(The following story by Gregory Richards appeared on The Virginian-Pilot website on September 12.)
NORFOLK, Va. — The Federal Railroad Administration on Tuesday urged the nation’s railroads to properly inspect and maintain their bridges after finding that, on average, bridge failures cause two train accidents per year.
The agency, which oversees railroad safety, attributes 52 train accidents that occurred from 1982 through 2006 to the “catastrophic structural failure” of railroad bridges. There were no deaths, but two people were injured in those accidents, the administration found in a review of the railroads’ bridge management practices.
The administration could not say Tuesday whether any of those cases involved Virginia bridges or bridges owned by Norfolk Southern Corp. The Norfolk-based railroad, the nation’s fourth-largest, owns about 10,300 bridges across its 22-state network, including roughly 1,250 in Virginia.
Norfolk Southern spokesman Robin Chapman said he did not believe any of those accidents involved the railroad’s bridges.
Railroads should abide by the administration’s voluntary bridge safety guidelines, the agency said in an advisory published in the Federal Register.
The administration found large railroads “generally” conformed to its guidelines. A “considerable” number of smaller railroads, however, “either fell short by a large degree, or showed absolutely no evidence of bridge inspection, management or maintenance,” it said in the Register.
The result is “extremely serious hazards” on some railroad bridges, the agency said.
If problems with railroad bridges persist, the administration said, it may issue mandatory bridge regulations.
The review was under way before the Aug. 1 collapse of a Minneapolis interstate bridge, which killed 13 and focused attention on bridge safety, said administration spokesman Warren Flatau.
In a related matter, a Norfolk Southern bridge in Prince William County was shut down late last month by the Virginia Department of Transportation, which said its wooden deck was in poor condition. The 125-year-old bridge, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, carries one lane of vehicular traffic over train tracks, Chapman said.
The state estimated repairs could cost $830,000, Chapman said. But he said a new bridge could be built for that amount. Whether the bridge will be repaired or replaced has yet to be determined, he said.