Railway Track & Structures - May 2008 - (Page 16)

AREMA NEWS Technical Article T he BNSF Railway Company’s Southern Transcontinental main line freight railroad track, known as the “Transcon,” runs 2,200 miles between Southern California and Chicago and carries up to 80 trains per day. In order to increase the number and velocity of trains on the Transcon, BNSF has been constructing a parallel second track. As of fall 2007, only about 50 miles of the Transcon remain to be double-tracked. The capacity improvement includes construction of bridges, culvert extensions and track embankment. Placement of structures and earth fill in regulated water bodies usually require Section 404 permits from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (Corps). The federal Endangered Species Act requires the Corps to consider effects of the project on threatened and endangered species in determining whether to issue permit authorization, as do various state regulations. Between 2003 and 2007, construction activities on double-track projects in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and New Mexico encountered protected habitat of several endangered species, including fish, birds, frogs and a skunk. To enhance project planning, environmental surveys and wetland delineations were conducted months in advance of proposed construction to identify potential habitat areas and potential effects to the projects. Preliminary consultations were conducted with the Corps and federal and state natural resources agencies to inform the agencies of the nature and benefits of the proposed construction and to determine the agencies’ requirements for endangered species assessment and mitigation. In some cases, site visits were conducted so that the regulators would have first-hand knowledge of the sites and proposed construction. Important relationships were developed during the preliminary consultations that proved beneficial as the projects progressed. The Arkansas River Shiner is a small (maximum length of two inches), silver-colored minnow that once inhabited wide, sandy-bottomed rivers and streams throughout the Arkansas River Basin in Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The Arkansas River Shiner was listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1998. Today, the fish is found primarily in the Canadian River in New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas with a small population persisting in the Cimarron River. Arkansas River Shiners spawn in the summer, usually coinciding with flood 16 Railway Track & Structures May 2008 Endangered species management on BNSF Transcon capacity improvement by Douglas L. Dorsey, Hanson Professional Services Inc. flows following heavy rains. However, the exact timing of spawning is uncertain and spawning may take place several times during the months of May, June and July. The BNSF Transcon capacity improvement included constructing new bridges within habitat of the Arkansas River Shiner in the Canadian River at Canadian, Texas, and in the Cimarron River at Waynoka, Oklahoma. In connection with processing Section 404 permit applications for the bridge construction, the Corps required formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Hanson Professional Services Inc. prepared biological assessments to describe the species and the proposed projects, in order to assess project impacts to the Arkansas River Shiner. USFWS reviewed the biological assessments and issued biological opinions, determining that the bridge projects would not significantly impact the shiner, as long as the construction activities complied with certain conditions. Permit authorizations for the Canadian River and Cimarron River bridges took about six to seven months from submittal of the initial permit applications and biological assessments. The Corps permits and USFWS biological opinions included certain conditions in order to protect the Arkansas River Shiner. No work could be conducted within the rivers during shiner spawning periods. Therefore, the bridge construction had to be scheduled so that dewatering of the instream construction sites was not conducted during May, June or July. At the Canadian River, portable cofferdams were constructed in the river around the bridge pier construction zones. An aquatic biologist seined within the cofferdams to remove impounded fish. When the fish were removed, the cofferdams were dewatered and construction was conducted in the dry. At the Cimarron River, earthen causeways were constructed within the river for the bridge construction. Again, an aquatic biologist seined ahead of the causeway construction to exclude any fish from being buried. The permits required that any fish that were killed by the construction activities must be collected, preserved and submitted to USFWS for identification. However, no dead or injured fish were observed during the seining or construction. The Interior Least Tern is an endangered bird that nests on bare or sparsely vegetated sand, shell and gravel beaches, sandbars, islands and salt flats associated with rivers and reservoirs, including sandbars typically observed during the summer at the Cimarron River near Waynoka, Oklahoma. The breeding period of the Interior Least Tern is identical to the spawning period of the Arkansas River Shiner. Therefore, project effects in connection with the tern were limited to prohibiting work within the river during May, June or July. This time period was already restricted by the Arkansas River Shiner spawning period, so the Interior Least Tern presented no additional effects to the project. The Pecos Bluntnose Shiner is a similar threatened minnow that exists in the Pecos River in New Mexico. The Transcon crosses the Pecos River at Fort Sumner, New Mexico. A future double-track bridge over the Pecos River has been designed and permitted. Endangered species management for the Pecos River bridge is similar to the requirements for the Arkansas River Shiner. However, since very little in-stream work is proposed, formal consultation with USFWS was not required. An informal biological assessment was prepared, and USFWS issued a concurrence letter that the project would not adversely affect the Pecos Bluntnose Shiner. Although the technical requirements of the biological assessment and consultation were similar, utilization of an informal process versus the formal process required for the Arkansas River Shiner described above significantly shortened the review and approval times. Review of the biological assessment and issuance of the concurrence letter took about two months. The primary endangered species effect to the project is that a proposed temporary construction access crossing cannot be installed during the spawning period between late April and the end of September. The Arkansas River Shiner, Arkansas River Speckled Chub, Silver Chub, Streckers Chorus Frog and Eastern Spotted Skunk are listed as threatened in the www.rtands.com http://www.arema.org http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - May 2008

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