Join the discussion on the following article:
Sen. Schumer calls for more federal railroad bridge inspectors
“He says that by simply adding $1 million more to the FRA budget …” we can add even more government employees to the dole. What a great idea.
Let me guess. The railroads don’t already inspect their bridges, and they don’t care if they collapse?
Only the government is capable of doing that job and they are obviously the only ones that care, right.
Stay out of the railroads business Uncle Sam and quit spending our tax dollars on this kind of garbage.
Schumer gets his name in the press again must be a picture of him somewere with the story. Any other state want him
Three of the factors that have caused rail bridges to collapse or otherwise fail, in no particular order, are trains derailing and the derailed cars destroying the bridge, non-rail transportation dislodging the bridge (barges, high truck loads), and thirdly, major flood events washing out a supporting pier. Failure of a rail structure under normal loads is vanishingly rare, which I presume is what the senator is fretting about. His money might be better directed towards inspecting Interstate bridges.
Timber trestles of course can be at risk of fire; no amount of prior inspection will help. Same is true of earthquake damage.
The major roads know the potential consequences and make sure their bridges are maintained in safe condition. Possibly some of the marginal short lines may pay less attention than desirable to any bridges they might have; that should put their insurance policy in jeopardy without the need for additional federal auditors.
As a railroad employee I feel much safer knowing that Federal Safety Inspectors are making sure that railroad management is taking bridge safety seriously. A common tactic to boost profit margins in most industries is to cut safety inspections and maintenance on basic infrastructure. Any person who casually dismisses government safety inspections as a waste of taxpayer money because corporate entities will automatically “do the right thing” is living in a Libertarian fantasy land.
Scott Renchin: I have no problem with Federal inspectors in areas where we’re seeing problems. You don’t need to know a whole lot of history to know that those Federal inspectors are there for a reason. (Same with the brotherhoods, though that’s a different topic.)
My beef with Sen. Schumer’s thing is that we’re just not seeing a whole lot of railroad-bridge failures where faulty maintenance was a big factor. If Sen. Schumer really cares more about rail safety than about his own PR, why not put the money toward something that’s actually costing us lives and money? (Like crew fatigue, maybe, or grade-crossing safety.)
In 33+ years in a railroad Engineering Department I recall only one bridge replacement that was not planned – it was taken out in a derailment. I recall a major bridge pier settling because of a mine cave but the bridge is still carrying mainline traffic 50+ years later! Sen. Shumer’s own state requires railroads to inspect their bridges every year and certify to the state that the inspections have been done and that the bridges are capable of carrying the loads imposed. Highway bridges on the other hand need only be inspected every two years. And the railroads do not pour copious amounts of Sodiun Chloride on their steel bridges every winter. Railroad bridges also tend to last longer than highway bridges because the railroads can control the weights and speeds on the vehicles using the bridges.
Another politician beating his drum? Does he have any railroad experience or knowledge?
I’m as concerned as anyone else about railroad safety, but I’d point out that there are many more miles of railroad on more or less solid ground than on bridges. Maybe we need to worry about railroad right of way AND bridges?
Railroads employee their own bridge inspectors. It’s not like no one is looking at these bridges as the Senator makes it appear.