Posted on 05/12/2005 7:43:10 PM PDT by Turk82_1
May 12, 2005 10:01 pm US/Eastern (1010 WINS) (KEARNY, N.J.) A fast-moving fire engulfed a railroad bridge in northern New Jersey Thursday night, disrupting New Jersey Transit and Amtrak service on the Northeast Corridor.
The fire broke out around 7:30 p.m. at the base of Amtrak's Portal drawbridge over the Hackensack River between Secaucus and Kearny. The cause was not immediately known. No injuries were reported, authorities said.
Rail service was suspended between New York's Penn Station and Newark's Penn Station. It was not clear when it would be restored.
The fire apparently started in wood pilings beneath the trestle and flames spread across a pier supporting one end of the structure.
Firefighters on the bridge and a fireboat beneath it were working to contain the blaze.
NJ Transit was cross-honoring rail tickets on its bus lines to assist commuters.
The fire engulfed the center pier of a swing bridge, with flames shooting through the substructure. If you take any NJ Transit train into NYC, you better figure on a LONG commute.
And don't get complacent, PATH riders....everyone's coming over to snuggle up to YOU.
My recommendation: 3-day weekend.
More fun in the neighborhood in the Northeast...
NYC Parkway and now railway...commuting nightmare.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7836027/
And yes, I'm planning on working from home tomorrow!
Adding,
The video link at there, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1402203/posts?page=5#5
has the coverage about the support wall collapsing too.
I saw some news video, and the flames were shooting up through the substructure. As a non-practicing civil engineer, fire + steel = reconstruction.
There are not alternate routes for the trains.
Is arson suspected?
You are correct - it is one of the piers that the bridge structure locks into when it completes its swing. That makes it better than I thought.
Here's the deal: the ties look like they burned completely through. That means the rail is suspect. And the substructure of the abutmett was suject to fire both above and below, so the entire girder must be considered suspect. I anticipate that the Portal Bridge will be completely out of service until they:
1. Assess the swing bridge superstructure. Pray it is undamaged.
2. Cut out and replace the running rails (simple) and the miter rails (may require custom fabrication)
3. Disassemble the support girders on the abutment.
4. Shore up the pier below.
5. Replace the bearings and bearing plates
6. Fabricate the support girders, hoist into position.
7. Replace the ties and rails.
To do this in one week would take a miracle. I would guess it will take them until Mem Day to get it all back in service.
If you check out this map:
You'll see the Conrail bridge just up river on the other side of the Turnpike is no way near being able to connect to the Corridor line.
Looks like all the trains will be diverted to Hoboken an people can take the PATH or ferry from there (NY Waterway will be happy to see some paying customers again!)
Watching local news (CBS) and Amtrak and NJ Transit down. Ferry, Path and NJ Transit bus are the only ways out. No service coming from Penn Station. They are trying to find out if rails have melted. Stay home on Friday.
Retaining wall crashed onto the Hudson north of the GW.
Ping
Chaotic NYC commute ping.
No word on cause. Want my best guess? That area of the bridge is where the catenary (overhead power lines) have a gap - from the permanent structure on the bridge to the movable on on the ground. Sparks shoot out of the gap all the time. I betcha this time, a spark or chunk of heated metal lasted long enough to hit the pilings and start them afire. That's how most subway fires start - they are electrical in origin.
I think this structure was built around 1930. You would think the major rail way in the N.E. would have been fortified with modern materials. Somthing like the bridges in Japan. I lived in Kearny for a few years. This bridge can be seen in the Sopranos opening credits.
Aren't you happy to be in AZ, Ruth? The northeast is falling down around us.
Yikes. Were you around there?
Most of the Northeast infrastucture is like that. Make sure you aren't thinking of the Pulaski Skyway - that's an auto bridge. This one was north of that.
Politicians get elected for new housing developments, or office space, or ball parks. Bridges run until they fall down...then they get replaced.
Just think Williamsburg Bridge or Gowanus Expressway if you need examples. That retaining wall was built in 1908 and has been noticably shifting over the years. My bet is they overloaded the ground behind the wall, and the rains of March and April started the slow creep of soil behind it.
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