(The following article by Bob Shea was published in the January 7 online issue of the Benicia News.)
BENICIA, Calif. — A crane on a barge hit the Union Pacific Railroad bridge that parallels the Benicia-Martinez Bridge on Tuesday, delaying some rail traffic, but causing minor damage.
Mike Furtney a spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad, said at about 2:30 p.m. a barge operator assumed he could pass beneath the bridge and didn’t call the bridge tender to get notification of the clearance. The crane caused about an eight-inch crease in a steel support beam, according to railroad officials.
The barge was carrying a crane that was being used on construction of the new Benicia Bridge.
It’s the responsibility of all vessel operators carrying substantial freight to get the height clearance from the bridge tender, who is stationed on the bridge span, when passing under the bridge, Furtney said. The clearance varies with factors like the load being carried and tidal conditions, he said.
The incident had no discernible effect on auto traffic on the Benicia Bridge, but inspections of the railroad bridge led to a two-hour delay for the Capitol Corridor line between Sacramento and San Jose, according to a Capitol Corridor Web site.
It also delayed freight traffic. There are 22 Capitol Corridor trains and about 23 freight trains that cross the bridge daily, said Furtney. The bridge also carries California Zephyr train between Emeryville and Chicago once a day.
“Union Pacific Railroad engineers report that two steel ‘channel beams’ in a 25-foot segment of the lift span of the drawbridge were damaged by the crane, which was on the tugboat that struck the bridge,” read a statement on the Capitol Corridor site. “These steel channel beams will undergo repairs during the next few weeks. The repairs are not expected to cause disruption to Capitol Corridor train service.”
At 4:45 p.m. passenger train traffic resumed on the bridge. Freight traffic was likely to return to normal by Tuesday night, Furtney said.
The railroad company will try to find out what when wrong and how to prevent it from happening again.
“We will certainly do our investigation,” said Furtney, noting that the U.S. Coast Guard and the California Public Utilities Commission also have jurisdiction over the incident.
Caltrans spokesman Steve Cobb said he didn’t know early Tuesday evening whether the barge was owned by any of the Caltrans-hired contractors working on construction of the new Benicia Bridge.