KCS rebuilds six bridges on Beaumont Subdivision

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
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Kansas City Southern completed a large bridge project where it rebuilt six timber bridges on the Beaumont Subdivision in an area known as the Sabine River bottoms near Starks, La., in order to increase track speed to add capacity.

 

In 2012, KCS said it began evaluating its construction method options, based on the length of work windows and manpower needed to minimize disruptions to train traffic. The decision was made to build all six bridges on-line with engineering work windows of six to eight hours every day with crews working eight days on and six days off.

The project was primarily managed in-house, including the planning, estimates, surveying, design, bidding and inspections. KCS said this approach saved the railroad a great deal on overall project costs. Environmental permitting and geotechnical investigation were managed by outside consultants.

The location of the six bridges created a challenge since there is no direct access to roads, other than by rail, for mobilizing manpower, equipment or material. The nearest road crossing to any of the six bridges was about one mile away.

Additionally, only one spur track with a stub end was near the site for storing track equipment. Extensive planning and coordination was necessary to minimize work window interruptions. During each work window, nine hi-rail vehicles, a Brandt truck and locomotive crane, flat cars and gondola cars and up to 70 crew members were on site. Six additional cranes were used – two for support and four to drive piles.

“I want to personally thank and congratulate the entire operations group, who contributed to the success of this project, with special recognition to our bridge management team, Mike Schmidt, Carl Bryant and Sri Honnur, for their dedication and effort over the past two years to make this happen,” said KCS senior vice president engineering and chief transportation officer Jeff Songer.

 

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