Western Railroad Discussion > Update on the Sacramento Trestle fire, new pictures

Gentlemen, the bridge is officially gone.

We got our selves an escort around the disaster zone authorized by the UP it's self, so Top_Bullfrog and I had been taken out along the track all the way to the end, and let me tell you, I never thought we would ever see the sight we now look at.

This is the first time I'm posting these photos online here, I haven't put them up on my website yet. I plan to do a day by day visit to the place, from now and hopefully all the way to the very end of construction. Current word is by April 1st they should have Main 1 back up and operating, Pile driving starts sometime tomorrow, Concrete bridge is currently being designed so they can begin manufacturing the bridge parts. The Steel beams are already on sight right now waiting for the pile driving crains.

hope you all like the photos, I'll have these along with the rest of them up on the website here shortly.

John Z
BNSFFoamer.com

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A few more from earlier that day. Webpage has also now been updated, more photos availible there.

http://www.bnsffoamer.com/backpages/SacramentoFire.htm

John

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Now if the UP would only react this fast to late Amtrak trains.....!

poffcapt Wrote:
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> Now if the UP would only react this fast to late
> Amtrak trains.....!

RR Engineering Departments are a sight to behold when disaster strikes. The response is probably more due to the nature of engineers than of management.

Yesterday one of the UP people on top of the levee told me May 1st for the trestle to be operational. At the time I thought that was too long. AND April 1st sounds too short. Is it kinda of a guessing game on their part as to when the new trestle will be operational?

chris bekiaris


Johnz Wrote:
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> Gentlemen, the bridge is officially gone.
>
> We got our selves an escort around the disaster
> zone authorized by the UP it's self, so
> Top_Bullfrog and I had been taken out along the
> track all the way to the end, and let me tell you,
> I never thought we would ever see the sight we now
> look at.
>
> This is the first time I'm posting these photos
> online here, I haven't put them up on my website
> yet. I plan to do a day by day visit to the place,
> from now and hopefully all the way to the very end
> of construction. Current word is by April 1st they
> should have Main 1 back up and operating, Pile
> driving starts sometime tomorrow, Concrete bridge
> is currently being designed so they can begin
> manufacturing the bridge parts. The Steel beams
> are already on sight right now waiting for the
> pile driving crains.
>
> hope you all like the photos, I'll have these
> along with the rest of them up on the website here
> shortly.
>
> John Z
> BNSFFoamer.com

chrisb Wrote:
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> Yesterday one of the UP people on top of the levee
> told me May 1st for the trestle to be operational.
> At the time I thought that was too long. AND
> April 1st sounds too short. Is it kinda of a
> guessing game on their part as to when the new
> trestle will be operational?

It's being rebuilt as two parallel bridges. One is expected to be open by April 1st (or sooner), the other by May 1st (or sooner).

This is a typical timber railroad trestle fire and certainly is nothing new.
All class one railroads have a contingency plan for such emergencies and are able to implement reconstruction as soon as the site is available. The fire has to be out on bridge and tunnel fires and in case of floods high water has to recede before it is safe to start reconstruction. On fires such as this the material and expertise to restore the line to service are already en route long before the fire is extinguished. This project is not the toughest as there is no work over open water. All major railroads have a bridge modular to replace the timber pile bent structures with steel piling and concrete decks and all that is necessary to reconstruct the structure is to get the parts on site and put them together. No design criterion is necessary and since construction is on RR property no permits or Operating Engineer contracts or other competitive bids are required. Generally projects like this are done on fixed fee contracts with companies such a J.B.Dobbas Co. who are totally familiar with the procedures required and working with RR person ell have done many of these projects before.
I believe the April First opening of one track is very conservative and could
possibly be beat.
Been there, done that.

Johnz,
What are the tie looking ties in the first pic.? Why is there ties in the ground for a trestle? upkpfan

upkpfan Wrote:
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> Johnz,
> What are the tie looking ties in the first pic.?
> Why is there ties in the ground for a trestle?
> upkpfan


The ties on the ground in his photos are those that collapsed from the overhead bridge. Some of the bridge was knocked down also to keep it from spreading out over the water.

upkpfan Wrote:
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> Johnz,
> What are the tie looking ties in the first pic.?
> Why is there ties in the ground for a trestle?
> upkpfan

Those are part of the supports from the trestle. They were attached across horizontally along the base of the piles (the vertical pieces of the trestle structure) just above ground level to provide lateral support.


TCS - timbers, not ties

TopcoatSmith Wrote:
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> upkpfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Johnz,
> > What are the tie looking ties in the first
> pic.?
> > Why is there ties in the ground for a trestle?
> > upkpfan
>
> Those are part of the supports from the trestle.
> They were attached across horizontally along the
> base of the piles (the vertical pieces of the
> trestel structure) just above ground level to
> provide lateral support.
>
>
> TCS - timbers, not ties

These are not ties but concrete footings. This was not a pile bent structure but was what was known as a frame bent structure.
The vertical supports were built on these concrete footings known as mud sills. This type of structure was generally constructed in flood plains where scour could be prevelant. The UP may be able to use these foundations if they fit the bent spacing of 30 ft. If they don't they will probably drive piling to get the proper spacing.
23 years of having this structure under my jurisdiction.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> poffcapt Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Now if the UP would only react this fast to
> late
> > Amtrak trains.....!
>
> RR Engineering Departments are a sight to behold
> when disaster strikes. The response is probably
> more due to the nature of engineers than of
> management.


In the spring of 1983, the DRGW and Utah Railway were blocked by a major landslide that wiped out Thistle, Utah. They drove a tunnel aproximately 3/4 of mile long thru a mountain and built several miles of new track in 45 days. A second parallel tunnel was completed several months later. It took the state about 9 months to reroute the highway.