Western Railroad Discussion > Rebuilding of Tempe Bridge Nearing Completion, Service by Friday?

Excerpt from a just-posted article in the AZ Republic

Collapsed Tempe bridge to be rebuilt this week, train service could be restored by Friday

Union Pacific service in metro Phoenix could be restored by Friday as crews work to rebuild a section of a collapsed bridge over Tempe Town Lake, just two weeks after a train derailed and caught fire while crossing the lake. Crews already have begun installing infrastructure to support a new 450-foot section of the bridge that will replace a portion of the bridge that collapsed during the crash and another section that was later demolished.

Construction is expected to be completed by the end of the week and the company aims to reopen the bridge to rail traffic sometime on Friday, said Tim McMahan, a Union Pacific spokesperson.The railroad company is eager to get the line back in service. The derailment has prevented most freight shipments coming in and out of metro Phoenix, company officials have said. 

Once the bridge is completed, the company plans to rebuild a section of the shuttered Rio Salado Parkway, which was damaged during the crash.Union Pacific will cover the costs to rebuild the bridge and road, although company officials did not provide a cost estimate.  

https://amp.azcentral.com/amp/3340674001

 

The article is lengthy but didn't see any current pictures. One point that could delay opening is a bureaucratic one: The railroad needs approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission to replace the span over the Rio Salado Parkway which requires the commission to approve its August 4 application. An evidentiary hearing before Administrative Law Judge Jane Rodda was held Monday, with the application citing the impact the derailment has had on its operations. Rodda is supposed to issue her order on tomorrow (Tuesday) and a decision will be made at a special meeting of the commission on Wednesday.

And who knows why it has taken this long to aprove by them it was already there fix it and move on.  But hey they have a judge who want to be the one to play high and mighty with the decision.

Congrats to the Union Pacific crew who got this job done.

Days, not months to rebuild.

Posted from Android

BAB Wrote:
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> And who knows why it has taken this long to aprove
> by them it was already there fix it and move on. 

(bag money?

TAW

That’s awesome that they are able to fix it so quickly!

Posted from iPhone

Maybe the governemtn people can't believe UP is almost done...............!  "It takes sooooo much longer when us government people do it."

I said it would take about 2 weeks to rebuild this. upkpfan

I got this from a reliabe source:

Tempe Town Lake Bridge
We are currently anticipating to reopen the bridge over Tempe Town Lake after midnight tonight.

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

Local news in Phoenix showed pictures of the bridge nearing compleyion.