BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION
A PUBLIC EXCHANGE
When working with multiple agencies, clear direction and coordination are key By Eric Dues, P.E., S.E., Contributing Author
A
s suburban development throughout North America collides with well-established railroad networks, railroad bridges are often designed and constructed by contractors and consulting engineers selected by varying public agency procurement processes. Freight rail design on public projects leans heavily on clarity in the AREMA railroads public project manual. Railroad public project staff, and the consultants working on their behalf, have a difficult task due to the varied nature of public entities’ procurement processes and the varied experience of the engineers and contractors they select. Adding the permitting of public utilities into the construction sequencing involves yet another subset of staff required to coordinate in situations often unique to the public entity.
14 Railway Track & Structures // May 2022
A current and comprehensive public project manual can lessen the overall burden of this process by providing definitive direction on preferences and interpretations. The following project is one example that involved multi-agency coordination, which was used to highlight some of the area where clear direction and dynamic coordination can improve public project delivery. Raising the way The Great Flood of 1913 destroyed most rail infrastructure in central Ohio, which was quickly rebuilt on new alignments and on higher embankment. In early 1917, three railroads approved a resolution by the county commissioners of Delaware and Franklin counties to construct a grade-separated crossing with Flint Road. The railroads raised their grades and constructed their
portions of superstructures and substructures while the counties built an offset roadway alignment and drainage under the bridge, creating Lazelle Road in the process. Certain railroad slopes were to be built with 1.5:1 and 1.125 :1 slopes to minimize impacts to adjacent private properties; these slopes would prove problematic to a track raising on the current public project. After 105 years of service, the fields are now home to corporate offices, apartments, and malls. The offset road alignment and two-span bridge created a poorly drained bottleneck for traffic. The bridges sit on the county line inside of the city of Columbus. In 2012, the city selected a design consultant to begin design of a roadway improvement. In 2018, a construction contract was sold, and construction is scheduled to complete this summer. rtands.com
Photo Credit: Gannett Fleming
Drone imagery of the overall roadway and rail project, with the rail in the distance.