04/04/24 - SCCRTC - Part 7 - Project Update P3

SCCRTC's summary of the last 3 episodes:The existing bridges are old and most have deteriorated to an unusable state. There are advantages for rebuilding the bridges to the E80 freight standards. That will be expensive, but there are not many savings to be had with lower ratings. The RTC does not know how much it will cost to replace them.The RTC's highlights:"The Commission received an update on the Zero Emission Passenger Rail and Trail Project Concept development, including information on recent public engagement. As the project team begins the next milestone of the Project Concept Report – preliminary conceptual alignments and zero emission vehicle types – evaluation of existing corridor infrastructure was completed in February as a first step. The evaluation concluded that the majority of the existing bridges on the Branch Line would need to be replaced in order to accommodate passenger rail service. Staff informed the Commission that since the Branch Line is an active freight railroad, the recommendation is that the Project Concept Report include rail infrastructure that supports loading for freight rail and passenger rail. The current industry standard design loading for new infrastructure supporting freight rail is referred to as the Cooper E80 loading, in which the heaviest locomotive loads are 80,000-pounds per axle. Constructing new bridges to a design load standard less than Cooper E80 yields very little cost benefit while introducing fundability risks. Staff also informed the Commission that for existing Branch Line bridges that can be strengthened and potentially remain, adopting a loading standard for existing bridges that is lower than Cooper E80 may be practical while still meeting the needs of both freight and passenger rail uses of the Branch Line."Agenda:https://sccrtc.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/2024-04-04-RTC-agenda-revised.pdf