Stillwater Central Railroad Rebuilds Bridge After Oklahoma Wildfires
Written by Jennifer McLawhorn, Managing Editor
Courtesy of SLWC and Watco
CHANDLER, Okla. - In Watco's newsletter, it documented the Stillwater Central Railroad's efforts to rebuild a rail bridge after it sustained damage from a wildfire on March 14th.
130 wildfires swept across the state of Oklahoma and burned through more than 170,000 acres. Stillwater Central Railroad, or SWLC, “suffered the loss of a bridge,” according to Watco. The eight-span, timber bridge measured 108 feet long and was located at mile marker 494.9 on SLWC’s Sooner Subdivision. The bridge serves a main connection between Tulsa and Oklahoma City and “allows access to interchanges with BNSF and another Watco short line, the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.” Crews were able to work to get the line back up and running within 12 days.
SLWC general manager Travis Schnelle said, “We stopped operations a couple hours before things got bad and sent most of the team home in the interest of safety. . . By the time we got the call, the bridge was a total loss, so we focused on saving the next one. The fire department was able to stop the fire about 500 feet away.”
Bridge Manager Heath Chischilly said, “We got the call that evening . . . Mike (McDermott, senior bridge manager) and I hit the road and were making calls on the way to get the ball rolling. You never know when things like this will happen. It’s the most stressful part of the job, but it’s also the most exciting.”
SLWC worked to reroute shipments for its customers while crews worked to secure permits and hydrological analysis. Soon after, they were able to approve a design and get materials en route. They decided on a steel and precast concrete bridge, and the SWLC maintenance of way team worked to secure ties and build track panels.
Bridge Manager Chischilly continued, “We couldn’t drive bridge pile in the high winds. It’s not safe. . . We’d focus on other things when we could. That was the biggest challenge. We didn’t want to be sitting around waiting. When an obstacle came up – like weather, material or equipment shortages – we regrouped, talked about our options and continued moving forward.”
SLWC general manager Schnelle said, “I couldn’t be happier. . . It was a fantastic effort by the whole Watco team. Everyone worked together and there was excellent communication across the board.”
On March 26th, the first train successfully traversed the new bridge.
