The rail bridge spanning the Mississippi river at Burlington was held in the “up” position for around two hours late Sunday night and into early Monday morning....
The police and the fire department worked together to get a team put together and three firefighters, wearing life jackets and harnesses, were able to make their way up to the bridge deck and come into contact with the bridge operator, who was fine,” Crooks told KBUR on Tuesday.
The operator then successfully lowered the bridge.
http://www.kbur.com/2016/04/05/trains-delayed-after-burlington-rail-bridge-gets-stuck-in-up-position/
Victrola1 The rail bridge spanning the Mississippi river at Burlington was held in the “up” position for around two hours late Sunday night and into early Monday morning.... The police and the fire department worked together to get a team put together and three firefighters, wearing life jackets and harnesses, were able to make their way up to the bridge deck and come into contact with the bridge operator, who was fine,” Crooks told KBUR on Tuesday. The operator then successfully lowered the bridge. http://www.kbur.com/2016/04/05/trains-delayed-after-burlington-rail-bridge-gets-stuck-in-up-position/
From the link provided by O.P. "...Burlington Fire Marshal Mark Crooks says that dispatchers first received a call at around 11:50 pm on Sunday from the BNSF railway asking them to check on the bridge operator, who was not answering calls to lower the bridge and allow a number of trains, including an Amtrak passenger train, to cross. Fire officials were sent out to the bridge just after Midnight..."
Notice there is no mention of the 'cause' of the Bridge Operator's 'incapacitation' . ?
The question isn't that the bridge was in the UP position, the question is why the bridge operator didn't respond to calls (that I expect included a train stopped at the home signal blowing its horn, in addition to radio and telephone attempts).
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
If you think stopping a train in a hurry is hard, try a string of barges. Try stopping and holding a string of barges downstream bound in a river swollen with the Spring run off's increased flow velocity.
Imagine a string of downstream barges with their towboat whistling at a stuck down bridge.
Randy Vos
"Ever have one of those days where you couldn't hit the ground with your hat??" - Waylon Jennings
"May the Lord take a liking to you and blow you up, real good" - SCTV
This might fall in the dumb question category, but why is the operator's cab on the lift span? Seems it would work just as well at deck level.
Norm
"The operator then successfully lowered the bridge." Huh?
Thanks to Chris / CopCarSS for my avatar.
Direct access to the lifting mechanism I assume is why that's the traditional location.
Anyways, I wonder if a train was actually waiting at all and the bridge tender wasn't responding to their signals. I'm picturing a scenario due to his isolated position where maybe someone checks in occasionally out of safety concerns during slow times with no traffic, and wasn't able to get through to him.
Thus they proceeded in this way to regain contact, just in case he was incapacitated rather than a technical malfunction preventing them from reaching him by radio.
Edit: Yeah, I just read the news article about it. So much for that theory...
With the new bridge, the emergency responders could at least climb up to the operator's shack.
A few years ago it would have been go out in a boat, tie up, and climb decaying cribbing to reach the operator's shack.
http://www.loc.gov/pictures/search/?va=exact&sp=1&st=gallery&q=Photograph%3A+ia0172&fi=number&op=PHRASE
rvos1979Operator answering urgent and prolonged call of nature?
I'd put $2 on the idea that he/she just fell asleep.
When the new bridge was first finished I recall reading that the bridge would open 300 times a month for river traffic. That's only 10 times per day divided in to three eight hour shifts. So, in eight hours the bridge tender has 3-4 things to do.
It's got to be one of most boring jobs in the world. Hours of just sitting there waiting for something, anything, to happen. It would be easy to just fall asleep at that time of night.
Kudos to the firefighters who climbed up there to check on him/her. Also Kudos to the BNSF for calling them to check on him/her. I wish him/her good fortune in the hearing.
Interesting that when I tried to go to the linked story, Norton Internet Security blocked it as a problematic site with multiple threats.
ChuckCobleigh Interesting that when I tried to go to the linked story, Norton Internet Security blocked it as a problematic site with multiple threats.
I got the same thing - went there via Firefox instead.
Probably a problem with the hosting folks, not the TV station's website as such.
Back when I was working, the government had a contractor set up a website they wanted everyone to use for something. Turned out the hosting servers were known to harbor malware, so most military installations had it blocked....
Awkward...
Larry Resident Microferroequinologist (at least at my house) Everyone goes home; Safety begins with you My Opinion. Standard Disclaimers Apply. No Expiration Date Come ride the rails with me! There's one thing about humility - the moment you think you've got it, you've lost it...
A few years back the UP bridge at Clinton experienced a similar predictment. The operator locked the swing bridge in the open position. In that case however, they were in contact with the operator. He was acting strangely and would hang up on anyone (dispatcher, local officials) who were calling him on the phone. They had to get a boat to go out and relieve him. I don't recall if it was a medical episode or something self-induced. I'm thinking it was the latter.
They do keep a boat tied up to the bridge's pivot pier for use by the operator. Just in case the bridge breaks down in the open position. Something that happens every so often.
Jeff
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