Merrimack River Bridge in Haverhill

Veristek wrote: Why so long to do it compared to the Amtrak bridge replacement in Conn.?

That project was a little more dramatic... they basically cut out the old drawspan, hauled it away, and dropped a completely new one into place. Of course here had been a lot of prep work beforehand, like building the towers for the new lift bridge.

Two years does sound like an awful long time, but then again, this is Massachusetts, where even the simplest highway maintenance projects drag on for months or years.

The bridge tie replacement project seems to be underway. The initial prep work includes building a deck below track level out of 2" tongue & groove planks on the lower flanges of the steel stringers. They were lugging little yellow rail carts loaded with them out from Bradford Monday and Tuesday as #212 crossed at 0730. I suppose the $40K worth of wood will go to the dump afterwards, unless the crew gets it for firewood...

jbvb wrote:The bridge tie replacement project seems to be underway. The initial prep work includes building a deck below track level out of 2" tongue & groove planks on the lower flanges of the steel stringers. They were lugging little yellow rail carts loaded with them out from Bradford Monday and Tuesday as #212 crossed at 0730. I suppose the $40K worth of wood will go to the dump afterwards, unless the crew gets it for firewood...

Alot of the wood you see on construction sites that makes up things like temporary staging, scaffolding, ramps, etc is reused. I highly doubt the stuff will be trashed. It will live on for some contractor somewhere.

Last night one of the Haverhill conductors had a single sheet explaining a scheme to bustitute some trains Haverhill - Lawrence or Haverhill - Bradford next week, and make others run 10 min. late. My informant didn't get the copy, and nothing is visible on the MBTA site. Anyone got details?

jbvb wrote:Last night one of the Haverhill conductors had a single sheet explaining a scheme to bustitute some trains Haverhill - Lawrence or Haverhill - Bradford next week, and make others run 10 min. late. My informant didn't get the copy, and nothing is visible on the MBTA site. Anyone got details?

There has been no official release to the public for any of these plans yet only the preliminary plans have been posted for employees to view etc. Last I was told that they are still deciding whether to bus from Bradford or Lawrence.

I would think busing Bradford-Haverhill would be the better option....considering it's basically just driving across the bridge!

ST214 wrote:I would think busing Bradford-Haverhill would be the better option....considering it's basically just driving across the bridge!

IIRC the unpowered crossover at the W. end of the Bradford storage area is trailing point, so it would be time-consuming to arrive from Lawrence on the easterly track and cross over to return on the westerly track. But this matters less when an outbound arrives from Lawrence on the westerly track (many do). Either way, there's no home signal at Bradford, so the dispatcher and crew would need to do paperwork to turn there. Under normal circumstances, they will run the extra half mile from Haverhill to Hall to avoid the paperwork even when the outbound arrives after it was due to leave inbound. Not to mention what the extra 50 miles/week cost in fuel and crew/equipment hours.

jbvb wrote:

ST214 wrote:I would think busing Bradford-Haverhill would be the better option....considering it's basically just driving across the bridge!

IIRC the unpowered crossover at the W. end of the Bradford storage area is trailing point, so it would be time-consuming to arrive from Lawrence on the easterly track and cross over to return on the westerly track. But this matters less when an outbound arrives from Lawrence on the westerly track (many do). Either way, there's no home signal at Bradford, so the dispatcher and crew would need to do paperwork to turn there. Under normal circumstances, they will run the extra half mile from Haverhill to Hall to avoid the paperwork even when the outbound arrives after it was due to leave inbound. Not to mention what the extra 50 miles/week cost in fuel and crew/equipment hours.

No paperwork would be needed for the move just verbal permission its all 261 track now signaled in both directions. But yes I would say your other points make sense the dispatcher can not give a signal at Brad etc etc which is why I was told they were considering bussing from Lawrence

The "Railmail" announcement is out this afternoon:

HAVERHILL LINE
MERRIMACK RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT ALERT

Phase One
Tuesday, October 14th THROUGH Mid November
Monday - Friday

For approximately five weeks beginning on Tuesday, October 14th and continuing through mid-November, MBCR maintenance crews will be replacing the railroad ties and timbers on the Inbound track over the Merrimack River Bridge. Inbound peak trains will run on normal schedules. This work will require the closing of the inbound track. This will be the first of four phases of work to be performed during this major bridge rehabilitation project. Once this project is complete, speed limits will be increased.

The Inbound platform at Haverhill Station will be out of service for the duration of this project. Passengers must access and egress all trains utilizing the Outbound platform.


Outbound Service:

Replacement bus service will be available to transport passengers traveling to and from Lawrence, Bradford and Haverhill stations. This will include the following outbound trains:
#205 #209 #213 #217 #223
Depart Lawrence 8:29am 9:12am 11:22am 2:12pm 3:54pm

Passengers traveling on the following peak-hour trains will be bused from Bradford to Haverhill:

#231 #233 #235
Depart Bradford 6:27pm 7:06pm 7:30pm


Inbound:

Additionally there will be bus service provided to Lawrence Station, from both the Bradford and Haverhill Stations. Separate buses will provide service for the following inbound train departure times:

#214 #218 #220 #226 #232
Depart Haverhill 8:55am 9:55am 11:55am 2:37pm 4:21pm

Depart Bradford 8:55am 9:55am 11:55am 2:37pm 4:21pm

Commuter rail service information, including updated commuter rail advisories/alerts is available on the MBTA website at http://www.mbta.com , or by calling the MBTA Customer Support Services Center at 617-222-3200.

Thank you for riding commuter rail.

Customer Service
Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail
Operating the Commuter Rail on behalf the of MBTA

#214 left Haverhill on the easterly track today. The guardrail was gone from the whole westerly track and the rail and ties on most of the first deck span on the Bradford side had already been replaced, presumably done Saturday and Sunday. I suppose 4-5 weeks includes a substantial allowance for bad weather, but given this week's good forecast, one might hope they finish it by the 27th.

Only trains running Monday through Friday between Haverhill and Lawrence will be affected by the bridge work. All trains between Lawrence and North Station will run as scheduled and service on Saturday and Sunday will not change.

~~Boston Globe~~ Bridge Work

Why wouldn't the MBCR try to get work done on Saturday and Sunday when there is less impacts to commuters? Is there more Pan AM freight traffic on the weekend through here?

It doesn't say there's no bridge work on the weekends, only that service won't be impacted. I know that the weekend schedule on the Haverhill Line is pretty sparse -- there's only one train at a time up the north end of the line, so there aren't any conflicting moves with other commuter trains -- just Amtrak to worry about.

What effect does this have on the Amtrak Downeaster?

The Downeaster has been running normal route with approx. 20-30 minute delays.

New rail is about half way across. New ties have reached the Haverhill end of the through truss span. No work on the walkway yet, aside from the long ties to support it.