REED POINT, Mont. — The Montana Rail Line main line remains closed at the site of the June 24 bridge collapse and derailment that sent 10 freight cars into the Yellowstone River, but work is continuing “around the clock” to restore normal operations as soon as possible, according to the latest update from the Unified Command overseeing incident response.
The update today (Friday, July 7) also outlines continued and expanding efforts to recover asphalt that spilled into the river from six tank cars.
Crews involved in construction of the new bridge near Reed Point are hoping the work can be “accomplished in weeks rather than months,” according to today’s update.
Environmental cleanup work has recovered about 35,000 pounds of asphalt as of Thursday night. A rough estimate is that a maximum of 500,000 pounds entered the water; a more accurate figure will eventually be available when the cars recovered from water are cut open and their contents are removed and weighted. Not all material that entered the water will be recoverable, but some 150 people are now working as part of collection crews to recover as much as possible.
Meanwhile, the Billings Gazette reports that Boeing 737 fuselages that normally move via the closed rail line will be trucked around the collapsed bridge via Interstate 90. Several of the fuselages are currently waiting on a siding near Laurel, Mont., for access ramps to be built to handle the truck trailers for the move.
As for the bridge repair, Montana Rail Link has people on site doing prep work. According to the MRL administraion, they’re going to reuse the eastern span, then, they’re going to create some additional piers there. They’re going to actually utilize some emergency spans that they have from their safety stock in conjunction with some emergency spans they’re getting from BNSF as well.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
As long as the asphalt is in the river, it’s usually more of a solid product.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
The “Command Post” is still in “Fix Mode”. Fix the blame before fixing the route…
Did the derailment cause the bridge to collapse or did the bridge pier fail?
Let’s wait for further information.
Ed Burns
The aforementioned railroad bridge is owned by BNSF, but MRL has maintained it since 1987. MRL began leasing BNSF lines between Huntley, Montana, and Sandpoint, Idaho, at that time and will continue to do so until the lease concludes in January 2024. BNSF will then resume operational control and infrastructure maintenance.
“The bridge is inspected twice a year and the most recent inspection was performed in May”, MRL officials said.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün