COLUMBUS, Ohio — Chris Sherman often walks his dog along West Rich Street in Franklinton, passing beneath the railroad bridge there.
He says the state of the bridge always crosses his mind when he does.
“There’s some heavy deterioration going on,” he said. “The iron seems to be splitting and scaling in some areas, and it’s just been an overall concern for many, many years.”
In fact, Sherman called it a disaster waiting to happen. He said he tried to reach out to CSX, the company he believed owned the bridge, several times to no avail. He admits he was never able to connect with anyone with the company who could specifically address his concerns. It was the recent bridge collapse in Pittsburgh that brought his concerns back to top of mind.
“It really just reminded me of this, and I, again, came through here with my dog and looked up and saw that it was pretty much the same and decided to make a post about it on social media,” he said.
10TV started to look into the issue. The first step was reaching out to CSX, which is the company that was believed to own the bridge. It took two days to learn CSX did not own the bridge.
That led to multiple conversations with a spokeswoman with the Federal Railroad Administration. An online FRA map also revealed that two sets of tracks actually run across that bridge – one set belonging to CSX, the other set belonging to Norfolk Southern.
It took another day for Norfolk Southern to confirm that it actually owned the bridge.
10TV passed along pictures of the bridge and the concerns from Chris Sherman.
The railroad offered this response from Nick Bayer, Engineer, Regional Structures.
“Safety is a top priority at Norfolk Southern and our bridge programs are a key part of that. The W Rich St bridge had its scheduled inspection within the last year and was found to be structurally sound for the safe passage of rail traffic and public wellbeing. The photos show secondary support members that brace the structure, and are within tolerance for the bridge’s overall health.”
A spokesperson also confirmed that the bridge was actually hit by a dump truck in recent weeks and was again inspected and again cleared.
“Norfolk Southern inspects its bridges at least annually and sometimes more often, exceeding FRA standards. We understand your viewer’s question given the appearance of this one part of the bridge, but a bridge is a substantial structure made sound by many different pieces. For example, these secondary members do not experience direct loads and are not fracture critical components. These bridges carry thousands of tons of train every day without fail, and we take that seriously.”
Railroads are responsible for completing their own inspections, but the Federal Railroad Administration is the keeper of those records.
10TV sought to obtain a copy of the bridge inspection report on the Franklinton bridge and was directed to the FRA website where a public version of the report could be requested.
But that’s where the search had to end. The FAST (Fixing America’s Surface Transportation) Act limits those who can access those reports. They are available to public officials but not to the general public.
A spokesperson did provide this statement:
“The Federal Railroad Administration doesn’t have any outstanding issues with this bridge.”
The spokesperson also pointed out that the FRA’s Bridge and Structure Group handles routine reviews of the railroads’ bridge management programs and reviews their inspection reports. The team also responds to concerns about bridge conditions.
“In responding to these requests, FRA’s team investigates and often finds many concerns reflect superficial, exterior changes that don’t affect the bridge’s structural integrity or public safety. Those who are concerned about bridge conditions should contact the Bridge and Structure Group using this email address: rrswebinquiries@dot.gov.”