Rethinking infrastructure in flood prone areas

[Astronuc]

In the wake of hurricane Helene, some bridges will have to be redesigned. For automobiles and road vehicles, some increase in elevation may be required, but that is nearly impossible for railroads, which will likely have to use the same ROW and grade.

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — Skepticism spread throughout the railroad community after Hurricane Helene’s devastating once-in-a-generation floods wiped out roadbeds, destroyed bridges, and left most of western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee unrecognizable. Some in the industry expressed doubt that CSX and Norfolk Southern would invest the dollars needed to repair widespread damage.

More than 40 miles of CSX’s ex-Clinchfield Railroad between Erwin, Tennessee, and Spartanburg, South Carolina, are gone, including two bridges, and many sections along 50 miles of NS’ ex-Southern S-Line between Marshall and Old Fort, North Carolina, through Asheville are washed away.

But railroads don’t have the choice to not rebuild as they did 40 or 50 years ago. Class I railroads have rationalized their networks to the extent that there is very little redundancy, leaving few efficient alternatives in the event of a catastrophic event like Hurricane Helene.

CSX’s outage on the former Clinchfield is requiring coal, merchandise and bulk trains to detour across the I-64 corridor between Russell, Kentucky, and Richmond, Virginia, and then down the Seaboard into Hamlet, North Carolina, before diverting west toward Charlotte and into the western part of the state. This adds several hundred miles.

Choosing not to rehabilitate the Clinchfield would mean CSX has little through-route connectivity between Knoxville, Tennessee, and Charlotte, a distance of more than 250 miles.

https://www.freightwaves.com/news/railroads-have-no-choice-but-to-rebuild-after-hurricane-helene

NS doesn’t have a choice either. It has already downsized its S-Line as a through route between Morristown, Tennessee, and Salisbury, after trimming operations at its Linwood Yard north of Salisbury. Western North Carolina carloads bound for Watco’s Blue Ridge Southern and NS-served customers in the Asheville region rely on NS trains traversing the Southern from Knoxville east into western North Carolina on the French Broad River. Through trains no longer operate east of Asheville, and south of Asheville, across Saluda Grade, is no longer an option. To preserve rail access to the area, NS has to rebuild in at least one direction from Asheville.

BNSF has to replace the bridge that collapsed in North Sioux City as a result of flooding of the Big Sioux River.
https://www.ktiv.com/2024/09/04/nor...h-replacement-collapsed-bnsf-railroad-bridge/

https://www.bts.gov/geography/geosp...ailway-bridge-north-sioux-city-sd-large-scale


The FreightWaves article mentions hurricane Agnes in 1972. In addition to the Erie Lackawanna, Agness damaged much of the Lehigh Valley Railroad in Pennsylvania, which also declared bankruptcy. Both were absorbed into Conrail, along with the Central of New Jersey, Reading, and PennCentral.

(FW) Hurricane Agnes, which pummeled the Northeast in 1972, caused widespread damage to many smaller and less profitable railroads. Agnes played a contributing role in Erie Lackawana’s decision to file for bankruptcy in 1972 due to significant damage across its network in New York and Pennsylvania. Damage caused by Agnes played a broader role in the government’s intervention and the creation of Conrail, which helped repair and rebuild damaged rail lines.