Western Railroad Discussion > BNSF Bridge Problems

On Jan 12, BNSF held traffic on the Columbia River Subdivision account problems with the BNSF bridge at Latah Jct., WA. This is the high bridge just west of Spokane.

A steel girder was observed hanging from the side of the bridge. Original estimates were that the bridge would be shut down and repairs would take 2-3 days. Later, BNSF decided to allow operation at 5mph while temporary repairs were being made, with the possibility of more restrictions and possible closure as permanent bridge work is done.

A far as I know there were no girders "hanging" down. There were cracks in the supports, but from what I know nothing hanging down. The fix was to drill holes in the cracks to prevent them from spreading and then place large steel plates over the supports to keep them sound.

That could mean they might start using the low-line in Marshall Canyon for some westbounds to help keep down congestion. But if they do end up shutting down the bridge for a couple days, it's going to be one helluva mess, with everything needing to via the low line. Stampede should see a few more trains because of it.

Ted Curphey
funnelfan@icehouse.net

BN and BNSF have had problems of this sort with this bridge nearly since it was new. Here is my interpretation from a laymans view of what transpired. When it was built in the early 1970's, BN didn't want just a plain old standard railroad trestle. Given the highly visible profile of this bridge from the main western entrance to the City of Spokane on I-90, which is also the route from the airport, and the upcoming 1974 World's Fair, the City wanted a nice looking bridge. The railroad also realized that this structure would be sort of the "signature" structure that would be visible evidence of the 1970 merger that created BN, as it was built to connect and consolidate the NP, GN and SP&S lines around Spokane. So they had a "designer" bridge designed using the latest technology in box girders, concrete decks, and Corten steel that developed a layer of rust and wouldn't require painting.

Unfortunately, the technology was still new and hadn't been fully refined yet in the area of welding. Within a few years after the bridge was finished, cracks were discovered, and fixed by drilling holes to stop the cracks and installing plates. Inspection regiments were stepped up to a greater frequency than would be normal.

Without knowing any details, I suspect this was one more continuation of that problem, and my guess is probably the extreme cold that Spokane has been experiencing lately (down to -20 degrees) may have been a catalyst behind this latest problem