Repairs under way to fix sinkhole under BNSF tracks in Duluth, Minn.

Heavy rain swept through Duluth, Minn., the week of August 9, taking with it part of an old concrete culvert in West Duluth, the Duluth News Tribune reports. 

That, in turn, created a sinkhole over Kingsbury Creek that swallowed a section of the BNSF railroad near the Willard Munger Inn.



"It caved in," BNSF
employee Dennis Mercier said about the land under the track. Mercier was operating
a bulldozer, grading backfill that will serve as a foundation for new tracks.


This work was simple compared to excavating around the culvert so a new metal
one could be put in the damaged one’s place, he said.



"First we had to dig out
the banks so it couldn’t cave in on anyone," BNSF employee Dan Kolodzeske said.



"We buried an excavator,"
Mercier added.



Train activity on the rail
line halted Aug. 8. That line, reportedly the first built in Duluth in 1870, is
used on weekends and holidays by the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad,
which runs scenic tours along the St. Louis River. The tracks also are used on
a regular basis by Tate & Lyle, an international food additives
manufacturer at 110 Spring St. in Riverside.



Chris Olson, vice
president of community and government affairs with the company, said that they’ve
managed to work around the problem of the track closure with minimal impact to
plant operations.



But for the Lake Superior
and Mississippi Railroad, the inability to operate has affected revenue,
according to President Andrew Webb.



"August is usually our best
month," he said. "We hope to be back running by Saturday."



BNSF employees said they
thought the job would be complete by late August 17. 

Mercier said they were
waiting on 300 yards of rocks to use as a base and after they installed the
track and built up more land for a roadway next to the tracks, the job would be
complete.



Webb couldn’t remember
another time when rain had done such damage to that rail line.

 "I think there
was a washout in the early ’90s," he said. "It’s the first time (I know of)
that torrential rains have taken out the tracks."