Railway Track & Structures - September 2008 - (Page 52)

Bridge rehab McMurray was basically served by an army of trucks consuming vast quantities of $5.00-a-gallon diesel. Transportation costs were driving up the prices of everything from bread to milk. CN has had to work fast while orchestrating a small army of contractors to complete the high-priority work before the snow flies. This typically happens by late October. The original rail line to Fort McMurray was opened in 1924 to serve the timber industry and related businesses. With boom and bust cycles, the railroad continued to serve the fledgling mining industry, but it lacked the capacity to support the Syncrude mine, the world’s largest, which began operating in 1978. With stagnant oil prices and expensive extraction methods, the The upgrades to these structures are focused on replacing a high percentage of caps, stringers and ties, with some posting of substandard piling as well. (Photo courtesy Osmose Railroad Services, Inc.) oil sands were more of a curiosity than a world player in the global market. By the late 1990s, the ANY had had a succession of owners, but no one wanted to commit the estimated $100 million to provide reliable heavy-haul capabilities, until now. Unexpected challenge “This was an unexpected challenge to start the New Year with,” said Albert Lim, senior bridge engineer for CN. “The first priority was to inspect the line in the dead of winter to help determine the priorities. A more detailed bridge inspection was then conducted in the spring that expanded on our list of bridge repairs.” CN had identified two bridge contractors to begin the task of upgrading 37 timber bridges for 286,000-pound or better capabilities: Ruskin Construction, Ltd., out of Grande Prairie, Alta., and Osmose Railroad Services, Inc., from Madison, Wis., (operating as NorthStar Structural Contractors in Canada). They were selected based on their safety records, production levels and their ability to undertake the unknown. While the contractors examined the scope of work before them, CN stockpiled the timber and related hardware in select locations for 52 Railway Track & Structures September 2008 www.rtands.com http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - September 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Larry Etherton Rounds Out Successful Term as President of AREMA Remote Bridges Present Challenges New Mexico Rail Runner Express Making Tracks for Santa Fe Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - September 2008

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