Sept. 23, 2010
FORT LEONARD WOOD, MO. -- The Army Corps of Engineers and the Fort Leonard Wood Directorate of Public Works have taken to the rails to improve the operational readiness of the installation.
"As part of the American Recovery and Investment Act, money was allocated to the Army Corps of Engineers to replace wood trestles on the spur from Bundy Junction to the fort," said Bill McDaniel, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District program/project manager.
The first of the spans to be replaced is the trestle at mile marker 14.7, as the rail line is measured from the connection with Burlington Northern's line at Bundy Junction to the installation, said Travis Lynch, resident engineer for the Corps.
"We started work in December 2009 on this particular bridge, and it will be back to operational service by October," Lynch said. "The contract was awarded to L.G. Barcus and Sons, Inc., from Kansas City, Kan."
The rail line is a critical link for the installation and is an essential route for sending equipment in and out of the fort during moblizations and deployments, said Terry Collins, DPW civil engineer technician.
"This rail line was a major consideration to locate the 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade here at Leonard Wood," Collins said. "This line was also considered during the last round of BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure Act) talks - it's that critical to the post."
"With the track in the sidings on post, we have 27.7 miles of railroad to maintain," Lynch said.
The spur is roughly 20 miles in length with 18 spans within a 15-mile stretch, Lynch said, and the replacement of this bridge has been a challenge.
"Normally, we build the bridge under the existing rail bed and build up to the rails. Trains can still use it until the last few weeks, then the new line is installed on the new bridge and the old bridge is disassembled," Lynch said. But here, we had to completely remove the old bridge because it wasn't inline with the flow of the water. By moving the supports to be inline with the water flow, we'll have less problems with debris damaging the structure in the future."
"This project will be completed by Nov. 9, but the line will be operational by Oct. 14," Lynch said.
The project was paid for by the American Recovery and Investment Act 2009 and will total $1.9 million, Lynch said.
"We will replace another wooden trestle next year and, maybe, depending on funding and costs, have the option to replace four others," Lynch said.
The original rail line was built in 1941 at the cost of $2.5 million for the entire line. Work began on the line in December 1940 and was opened to rail traffic, May 1941. Of the nearly 20 miles of track from Bundy Junction to the garrison, the longest straight stretch is only 2,700 feet long with more than 70 curves necessary to traverse the Ozark terrain. Of the bridges on the spur, the longest wooden trestle is 1,458 feet approaching the steel bridge crossing the Big Piney River.
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