(The Capital-Journal posted the following article on its website on December 19.)
MARYSVILLE, Kan. — The Union Pacific Railroad on Thursday completed the relocation of a 183-foot railroad bridge about 200 feet down the Big Blue River.
On Wednesday, the 30-year-old, 315-ton bridge was disconnected from existing approaches and abutments and hoisted several feet in the air before being placed on a barge and floated downstream to its new location.
The bridge move is part of a multiyear project to reroute Union Pacific rail traffic south and west of Marysville. Union Pacific, the U.S. Corps of Engineers and the Kansas Department of Transportation are jointly funding the project, which began in November 2002 and is scheduled for completion in summer 2005.
In addition to the two main tracks, the project includes six new run-through tracks in a rail yard to be built south of town. Two major structures are also planned to route US-36 and US-77 highway traffic over the railroad tracks and new yard.
Union Pacific said in a statement that 60 to 80 trains per day move through Marysville. As many as 30 to 40 westbound trains a day are expected to move over the relocated bridge. An adjacent mainline bridge handles eastbound traffic.