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<DIV><FONT face=Arial>The following from the online edition of <EM>Railway Track
& Structures</EM> magazine may be of interest because of the detail that it
provides on increasing clearance in the tunnels on the Corridor.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial>Gordon Hamilton</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
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<TD class=contentheading width="100%"><STRONG>Crews enlarge tunnels for
taller trains</STRONG> </TD>
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<TD class=createdate vAlign=top colSpan=2>Tuesday, October 06, 2009 </TD></TR>
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<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Opening a new rail gateway for
double-stacked containers is taking place across southern West Virginia 20
grueling feet at a time, according to the <I>Charleston Daily Mail</I>.
Every weekday, Norfolk Southern shuts down a portion of its main line
between the East Coast and the Midwest so crews can raise the roofs in the
line's tunnels.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">It's part of the $151-million
Heartland Corridor project, which will allow the railroad to ship
double-stacked containers between the port of Hampton Roads and Chicago.
The project will cut 233 miles and more than a day's travel time for
trains moving between the two locations.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">"Big Sandy 1," near here, is one of
the tunnels where work is under way.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">The nearly half-mile-long tunnel has
a concrete liner. The sides and arched roof are smooth and, to the naked
eye, seem perfect. "The workmanship is 104 years old," said Robert
Billingsley, Norfolk Southern's director of structural projects. "It's
pretty darned good!"</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">But the distance from the top of the
rails to the roof is 19 feet, 6 inches. Double-stacked containers are 20
feet, 3 inches tall. The railroad wants a 9-inch safety margin so it is
having the height raised to 21 feet.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">At 2 a.m. each weekday contractors
enter the tunnel on rubber-tired aerial lifts or rail flatcars loaded with
equipment. Wearing facemasks, helmets with lamps and coal-mining overalls
with reflective stripes, the workers maneuver the lifts high above the
tracks and start sawing the liner where the straight, smooth sides begin
to arch <BR></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Billingsley said that when Heartland
Corridor work began two years ago, workers didn't make much progress in
one shift. Now they typically finish a 20-foot section in one
shift.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Every time the workers move
equipment, they blow horns to alert everyone. That's a good precaution
because space between the flatcars and the tunnel walls is tight, it's
pitch dark, and you can't easily be heard. The noise made by the equipment
is magnified as it reverberates off the tunnel's walls.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">After the workers saw through a
20-foot length of liner, they use a machine called a "road header" - a
drum encrusted with drill bits - to rip out the arched portion of the
liner, raising the tunnel's height. Sometimes it rains grit in the dark.
No wonder road headers have been featured in the Discovery Channel's
"Dirty Jobs" television show.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">A fan is installed at one end of the
tunnel to blow fresh air past the workers.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">There aren't any cave-ins because
another crew preceded the workers, drilling 20-foot-long roof boltholes in
a carefully laid out pattern: six bolts across, six feet apart. The bolts
are installed as soon as the cutting crew passes. The sides don't collapse
because they've already been reinforced with 8- to 16-foot-long
bolts.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">The shift is finished after a crew
sprays liquid concrete on the freshly cut roof to stabilize it. Instead of
a smooth concrete arch, the heightened roof looks like a moonscape. The
roof must be secured and the tunnel cleared by noon, when the rail line
reopens. On a typical morning trains can be seen idling on tracks near the
tunnel, waiting for the reopening.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Billingsley said a lot of preparation
work is done before crews even begin to raise a roof. Ballast is spread
over the tunnel floor up to the height of the rails so workers don't have
to stumble over ties or through mud and rubber-tired vehicles as well as
rail equipment can operate.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">"Holes are drilled to determine how
thick the liner is, whether there are any voids, and to determine the
quality of rock," he said. "We put a camera up every hole and document
what is found." Usually there's sandstone behind the liner but crews have
found shale, a few coal seams and, occasionally, a void.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">"In the Cooper Tunnel near Bramwell
they discovered a 20-foot void over the roof liner," Billingsley said.
"They're building a steel arch liner to secure the space."</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">After a roof is raised, crews spray a
thick finishing coat of liquid concrete on it. Then Norfolk Southern
workers replace the ballast, rails and ties.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Some tunnels require special work.
U.S. Route 52 runs atop one end of Big Sandy 1 and an abandoned portion of
Route 52 runs across the top of the other end. Billingsley said both ends
of the tunnel would be reinforced with steel to make sure the roadways
above are secure.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">A total of 28 tunnels - four in
Virginia and 24 in West Virginia - are being modified. Workers have
encountered a variety of issues. Two tunnels are lined with brick. One is
natural rock. Most were drilled through sandstone but at least one in
Virginia was drilled through limestone.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">In some cases the track has been
lowered instead of raising the roof. But this isn't common because the job
shuts down the line for an extended period. In some of the tunnels the
entire roof doesn't need to be raised. Instead, the side of the liner can
be notched to provide adequate clearance.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Billingsley said safety is the
railroad's top priority and there haven't been any serious
injuries.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">"During the two years there's been
one accident that delayed a train," he said. "That was due to a rock fall
- one rock."</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">The tunnel work began on Oct. 20,
2007, at the Cowan Tunnel near Radford, Va. The Williamson (Mingo) Tunnel
was completed in December 2009. Four tunnels in the area are expected to
be finished in 2010: The Cooper Tunnel in January, Big Sandy 4 in June,
Big Sandy 3 in July and Big Sandy 1 in August.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">LRL Construction of Tillamook, Ore.,
is working on the Cooper Tunnel. Johnson Western Constructors of San
Leandro, Calif., worked on the Williamson (Mingo) Tunnel and is working on
Big Sandy 1 and 3. R.J. Corman Railroad Construction of Nicholasville,
Ky., is working on Big Sandy 4.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">The West Coast companies brought some
managers to the projects but hired mostly local people, including many
with mining experience, Billingsley said. A crew typically consists of 25
to 30 workers. <BR></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Robin Chapman, NS manager of public
relations, said the company's line across southern West Virginia - "The N
Line" - "was built to move coal." It handles less coal than in the past
but also handles mixed freight and, currently, one single-stack train each
day.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">"Double stacks will double our
capacity," he said.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Funding for the Heartland Corridor
includes $95 million from the federal government, $51 million from Norfolk
Southern, $5 million from the state of Virginia and $800,000 from the
state of Ohio.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Norfolk Southern donated 78 acres at
Prichard in Wayne County for an $18 million terminal that is being
developed by the West Virginia Public Port Authority. Ohio already has a
terminal operating near Columbus.</SPAN> </P>
<P><SPAN style="FONT-FAMILY: Geneva">Proponents say the Heartland Corridor
will provide an efficient alternative to trucks and will reduce highway
congestion.</SPAN> </P></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></DIV></BODY></HTML>