Equipment in place for work on CSX bridge

Osmose Railroad Services has arrived to work on the Louina Street CSX bridge.

The old wooden bridge had been closed since last July for safety reasons due to its deteriorating and poor condition. On Monday equipment appeared on the vacant lot adjoining the bridge, and railroad personnel in CSX vehicles were in the street leading up to the blocked-off bridge. Some workers were seen coming out from under the bridge.

Streets Department supervisor Donnie Cash was talking to Cory Cutlit, CSX bridge manager for this region. Cash said he was there to offer any assistance that would speed things up and get the bridge re-opened.

Cash told Cutlit the Alabama Department of Transportation wants him to photograph the work being done. DOT and Roanoke’s bridge inspector Robert Harris will look at the bridge when work is completed. It will be up to DOT after their final inspection to determine the weights of vehicles allowed to cross the bridge.

Cash had previously said the bridge has had a three-ton weight limit for at least 12 to 15 years, meaning fire trucks, ambulances, buses and other heavy vehicles cannot travel on it. A pick-up truck weighs nearly three tons.

Cutlit said it is against CSX policy to answer questions or make public statements, so it is unknown when they will start work or if the bridge will be built back so heavier vehicles can again travel across it.

“I am glad they’re here, no doubt about it. People of this town have endured the crossings (and being stopped by the trains),” Cash said.

Relocation of Alabama Power, TEC and Charter lines must also be done.

John Hoopingarner of CSX, who deals with structures, at one point provided the city with a sheet of what he wanted, such as replacing the deck boards. He said he was going to put running boards on each side of the bridge, not asphalt. The vehicles would stay on the running boards. Cash said this would slow everybody down, which he thinks is their purpose.

In a hurry to get everything in order so work on the bridge could begin, city workers worked cold January days to remove the asphalt from the bridge, a requirement from CSX.