Fallbridge Subdivision, a key agricultural route, gets speedy new bridge makeover
By ANDREW UTTERBACK
Staff Writer
For our customers, a dependable rail network is essential – especially during peak shipping seasons. BNSF continues to invest in infrastructure to help strengthen key corridors that connect our customers to domestic and global markets, a reflection of our commitment to delivering long-term reliable service and capacity that our customers count on.
This summer, BNSF teams completed an important bridge replacement on the scenic and strategically important Fallbridge Subdivision. It’s an important part of our network that runs along the Columbia River in southern Washington, across key corridors that support the movement of grain and other products to domestic and export markets.
For our customers, reliable service depends on keeping freight moving safely and efficiently. A project of this scale required extensive coordination across BNSF Engineering, Transportation and Operation teams. Our teams took only 37 hours to replace a 118-year-old truss and complete an impressive list of track work and other related tasks.
Bridging the future
The first part of the project was the bridge truss replacement, where BNSF team members achieved a significant milestone.
The truss removal and bridge replacement strengthen a key corridor on our network. The project also completed a decade-long effort to replace seven legacy bridges originally built by the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S), an important BNSF predecessor.
Craig Morehouse, BNSF executive vice president and chief operations officer, had high praise for the crews involved.
“I’m proud of the entire team here,” Morehouse said. “Years’ worth of planning, months’ worth of prep work, weeks of execution consolidated into 37 safe production hours, and finished out with an early completion of the planned window. This was no easy task ... a complex project with a lot of moving pieces. Yet, our team makes it look like it’s just another routine change-out. Impressive work!”
Northwest Division General Manager Edmundo Rodriguez also commended the collaboration among team members. A critical success factor, he said, was getting train movements strategically staged more than two days in advance to support the outage and enable crews to complete the critical work safely.
“The successful completion of the 37-hour bridge outage window at Fallbridge was the result of extensive planning, coordination and execution across multiple teams,” Rodriguez said. "I want to extend my appreciation to everyone involved.”
Making maximum use of the window
Also during that 37-hour window, other engineering team members performed about two months’ worth of work.
The numbers are impressive:
- 35,000 feet of track surfaced
- 2,144 ties replaced
- 480 feet of panels in a tunnel installed
- 400 feet of out-of-service walkway and ballast curbs along a bridge restored
- 700 feet of new mesh fencing installed
- Five frogs replaced
- Two new turnouts built
“When we talk about consolidation of work, this is the gold standard,” said Chad Scherwinski, assistant vice president and chief engineer of our North Region.
Just in time for harvest season… and beyond
The upgraded infrastructure arrives at an important time for BNSF, our customers and the agricultural supply chain. This part of the network is used to move high volumes of bulk agricultural shipments and these improvements now allow for higher track speeds and make the subdivision more flood resilient.
Completing these upgrades ahead of when we need to move our customers’ harvest helps BNSF deliver fast, safe, reliable service this fall season and beyond.
