[EyesOnIvy] Report on Dry Bridge Situation

[Brian Wheeler]

Happy New Year!

The message below contains an update on the status of Dry Bridge from Sally
Thomas, CSX and VDOT.  

There is no new information on the Faulconer project.  Our letter writing
campaign to VDOT was very helpful and I am appreciative of those that jumped
in to send them a note.  The ball is in Faulconer's court to come back to
the Albemarle Board of Supervisors with a plan that addresses the
requirements cited in their rejection of the project.

Brian Wheeler, President
Ivy Community Association 


-----Original Message-----
From: Sally Thomas [mailto:STHOMAS at albemarle.org] 
Sent: Saturday, January 01, 2005 11:44 PM
To: Brian Wheeler
Subject: for EyesOnIvy

FROM SALLY THOMAS --
Update on Dry Bridge.
The Bridge is owned by CSX but the road surface is maintained by VDOT.  The
bridge's structure limits it to an 8 ton load limit.  It would have to be a
12 ton limit to allow school buses.  CSX is apparently not interested in
upgrading the structure.  The road surface will continue to be repaired by
VDOT, but the asphalt easily separates from the bridge  floor, apparently a
common feature with wooden structures of this type.  The Bd of Supvervisors
has had the bridge on its "Six Year List for Secondary Road projects" for
several years, following a request by the school bus system and also
emergency personnel, since fire trucks as well as school buses cannot use
the bridge.  The "six year" list depends on state funding, and the Dry
Bridge project is further away than 6 years, unless there is a major change
in available state funds. County police are aware of the 8-ton limitation
and have stopped trucks, given at least one ticket in the last week and also
talked another truck out of using the route even though the truck was
legally under the limit at the time that it was stopped (that is, the truck
was empty -- when full it would exceed the limit).
Susan Donohue, who lives near the bridge, has been keeping an eye on it and
got a report from CSX about its condition just this week (copied below). She
has observed overweight trucks  using the bridge. She has been told that
this coming summer, CSX plans to work on the bridge, but that wasn't
verified by the e-mail she received last week. 
VDOT's interim Resident Administrator for our region, Brent Sprinkle, by
happenstance is a bridge specialist.  He is returning to his permanent
position in the Culpeper office this coming week, but he has also inspected
the bridge and offered some comments, copied below.

FROM RAILWAY COMPANY:
12/20/04

Ms. S. Donohue:

	Reference is made to your recent telephone message to inquire about
the condition of the overhead highway bridge which carries CR 708 over CSXT
in Albemarle County, Virginia.  Your message was forwarded to me to
investigate and respond...

	CSXT last inspected the bridge in January 2004 and found the bridge
to be in fair condition with some minor damage to the asphalt surface. We
inspect this kind of bridge once a year and it should be inspected again in
the first quarter of 2005.  The overhead highway bridge is constructed using
structural timber and according to our records posted for a maximum vehicle
weight of 8 tons.  This capacity basically allows regular passenger vehicles
and small trucks such as pick up trucks to use the bridge.  Larger vehicles
will cause visible damage to the asphalt surfacing and deck.  If the truck
were large enough it could damage the supporting timber beams resulting in a
structure failure.

	The State DOT is required to inspect this bridge once every two
years to determine condition and load capacity.   Note that the original
alignment of the roadway and bridge appears to be less than desirable and
would indicate that the speed over this section of roadway may be
restricted. The bridge is currently restricted for use due to original
structure design and the alignment of the roadway.  It is the responsibility
of the local road authority to post and enforce any restrictions.  Any
exceptions that affect the safety of the bridge would be noted to the County
by the State.  I am not aware of any structural defects found during the
State's last inspection that affects the operational safety of the bridge.

	Based on your follow-up telephone message today, the roadway surface
damage apparently has been patched by road authority.  Note that CSXT is not
generally responsible for road repairs.   This kind of work is normally done
by the road authority working to their specifications.  The damage you noted
may be the result of no load capacity enforcement as you state there are
numerous oversized trucks using the roadway.  I encourage you to contact the
County Commissioner in writing and express your concern about enforcement of
the roadway restrictions.


R. P. Garro
Assistant Chief Engineer
CSXT

FROM VDOT INTERIM RESIDENT ENGINEER:
Ms. Thomas,
In follow-up to the inquiries from Ms. Donohue (and the response from CSX)
the 8-ton capacity of the bridge over CSX Railway has been an issue for many
years.  School buses, fire equipment or any vehicle that weighs more than 8
tons should not be crossing this bridge.  The hardship created by the 8 ton
weight limit was discussed several years ago with the Albemarle County
School Bus administration staff and also CSX railway.  The CSX railway was
not willing to upgrade the bridge to 12 tons to allow school buses to cross
the bridge.  .........
I have reviewed the bridge on Route 708 over CSX Railway. The asphalt-riding
surface is not bonding to the timber deck in several places, which appears
to be the cause of the bridge condition concern identified by Ms. Donohue.
De-bonding of the asphalt-riding surface is somewhat typical for timber deck
bridges.  Our maintenance staff will continue to patch the asphalt as needed
to maintain a reasonably smooth riding surface.  Since this bridge is owned
and maintained by CSX Railway, our maintenance actions are limited to the
repair of the riding surface and roadway approaches.  CSX Railway is
responsible for maintaining the bridge at the current 8-ton weight limit.
You may remember that CSX replaced several portions of the timber deck
approximately one year ago. We will continue to inspect the bridge to ensure
that the bridge is safe to cross and contact CSX if safety concerns are
identified.  In addition, Albemarle County should consider including this
bridge for replacement as part of the County's Secondary Six Year Plan.
[note from Sally Thomas:  the bridge is on the Six Year Plan]
.........................