New Federal Railroad Bridge Safety Actions in the Works?
Of interest, the text below is from a letter sent out yesterday by the Federal Railroad Administration to all owners of track under their jurisdiction.
Throughout our nation’s history, generation after generation of Americans have invested significant capital to build strong transportation infrastructure that has become the foundation for our nation’s economy. Today, however, our country’s public and private infrastructure is aging, including 100,000 privately built and owned railroad bridges. Everything shipped or transported by rail—automobiles, grain, coal, wheat, passengers and thousands of other products—likely travel across one or more railroad bridge.
In 2008, Congress passed the Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA) which provided FRA with clear instructions on how to conduct its railroad bridge safety oversight program. RSIA required the Secretary of Transportation to issue specific regulatory requirements for track owners to create bridge safety management programs. The statute requires each railroad bridge track owner to develop and maintain an accurate bridge inventory; use professional railroad bridge engineers to determine bridge capacities; maintain records of safe load capacity, design documents and all repairs, modifications, and inspections; develop and enforce written procedures to prevent bridges from being loaded beyond their capacities; and conduct comprehensive bridge inspections at least once per year. In addition, RSIA required FRA to conduct oversight reviews of these bridge management programs and audit bridge inspection and maintenance data from railroads. FRA is carrying out this authorized oversight.
In keeping with RSIA, on July 15, 2010, FRA issued its Bridge Safety Standards final rule. Since the effective date of this final rule, FRA has reviewed hundreds of bridge safety management programs. These programs cover approximately two-thirds of all railroad bridges in the United States. During the last two years, FRA has also conducted nearly 4,000 bridge observations and conducted more than 800 field audits of railroad bridge inspection reports. FRA bridge specialists have examined the bridge safety management programs of all large railroads, and will continue to evaluate smaller railroads’ plans to ensure that they have adopted programs that meet the regulatory requirements.
In recent weeks and months, the public and Congress have registered concerns about what is being done to maintain and keep privately owned railroad bridges safe. While FRA acknowledges that responsibility for maintenance, inspection, and repair of railroad-owned bridges lies with individual railroads, we agree that the public and Congress deserve to know that the railroad bridge safety is a priority. FRA is currently reevaluating its program to determine whether additional actions can and should be taken with our current, limited resources without jeopardizing resources from other safety-critical areas such as the safe transportation of energy products and passenger railroad safety.
As each of you know better than anyone, in some cases there is limited-cause for concern. Many railroad bridges were built for heavier steam locomotives that are not used today and retain the capacity to safely carry current loads. But as the country’s infrastructure—everything from roads to tunnels to bridges—continues to age, it is reasonable for the public to be concerned and to want answers and information. Many of the nation’s railroad bridges are more than 100 years old. More and more bridges are showing visible signs of superficial deterioration. These signs, along with increased tonnage and traffic on the country’s rail system in recent years, have led to concerns about the structural integrity of railroad bridges. I understand and share those concerns.
I urge each of you, and your company, to be more responsive to and transparent with Congress, local and national leaders, and the public.
When a local leader or elected official asks a railroad about the safety status of a railroad bridge, they deserve a timely and transparent response. I urge you to engage more directly with local leaders and provide timely information to assure the community that the bridges in their communities are safe and structurally sound. The public has an interest in the safety of private railroad bridges because of their proximity to public or other private roads, structures and land. Your engagement will help develop a stronger understanding of the work you do and build greater trust and confidence in the safety of our nation’s rail transportation system.
I look forward to continuing to work with you to ensure the safety of our country’s railroad bridges. If you require additional information, please contact me or Mr. Amit Bose, Senior Advisor to the Administrator, at (202) 493-6022 or Amit.Bose[at]dot.gov.
Sincerely,
Sarah Feinberg
Acting Administrator