Portageville Bridge Replacement, Future Tier Traffic

I visited Letchworth Park on 4/7/12 and stopped by the east end of the Portageville bridge and took several pictures. The links are to my Flickr page.

Test wells immediately SW of the bridge which went in about a year ago
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31454043@N ... 9785893503


Here is some iron work on the bridge marked 1875. The gorge and river are just beyond. Taken immediately under the bridge on the east side.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31454043@N ... 9785893503

Any new info on the Bridge replacement work ?

Seeing that I live only 4 miles from the project area, I have been keeping a close eye on this but there is no sign of work yet. Strangely they have been replacing ties right up to the bridge deck. I'm sure this is routine maintenance but it seems like it would be a waste of time and money if they were planning on removing this track and setting it 75 feet South of the current location. They're probably still sitting there with their hand out waiting for any Govt. funds to come their way. I did see a double stack train cross the bridge this weekend and I assumed they must be carrying empties as full double stacks would probably be class 1 freight, which is not allowed to pass over the bridge due to weight restrictions.

-Paleoman-

Double stacks have passed over that bridge for 25 years now without problem. I'm sure they aren't all empty.

Paleoman wrote:Seeing that I live only 4 miles from the project area, I have been keeping a close eye on this but there is no sign of work yet. Strangely they have been replacing ties right up to the bridge deck. I'm sure this is routine maintenance but it seems like it would be a waste of time and money if they were planning on removing this track and setting it 75 feet South of the current location. They're probably still sitting there with their hand out waiting for any Govt. funds to come their way. I did see a double stack train cross the bridge this weekend and I assumed they must be carrying empties as full double stacks would probably be class 1 freight, which is not allowed to pass over the bridge due to weight restrictions.

-Paleoman-

Double stacks? Last I knew, 22K and 23K ran with single stacks owing to clearances in the Hoosac Tunnel. Was this a detour train of some sort?

Weren't they supposed to start "filleting" these trains in Mechanicville? Doesn't seem like that yard has become as big of a boom as they had hoped in the upstate NY area. I know it is early, but I haven't heard of anything new in that area for a while.

22&23K run with auto racks and single levels. 206&205 are double stack Hunts.

Mechanicville yard isn't even finished yet! Right now the traffic can't grow due to train length for both 205/206 (due to yard capacity) and 22k/23k (with the autoracks). The 22k/23k have been running well over 8,000ft on a daily basis. Once the the rest of Mechanicville opens and the autoracks are put on their own train, the trains will shrink. But that will also leave room for additional container traffic.

I don't see the filleting happening. With how hot the 22K/23K are, stopping the trains would add to much transit time.

Time will tell though. We aren't being told much right now. Just trying to deal with the traffic we currently have.....

Mechanicville has faced so many delays, its pretty comical. The yard was supposed to be finished years ago. I just get the feeling that, on the intermodal side, there won't be as much capacity as we all hoped. It is definitely the smallest yard that they are currently constructing and I don't think it will be able to handle multiple trains from the west, south and even east...

This topic has gone silent, does anyone have any news to pass along about this project. The only thing I have heard was a couple of days ago. I had to contact the NS office in Hornell to request that weed spraying not be done next to our public water supply as the NS tracks run right along side of our reservoir, and I asked if their was any news on the bridge replacement. I was told by the person I talked with that he thought it was going to start this year, probably in the fall, but wasn't positive of this. There was a lot of press on the subject locally a few months back but it was just a rehash of what has already been discussed here.

-Paleoman52-

Large hoops, red tape and studies generally delay the start and slow down progress of large projects like this. If they still say work will begin this year, we're probably still ahead of the game.

Here's your update: Maybe late 2013. My interview questions with DOT in charge.

Is there a timeline in effect for the Portageville Bridge or is it status quo for the time being?

At the present time, the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) is subject to the State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQRA) processes pursuant to 17 NYCRR Part 15.

There are potential dates for the release of a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) between August 22, 2012 through August 29, 2012.

Please note, there are no fixed dates for construction at this time. Usually, the environmental and final design plans would have to be completed before construction would begin. It is possible, though dates can change, that construction may begin sometime in the later part of 2013.

Is there an indication for re-routes during construction such as Machias to Olean to Hornell, etc?

I will provide the NYSDOT link for the Portageville Bridge study at:
https://www.dot.ny.gov/divisions/operat ... rtageville

The Scoping Study, which is called “Final Scoping Doc Portageville 2009-03-27.pdf”, will list the nine Alternatives that apply to the project. After the Scoping Phase, and other studies were completed, NYSDOT is considering advancing Alternative 1, Alternative 4, and Alternative 5 in the DEIS.

You should be aware that the DEIS has not been made available to the public and plans regarding the nine alternatives can be amended. If you wish to be placed on the mailing list to confirm, please, provide me with your contact information. Please note, your e-mail address is noted.

At the present time, there are no current plans to re-route rail traffic. Alternative 1 is noted as, “No Action”. Alternative 4 is noted as, “New bridge parallel to existing bridge; maintain current alignment. Leave existing bridge for use by others.” Last, Alternative 5 is noted as, “New bridge parallel to existing bridge; maintain current alignment. Remove existing bridge.”

The reason being is Alternative 1 would permit rail traffic to continue to cross the bridge. In addition, Alternatives 4 and 5 would allow the existing bridge to remain open to rail traffic while the new bridge would be constructed parallel to it.

How did NYSDOT get to the conclusion that re-routing rail traffic was not the best option?

During the unsuccessful Tiger III Grant Application, which was made available to the public, one important decision making tool would be the results of the Cost Benefit Analysis that realized the Long-term outcome benefits, both Non-Monetized, and Monetized, over 30 Years provided by Cambridge Systematics (CS).

The website link for the Tiger III Grant Application is provided in the NYSDOT Smart Planning Repository at:
https://www.dot.ny.gov/programs/smart-p ... 202011.pdf
On pages 16, and 17 of the Tiger III Grant Application, you can read the CS findings.

I hope the re-routes happen between Machias and Hornell.

The big problem is that there would have to be a back up movie in Olean to access the Hornell line.

There will be no re-routes during the construction phase.

I read in railfan & railroad mag that n.s. got turned down again for thier tiger grant, we"ll never the bridge built! J.M.O.