Portageville Bridge Replacement, Future Tier Traffic

[thebigham]

Photos by Ben Clark!

[452 Card]

I am very interested in the re-alignment of the south entrance road in respect to the new bridge piers position. It seems the old alignment was obliterated by the west side excavation for the west arch footing. I presume that after the demo of the old structure, the new road will be completed by excavating the old ROW next to the old parking lot to connect to the remaining road. Anyone? Ferris?

[JoeS]

Here is a link to the overview of the bridge project.

https://www.arema.org/files/library/201 ... Bridge.pdf

There is a plan showing the existing road alignment and the final alignment. Basically, yes they will have to excavate what looks like 50 to 100 feet of the current fill.

[thebigham]

^Thanks. The parking lot will be moved next to the gorge.

[452 Card]

To all who responded- Thank You! Being a Letchworth creature since I was 6 and then my introducing kids there, its cool to see the transformation of the original south entrance road and the area around the west end of the bridge. I was there in July this year (Stone House) but the trail to the upper falls was closed for the construction. The photos that are posted here are the food for my "new bridge junkieism"! Being a former locomotive engineer, I can't believe NS even lets those modern locos operate over that old bridge. We watched the west pier footing shake at the "1875" baseplate while a train passed overhead a few years ago at the entrance to the top of the gorge trail. Scary!

[thebigham]

John Kucko pic

[pumpers]

I apologize for not looking back through the thread for the answer, but does anyone know if the plan is to cut in the new bridge before winter? Only 2 months roughly til then. Just from what i see on the photos there might be more to do on the approaches than the bridge itself.

[thebigham]

^December!

[RichM]

I apologize if this is embedded in an earlier post, but I'm assuming this will be a ballasted deck... with a higher speed.

From what I've read as this thread as it has grown, foot traffic looks like it's been a problem on the old bridge. What provisions are planned to eliminate trespassers on the new one?

[charlie6017]

Yes, it's a ballasted deck. I believe it's poured concrete, the speed over this new bridge will be 35 mph account of the curves on
both sides of the span. As far as deterring trespassers, I'm not sure what else NS plans to do other than patrolling. In Conrail days,
it seemed like people were up there constantly but I'm sure Norfolk Southern has clamped down a lot further.

Charlie

[KevinD]

Yea, they will probably get some winter time use in on the new structure, see how well it does through the spring thaw.

Probably won't do anything to demo the old bridge or its approaches until the spring when construction season starts again and the embankments are easier to doze.

[thebigham]

What the new parking lot area will look like after construction is finished.

I'm hoping they'll be done by next summer.

[thebigham]

Taken from a hot air balloon in October

[johnpbarlow]

A posting on the NS D&H South and Southern Tier Lines Facebook page says the new Portage Bridge is targeted to be cut into service by NS on November 28, 2017 (ie, two weeks from now)!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/dandhsouthline/

[RichM]

More engineering questions, just to satisfy my curiosity... for a deck this long, what are the next steps? Is the deck first ballasted? Is ribbon rail dragged across the structure, or is there some specially designed equipment used to place ties and pull the rails?

Thanks in advance!