Norfolk Southern Bridge PC 29.25 over Beaver River
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The Norfolk Southern Railroad retained Bowman, Barrett & Associates (BB&A) to design a replacement deck for a nine-span, double-track structure over the Beaver River in New Brighton, Pennsylvania. The structure crosses two tracks of the CSX Railroad as well as a local road. The five main spans over the river are deck trusses, while the remaining four spans are deck girders.
Constructed in 1925, the bridge has a ballasted deck constructed of cast-in-place concrete. After over eighty years of service, the original concrete deck has deteriorated to the point where it must be replaced.
During the course of the redesign, BB&A's engineers discovered that if the bridge deck were replaced with a new cast-in-place concrete deck, the spans would have an insufficient rating for modern-day live loading. BB&A recommended replacing the existing concrete deck with a significantly lighter steel deck. The weight of the new deck system was carefully designed so that the resulting bridge could safely support E-80 loading at full track speed.
The railroad needed to maintain service on one track while the other is being rehabilitated, so a system of temporary ballast retainers was specified. The work was able to proceed on one track while the other remained open.
The railroad rehabilitated the deck under one track in the summer of 2007; the second track was rehabilitated the following year.