AARoads Forum

National Boards => Bridges => Topic started by: bicyclehazard on November 16, 2017, 06:57:22 PM

Title: Chattanooga railroad bridges due to collapse.
Post by: bicyclehazard on November 16, 2017, 06:57:22 PM
Several years I photographed the railroad bridges in Chattanooga. Most of these were made in the 1800's They are all dropping pieces down on the roads. This one in addition has stalactite and stalagmite formations from the dissolved concrete. There were two sets of tracks with two sets of bridges. The other set of bridges are in far better shape but the tracks have been removed. The bridge over the highways is substandard in width for two lane traffic. The locals realizing the danger for the school children built a pedestrian trail to the next bridge which has sidewalks. This is blocked by a transient camp. These bridges will collapse and since the entire line is elevated the cars will turn over. The railroad will not fix this voluntarily. It will have to be forced. I suggest rebuilding the old tracks then redoing the bridges on the old line. The trains will block highway traffic however this is not a high train traffic area. It would be a big risk to wait until a highway bridge is built on the abandoned line. https://flic.kr/p/oYJZLD