Thank You.
A few spots are still smouldering as of today, but CN plans on rebuilding. That line goes to half a dozen large customers and is the only way to get to them. Until rebuilt I expect nearby highways to see a lot of trucks.
Is there a train trapped on the Sangudo Subdivision until the bridge is restored, or did CN luck out in that respect?
John
Probably, the Whitecourt roadswitcher’s power stays out there all week so it would be trapped, one of Standard General’s gravel trainsets would likely be at the quarry, and they often store empty sulphur trains at the plants to await loading.
The daily Whitecourt-Edmonton freight usually heads east in the late afternoon or evening, so considering the time of the fire it probably hadn’t been called yet. I will check and find out for sure next time I go to work.
Let’s see how long it takes CN to rebuild the trestle. And with what material/ type/ size/ length.
Note that there’s a steel girder span in the middle, over the river. Wonder how much damage it sustained - did it fall into the river ? Was it badly bent or strained ? Or if it’s still standing, how hot did it get ? Surprisingly, steel can withstand some fairly high temperatures.
- Paul North.
Don’t be surprised if that steel span needs to be replaced as well. The New Haven Railroad’s Poughkeepsie Bridge suffered a nasty fire in 1974 and was ruled unsafe for trains even though it was still standing, and stands to this day as a pedestrian walkway/park.
It’s a steel bridge, albeit 19th Century steel.
In one picture that I saw, the end of one of the main girders of the DPG looks like it was bent significantly when it landed on the ground. That generally means scrapping. More than likely CN has some spare spans available from abandoned lines, held for just this type of emergency.
Like you, I am wondering what form the rebuilding will take. Speed of reconstruction will be important, which pretty much excludes concrete. I am guessing it will again be a trestle, but will the piles be steel or timber? Perhaps some extension of the fill at each end is also possible.
John
From the looks of things on the 11:00 news last night, I think that is what is going on. With the downturn in the oil business CN has been able to amass a huge number of Tonka Toys and trucks in almost a moments notice.
I’m wondering after the dust settles if there isn’t going to be serious blowback from environmentalists about the large amount of earth being moved next to a river course. I get the sinking feeling we may be hearing about this deal for years.
Bruce
Some more information about the bridge.
The Rochfort Trestle Bridge, in Rochfort Bridge, Alberta, 5 miles east of Mayerthorpe, is one of the longest wood trestle bridges in North America. It spans 736 meters (2,414 feet), and rises 33.5 meters (110 ft) over the Paddle River valley. The bridge was built in 1914.
Bruce
Aerial footage of the bridge here:
Thank You.
Bruce, it was a different bridge just west of Mayerthorpe that burned, not the much larger Rochfort Bridge. This was very fortunate, as not only is the Rochfort Bridge a well-known local and historic landmark, it also spans Highway 43. Here are some coordinates (copy & paste into Google Maps):
The bridge that burned is located here: 53.95978, -115.1509
Rochfort Bridge is here (close but no cigar): 53.90421, -115.0207
A few years ago another bridge farther west of Mayerthorpe burned, and was replaced with an earth fill & culvert. It is located here (can’t remember how long rebuilding took): 54.13755, -115.5295
And yes there is a train trapped at Whitecourt. The crew was deadheaded back home to Edmonton.
Thank you for clearing that up
I couldn’t quite reconcile the steel span over the river seen in the video linked by Norm above with the pictures of the fire. I wasn’t expecting so many wooden trestles in such a short distance.
It also explains why CN still has the experise to keep such large wooden bridges still in service.
It is probably becoming a lost art.
Bruce
Thank You.
AJ Shewan on Rails AB just posted a picture of a train crossing the new bridge at Mayerthorpe. Pretty impressive to get it replaced that fast.
Thank You.
Global News article with photos:
Thanks Again.
Thank You, All!
Cool!