1 / 8

Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge

Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge. May 2004. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge.

keran
Download Presentation

Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge May 2004

  2. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge The Galveston railroad bridge is uniquely the most hazardous bridge on the entire Gulf Intracoastal Waterway More accidents occur as a result of collisions with this bridge than any other bridge on the Gulf Coast. The U. S. Coast Guard declared the bridge a hazard to navigation in 2001 and “directed” the owner of the bridge to replace it with a lift span of 300 feet in width, using its authority granted by the Truman Hobbs Act. Under this act, the owner pays 10% of the cost and the Federal Government pays 90% Because of the types of cargoes moved on the Waterway, this bridge is also an environmental hazard. Approximately 21,000 barges move over 25 million tons of commodities worth over $8 billion through this bridge each year. Of this, 11 million tons are petroleum and 10 million tons are petrochemicals. Efficient and uninterrupted movement of these products is critical to maintain the efficiency of our Texas petroleum and petrochemical industries. The remaining commodities are also important. They include building materials, ores, sugar and various other agricultural and manufactured products.

  3. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge Additionally, there is a large amount of recreational traffic in this area and due to the design of the railroad bridge, must , or usually choose to use this narrow opening to move from one side of the bridge to the other. In addition to the very narrow width, the mariner must negotiate a curve in the waterway on either side of the bridges, while compensating for strong prevailing South to North winds and East to West tidal currents in the area. The adjacent highway bridges are now under construction and will be completed in 2008 with a width between the protective bulkheads of 310 feet. The Texas Department of Transportation will no longer be required to maintain the fender works, because their bridge will be well outside the channel and protected. Congress must appropriate the funds in FY2004 to also complete the railroad bridge by 2008 so that this passage does not become even more hazardous.

  4. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge This empty tow is “doubled up” to minimize the effect of the wind. There is a gap in the protection on the West side of the railroad bridge because the old water line serving Galveston is buried adjacent to the bridge and is too shallow to allow the driving of piling in this area. It is still used in times of high water consumption on the Island. Note also the two sets of high voltage transmission lines with minimal protection. To compensate for the strong prevailing south winds, the mariner “points” his tow into the wind and “flattens out” just as he enters the bridge protection. In very high wind the barges may lightly rub the protection system.

  5. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge If the barge is not completely parallel with the protection system when it touches, or if the momentum is too great, serious damage to the protection system will occur. The vessel operator must pay to repair the damage. The damage in this picture cost approximately $100,000 to repair. There was no damage to the barge.

  6. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge Note as these 54 foot wide barges approach the bridge they appear to take up more than one half of the room. As a vessel approaches the bridge, a tankerman or deckhand rides at the bow of the tow, calling out precise distances to the towboat pilot. Another particular hazard at this bridge is recreational traffic attempting to share the passage at the same time with tows.

  7. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge As They Exist Now Causeway Redone Only Causeway and Railroad Redone These images show the bridge openings to scale.

  8. Galveston Causeway and Railroad Bridge As They Exist Now Causeway Redone Only Causeway and Railroad Redone These images include a scale drawing of the tow shown in picture number 2. After the Highway bridges are completed with a 310 foot opening and the protection structures removed, what is already the most hazardous bridge on the entire Gulf Intracoastal Waterway will become even more hazardous. Traveling Eastbound with empty barges, the mariner will be required to hold his “point” against the wind until he reaches the railroad bridge and try to “stab” the narrow opening with no protection and no ability to back up. If he tried to back up, his tow would be blown into the electrical towers as soon as the tow lost forward momentum. Review slide number 2

More Related