Progress being made in partial bridge collapse
Posted Jun 27, 2013 5:27 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The danger to the public and the environment has dramatically lessened following the partial collapse of the Bonnybrook Bridge this morning.
The incident occurred around 4 am and derailed six railcars, five of them carrying about 400-thousand pounds of petroleum distillate leaving one part of the bridge so low, it was skimming the Bow River.
Crews pumping out all the dangerous liquid from the derailed cars expect to have all six pulled off the collapsing bridge by tomorrow.
Initially, crews successfully tethered the cars together on the partially collapsed bridge to keep them from falling into the water.
Booms were also set up downstream in the Bow should any of the flammable, explosive, and environmentally hazardous product escapes in the process.
The incident resulted in a half-mile evacuation in the area but that is now down to 300 metres.
A number of closures were also in effect for several hours including both directions of Deerfoot Trail and Barlow Trail which created commuter chaos.
Ogden Road remains closed over the river between 50th Avenue SE and 17th Street SE.
Provincial Transportation Minister Ric McIver says an investigation by the Transportation Safety Board will be launched as the bridge falls under federal jurisdiction and passed inspection twice in the last week.
At one point, about 100 federal, provincial, and local workers including Calgary first responders and CP staff have been working feverishly to difuse the potentially explosive situation since early in the morning with the safety of Calgarians their top priority.
Fire Chief Bruce Burrell says this emergency call could not have come at a worse time, because work from last week’s flood is far from complete.
Meanwhile, the CEO of Canadian Pacific Railway says several CP inspections were done on the bridge recently.
Hunter Harrison says the structure was checked five times after floodwaters rose, but piers at the bottom of the river failed.
He says divers would normally have been sent down to look at the bottom of the bridge, but the water was too murky and swift to do that safely.
Harrison says the bridge was built in 1912 and CP hasn’t had a failure like this since 1944 and the bridge’s failure is “extraordinary.”
