Railway Track & Structures 12/07

I N D U S T R Y T O D AY FRA issues Safety Advisory on railroad bridges The Federal Railroad Administration recently issued Safety Advisory 2007-03 titled: Notice of Safety Advisory; Railroad Bridge Safety-Explanation and Amplification of FRA’s “Statement of Agency Policy on the Safety of Railroad Bridges.” FRA issues Safety Advisories when it believes a common condition or practice may pose serious hazards or risks that could potentially endanger railroad operations, personnel and/or the public if left unaddressed. Safety Advisories inform the railroad industry of the potential hazard and recommend specific corrective or remedial actions. Safety Advisory 2007-03 was issued after 1) a thorough review of train accident data, 2) evaluations of bridge management practices on numerous railroads, and 3) recent ‘close-calls’ incidents in which trains operated over bridges with known structural deficiencies. FRA is strongly urging railroads to voluntarily adopt stringent safety assurance protocols to prevent deterioration or degradation of railroad bridge conditions in order to avert structural failures and reduce the risk of casualties. A review of train accident/incident reports from 1982 through 2006 revealed that more than 50 train accidents were caused by the structural failure of a railroad bridge. These events resulted in two injuries. In May 2007, a timber trestle collapsed under a train carrying rocket motors for a NASA space shuttle. Several cars and locomotives rolled onto their sides and six persons were injured. The FRA conducts evaluations of railroads’ bridge management practices by comparing the railroads’ procedures to the FRA’s Bridge Safety Policy contained in the Federal Track Safety Standards. In some cases, serious gaps between FRA’s Policy and actual practices on railroads were noted. Other recent evaluations revealed that several small railroads have no bridge inspection or bridge management programs at all. Also, FRA has found numerous extremely serious conditions in railroad bridges. In December 2006, FRA issued an Emergency Order after identifying a railroad bridge with extremely poor structural conditions. This Emergency Order ceased train operations over the bridge until it was properly repaired and its capacity determined by a professional engineer. FRA’s Safety Advisory 2007-03 makes the following recommendations to the railroad industry: FRA Bridge Safety Policy. Railroads need to fully adopt accepted industry engineering principles and procedures, including those cited in the FRA Bridge Safety Policy. The Policy contains guidelines that the FRA deems essential to sound bridge management programs. Inventory of Railroad Bridges. Each railroad should develop and maintain an accurate inventory of their bridges. Regular Comprehensive Inspections. Railroads need to conduct comprehensive bridge inspections on a predetermined scheduled basis. Such inspections are vital to maintaining valid bridge ratings and for ensuring that appropriate maintenance and repairs are made. Determination of Bridge Capacities. A competent engineer needs to determine the capacity of each bridge. The railroad should maintain a record of this rating and enforce a procedure that ensures bridges are not overloaded. Railroad Bridge Inspection Procedures and Recordkeeping. Bridge inspections should be conducted at least once per year by a competent inspector. The bridge inspection should be detailed and comprehensive, and the inspection process should be overseen and reviewed by a competent engineer. Bridge inspection information should be accurately recorded in detail and narrative used to describe potential problems. Protection of Train Operations. Railroads should designate qualified personnel to authorize trains on bridges following repairs, damage, or any indication of potential structural problems. The FRA has learned of several recent instances where trains were authorized to operate over bridges despite serious documented structural deficiencies. In some cases, after potential structural problems were reported, an employee authorized trains to operate over a bridge despite not being qualified to make such determinations. The Bridge Safety Advisory is intended to assist railroads to adhere to www.rtands.com 8 Railway Track & Structures December 2007 http://www.rtands.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Railway Track & Structures 12/07

Railway Track & Structures - December 2007 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Hand-Held Tools Provide the Power to Get Big Jobs Done AREMA C&S Update Striving to Solve the Riddle of Wheel Climb RTA Stages Warm Gathering in Sunny Florida in October Products and Literature People Calendar Website Directory Advertisers Index Sales Representatives Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.