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ENLARGE
Jeff Bishop
Rehabilitation work has finished on one of three tunnels needed to reopen the Coos Bay rail line, the executive director of the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay told Douglas County commissioners on Wednesday.
Deteriorated timbers on the tunnel located west of Noti in Lane County had to be removed and shored up, along with rock slabs and concrete that fell off as they were being worked on. Crews sprayed high-pressure concrete to form a new tunnel surface, Jeff Bishop said.
Crews from LRL Construction of Tillamook are now staging at Tunnel 15, located southeast of Florence. That tunnel collapsed several years ago and poses the most serious challenge, Bishop said.
“We'll keep our fingers crossed but we anticipate if we're going to have any trouble, it's going to be in Tunnel 15,” he said.
The port hopes to have the line, now known as the Coos Bay Rail Link, back up and running sometime late next year. The port will solicit offers from other railroads to operate the line.
Dan Lovelady, the former head of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, will serve as the chief operating officer for the Coos Bay line and for another railroad in Prineville.
The third tunnel needing major work is located south of Gardiner, while six other tunnels need more minor repairs. Altogether, that work is estimated to cost $6.6 million.
The port bought the 111-mile line from CORP for $16.6 million earlier this year, after the Roseburg-based railroad shut it down in September 2007. The line is considered a vital link between lumber mills, the American Bridge plant on Bolon Island outside Reedsport and docks and ocean terminals at Coos Bay.
Companies that shipped by that rail line support 700 jobs, Bishop said, and when their suppliers are taken into account, an additional 2,000 jobs are impacted. Commissioner Susan Morgan, who served as a state representative for 10 years before becoming a commissioner earlier this year, put the number higher, at 2,300 jobs.
In addition, three major swinging bridges over the Umpqua and Siuslaw rivers and at Coos Bay, must be repaired, along with 11 steel bridges. There's another 20 combination steel and timber bridges, 44 timber bridges, seven concrete bridges, along with 330 culverts, that must be repaired.
The total cost is estimated at $49.7 million. The port took out loans and has been awarded $4 million from the state and another $2.5 million from the federal stimulus program.
Crews have removed about 80 percent of the debris that has covered the tracks since the line was closed, Bishop said. They must also replace sections of rail and install new ties and ballast. Railroad signals must also be rehabilitated.
“I think this is a project that's a great example of what happens when people work together and share a common vision,” Morgan said. “I have nothing but respect for what you've done.”
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
Deteriorated timbers on the tunnel located west of Noti in Lane County had to be removed and shored up, along with rock slabs and concrete that fell off as they were being worked on. Crews sprayed high-pressure concrete to form a new tunnel surface, Jeff Bishop said.
Crews from LRL Construction of Tillamook are now staging at Tunnel 15, located southeast of Florence. That tunnel collapsed several years ago and poses the most serious challenge, Bishop said.
“We'll keep our fingers crossed but we anticipate if we're going to have any trouble, it's going to be in Tunnel 15,” he said.
The port hopes to have the line, now known as the Coos Bay Rail Link, back up and running sometime late next year. The port will solicit offers from other railroads to operate the line.
Dan Lovelady, the former head of the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad, will serve as the chief operating officer for the Coos Bay line and for another railroad in Prineville.
The third tunnel needing major work is located south of Gardiner, while six other tunnels need more minor repairs. Altogether, that work is estimated to cost $6.6 million.
The port bought the 111-mile line from CORP for $16.6 million earlier this year, after the Roseburg-based railroad shut it down in September 2007. The line is considered a vital link between lumber mills, the American Bridge plant on Bolon Island outside Reedsport and docks and ocean terminals at Coos Bay.
Companies that shipped by that rail line support 700 jobs, Bishop said, and when their suppliers are taken into account, an additional 2,000 jobs are impacted. Commissioner Susan Morgan, who served as a state representative for 10 years before becoming a commissioner earlier this year, put the number higher, at 2,300 jobs.
In addition, three major swinging bridges over the Umpqua and Siuslaw rivers and at Coos Bay, must be repaired, along with 11 steel bridges. There's another 20 combination steel and timber bridges, 44 timber bridges, seven concrete bridges, along with 330 culverts, that must be repaired.
The total cost is estimated at $49.7 million. The port took out loans and has been awarded $4 million from the state and another $2.5 million from the federal stimulus program.
Crews have removed about 80 percent of the debris that has covered the tracks since the line was closed, Bishop said. They must also replace sections of rail and install new ties and ballast. Railroad signals must also be rehabilitated.
“I think this is a project that's a great example of what happens when people work together and share a common vision,” Morgan said. “I have nothing but respect for what you've done.”
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@nrtoday.com.
