NEWPORT, Tenn. — Norfolk Southern is set to begin replacing a collapsed bridge today (March 12) on its line between Newport and Asheville, N.C., and should reopen the route closed by Hurricane Helene by the end of the month.
New spans for the bridge across the Pigeon River in Newport will be placed today, Blue Ridge Public Radio reports. That bridge collapsed on Oct. 23, about two weeks after the railroad’s AS Line had been closed by flood damage [see “Bridge collapses …,” Trains News Wire, Oct. 24, 2024].
A railroad spokeswoman told Blue Ridge Public Raido that the route between Newport and Asheville, and on to Swannanoa, N.C., should be open by March 31.
“There is no doubt the important role this line plays in supporting the people and businesses that call Western North Carolina home,” Norfolk Southern VP Engineering Ed Boyle said in a statement reported by WBIR-TV. “We know how many community members are waiting for the line to reopen, and our teams have been working tirelessly since Sept. 27 to restore the service needed to help rebuild the local economy.”
Still to be addressed is the badly damaged section of track east of Swannanoa to Old Forts, the rugged Old Fort Loops segment of the line to Salisbury, N.C. The railroad says that segment is still being assessed, although the Asheville Citizen Times reported last week that Jason Orthner, director of the North Carolina Department of Transportation Rail Division, had told a meeting that the railroad had “communicated directly” that the line would be rebuilt.
