3 minute read
SLWC Rebuilds Bridge After Wildfire
by OneWatco
On March 14, high winds swept 130 wildfires across Oklahoma scorching more than 170,000 acres and destroying buildings and infrastructure. Watco’s Stillwater Central Railroad (SLWC) took precautions, but the short line suffered the loss of a bridge. The herculean effort of the SLWC, Watco bridge team, contractors, and suppliers had the line back open in just 12 days.
“We stopped operations a couple hours before things got bad and sent most of the team home in the interest of safety,” said Travis Schnelle, SLWC general manager. “By the time we got the call, the bridge was a total loss, so we focused on saving the next one. The fire department was able to stop the fire about 500 feet away.”
As soon as the situation was under control, the Watco team sprang into action. The 108-foot, eight-span, timber bridge is at mile marker 494.9 on the SLWC’s Sooner Subdivision near Chandler. It’s the main artery connecting Tulsa and Oklahoma City and allows access to interchanges with BNSF and another Watco short line, the South Kansas & Oklahoma Railroad.
“We got the call that evening,” said Bridge Manager Heath Chischilly. “Mike (McDermott, senior bridge manager) and I hit the road and were making calls on the way to get the ball rolling. You never know when things like this will happen. It’s the most stressful part of the job, but it’s also the most exciting.”
While the bridge team secured permits, hydrological analysis, and contractors, the SLWC was working with customers and partner railroads to re-route or pause shipments. Two days after the fire, they had a design approved and materials and crews enroute, and rail traffic congestion was mitigated.
A steel and precast concrete bridge emerged as the most cost-effective and durable replacement. Despite continued 70-mile-per-hour wind gusts in the following days, the construction team was able to stay on schedule. The SLWC maintenance of way team worked to secure ties and help build track panels while the bridge was being constructed.
“We couldn’t drive bridge pile in high winds. It’s not safe,” Chischilly said. “We’d focus on other things when we could. That was the biggest challenge. We didn’t want to be sitting around waiting. When an obstacle came up – like weather, material or equipment shortages – we regrouped, talked about our options, and continued moving forward.”
Just 12 days after the fire, the new bridge was assembled, with track installed and ballast laid and tamped. Around noon on March 26, the first train successfully ran across the new bridge.
“I couldn’t be happier,” Schnelle said. “It was a fantastic effort by the whole Watco team. Everyone worked together and there was excellent communication across the board.”
