 1281.

However there appears to be a conflict: I show 2-830 (OAWCY) 9188/8849/9262 by Ventura at 11:05am and 3-830 (OALAT) 9055/8747 by Ventura at 11:15am. You have 2-830 after the work was done...

After that the next train was 832 (OALAK) with 8649/8707/8924 by Ventura at 4:30pm, so it appears the work was done in 4 hours or less.


Allen



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/14 11:46 by bradleymckay.

No ERWCY in March, 1978, Allen, unless Tehachapi was closed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/28/14 11:43 by WAF.

WAF Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> No ERWCY in March, 1978, Allen, unless Tehachapi
> was closed.

Sorry, I should have made myself clear. It was April 1979.


Allen