For the second time in a week, a big gully-washer rain washed out a bunch of ballast and roadbed under the BNSF tracks through town. The line was closed for a day or so. New fill an d ballast was brought in to repair the track. The same spot was washed out a couple of years ago as well.
If this spot is prone to washout in a flash flood type situation, what good does it do to just keep reballasting it the same as it was before? Is there something different to use, that would be more effective? Bigger rock, perhaps? Some sort of fabric under the ballast?
I’d opine that some sizable rip-rap would be called for - but it depends on how often this happens. If it’s pretty regularly every two or three years, a better, more permanent solution would seem to be needed. If not, the railroad may not feel it’s worth the extra expense.
Scoured ballast is the symptom, the problem is elsewhere and may be off the property. Would not be surprised if the RR engineering staff has been sent already to ID the problem and assemble a solution with the upstream problem.(what’s changed that caused the scour? or what failed upstream? if this was not a 1:50 or 1:100 year event…if the emerging problem can’t be solved by responsible action, send lawyers, guns & money…setting the table for PDN)
Think of rip-rap as armor protection, you do NOT want it in the ballast section with the ties and rail.
Based on what Mudchicken said it may behoove BNSF to improve that area either by building a bridge or installing enough culverts to assure adequate drainage during storms.
You hit on something there. The problems started some years back, when the city did some work trying to fix some drainage problems in the area. A couple of years ago, BNSF took the track out of service for 3 or 4 days, and did some major work a quarter mile upstream that included some BIG rocks. Upstream is a little weird in this context, as the area is flat as a pancake.
Now you are getting closer to the “real story” most likely. What used to be a wheat field may have become a Wal-Mart parking lot. The run off characteristics may have changed and the drainage structures in the railroad are no longer adequate to handle it. Or the direction of flow may have changed.
Any number of things could be going on. Since most of them are probably off railroad property they railorad can’t do a whole lot about it except wait and watch and then also probably pay for any “damages” to neighbors caused by their now too small drainage openings, etc.
Seems as if the BNSF - and BN/CB&Q before that - is --always-- having problems with water on this line. I take it the line is in closer proximity to streams - I’ve never been through this part of the state.