(The following story by Jennifer Johnson appeared on The Examiner website on August 16.)
BEAUMONT, Texas — Orange County Commissioners officially made a stand against Union Pacific Railroad this week, electing to support testimony against the railroad’s request to make the Railroad Swing Bridge near Echo a permanent structure, preventing larger barges from trafficking through the channel via a response letter to the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to a letter sent to Orange County leaders from U.S. Coast Guard Bridge Administration Branch Chief David Frank, “The proposed project will convert an existing swing span railroad bridge to a fixed bridge by deactivating the swing capability of the existing bridge. This will be a permanent closure of the bridge to marine openings. Rail traffic will continue to use the bridge.” There is no street traffic to the area.
And, although everyone involved can agree that the closure would impede certain marine traffic, the railroad has not been asked to draw the bridge into the open position since Hurricane Rita in 2005. Furthermore, according to information from Union Pacific, the bridge has only been opened once, in October of 2003, in the last 11 years.
“It just doesn’t make sense to maintain something that is not being used,” said Union Pacific Corporate Relations and Media Representative Raquel Espinoza, adding that the reduced rate of speed at which the trains travel, because of the nature of the bridge, hinders the company’s bottom line and that of their customers due to excess time expended unnecessarily.
“We experience $2 million (in) train delays, not counting the maintenance, all while the bridge is not being used,” explained Espinoza, reiterating the fact that, when there is a need to open the bridge, “it is quite the production. We have to call track and signal crews to open the bridge, remove joints — which is an all-day process — and set up a generator.”
“Our feeling is the bridge needs to be functional,” said Orange County Judge Carl Thibodeaux, asserting that the closure could have a potential impact on the Port of Orange and nearby businesses such as Temple Inland.
Thibodeaux said that the bridge, built in the early 1900s, was intended for its current use and he doesn’t want to take the chance that closing the swing bridge could deter business in any way.
The county judge also said he understood that the railroad may not want to keep the bridge operational due to the expense involved in conducting such a service, but, he added, “We have to maintain (a swing bridge), too, and if we can do it, so can they.”