BNSF rebuilding key Mississippi River bridge

Taking advantage of "an economically favorable construction environment, BNSF Railway says it will begin work this month on replacing seven approach spans on the Mississippi River bridge at Burlington, Iowa, which it is rebuilding to "21st century engineering standards."

The work will complement a separate project that began last year to replace the bridge’s swing span with a new lift span over the navigation channel. Walsh Construction of Chicago will be the prime contractor on the approach span project, which is scheduled to be completed by December 2011.

The replacement approach spans will have new reinforced concrete foundations with 250-foot steel bridge spans.

BNSF said the bridge is used by about 30 trains a day, including two Amtrak trains linking Chicago to Denver. The bridge opens about 300 times a month to let river traffic pass. About 24 million tons of waterborne commerce passed through the bridge in 2008.

“The Burlington Bridge is a vital link in our nation’s transportation infrastructure," said David Freeman, vice president, Engineering, BNSF. "The new approaches will improve the Bridge’s overall rail capacity for freight and passenger movement. Together with the new lift span, these approaches will mean an entirely new bridge that will benefit Iowa and Illinois, as well as customers and passengers all along the BNSF Chicago to Denver corridor.”

He said is also continuing on replacement of the Bridge’s old swing span with a modern lift span, which will increase the river navigation channel width from 150 feet to 307 feet 6 inches. Ames Construction is the contractor on the lift span project, which is scheduled to be completed by March 2011. In addition to the lift span, one fixed span on the east side will be replaced with three smaller, temporary spans.

The lift span project is financed primarily through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and previous appropriations under the Truman-Hobbs Act, which provides federal funding for altering bridges found to be unreasonably obstructive to navigation. The Burlington Bridge is one of the top three U.S. bridges most frequently struck by barges or towing vessels.