[Federal Register Volume 64, Number 245 (Wednesday, December 22, 1999)]
[Notices]
[Pages 71844-71846]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 99-33209]


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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

Federal Railroad Administration
[FRA Emergency Order No. 22, Notice No. 1]


Oregon Pacific Railroad; Emergency Order To Prevent Operation of 
Trains on the Railroad Bridge Crossing Johnson Creek in the City of 
Milwaukie, Oregon

    The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) of the United States 
Department of Transportation (DOT) has determined that public safety 
compels issuance of this Emergency Order requiring the Oregon Pacific 
Railroad Company (OPR) to discontinue operation of trains or any 
railroad on-track equipment on a railroad bridge it owns spanning 
Johnson Creek (hereinafter designated as the ``Johnson Creek Bridge'') 
in the City of Milwaukie, Oregon. The bridge shall remain out of 
service until it has been properly repaired and its capacity determined 
by a registered professional engineer licensed to practice in the State 
of Oregon and who is technically proficient in the field of timber 
railroad bridge engineering.

Authority

    Authority to enforce Federal railroad safety laws has been 
delegated by the Secretary of Transportation to the Federal Railroad 
Administrator. 49 CFR 1.49. Railroads are subject to FRA's safety 
jurisdiction under the Federal railroad safety laws, 49 U.S.C. 20101, 
20103. FRA is authorized to issue emergency orders where an unsafe 
condition or practice ``causes an emergency situation involving a 
hazard of death or personal injury.'' 49 U.S.C. Sec. 20104. These 
orders may impose such ``restrictions and prohibitions * * * that may 
be necessary to abate the situation.'' (Ibid.)

Background

    The Oregon Pacific Railroad Company, a common carrier, is a part of 
the general railroad system of transportation and operates two 
principal segments of track. The segment in which the Johnson Creek 
Bridge is located consists of 4.28 miles of main track and 2.11 miles 
of secondary or yard trackage, or a total trackage of 6.39 miles, 
extending from milepost 0.26 (at its connection with Union Pacific 
Railroad Company's Portland-Eugene mainline at UP MP 769) at or near 
East Portland, Oregon, to milepost 4.54 at Milwaukie, all of which is 
located in Clackamas County, Oregon. The Oregon Pacific Railroad 
acquired this segment from East Portland Traction Company on January 1, 
1997, and commenced railroad operation on that date.
    The other segment of railroad operated by the Oregon Pacific 
Railroad is not contiguous with the first. It extends 9.93 miles from 
Canby to Molalla, Oregon, and includes a total of 11.38 miles of 
trackage. The Oregon Pacific Railroad likewise commenced railroad 
operations on that segment on January 1, 1997.
    The President, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of the 
Oregon Pacific Railroad is Mr. Richard A. Samuels, whose office mailing 
address is Oregon Pacific Railroad Company, P.O. Box 22548, Portland, 
Oregon 97269. Mr. Samuels is also the principal stockholder of the 
company.
    The Oregon Pacific Railroad crosses Johnson Creek in Milwaukie, 
Oregon, on a timber trestle bridge not identified by number and located 
approximately one-half mile upstream from the point where Johnson Creek 
empties into the Willamette River. The location is also approximately 
300 feet west of S.E. McLoughlin Boulevard (Oregon State Highway 99E) 
between its intersections with S.E. Harrison Street and S.E. Jackson 
Street. Geographic coordinates are 45 deg.26'41'' North latitude and 
122 deg.38'38'' West longitude. There is no commercial water traffic on 
Johnson Creek.
    The Oregon Pacific Railroad crosses the bridge to serve one 
shipper, AmeriCold Logistics, located south of the bridge. AmeriCold 
Logistics transports frozen food products in mechanical refrigerator 
cars at a rate of

[[Page 71845]]

about two cars per week, typically hauled in one train. Each 
refrigerator car has a gross weight of 220,000 pounds. The Oregon 
Pacific Railroad uses a small locomotive whose weight is undetermined.

Condition of the Bridge

    The bridge is 127 feet long and consists of a nine-span open-deck 
timber trestle carrying a single track in a twelve-degree curve to the 
west. For reference in this emergency order and other documents 
relating to this emergency order, the bridge components are numbered 
from north to south and from east to west, with the north dump bent or 
abutment numbered as 0.
    Intermediate bents one through seven nominally consist of four 
driven timber piles. Bent 8 is framed on a mud sill. Caps measure 14 
inches by 14 inches by 12 feet on bents 1 through 5, and bent 8. Caps 
in bents 6 and 7 are 14 inches by 13 inches by 12 feet, with the large 
side horizontal. Each span has eight stringers, with four stringers 
essentially centered under each rail, 8 inches by 18 inches by 32 feet, 
with stringer joints alternating between bents. The clear space under 
the bridge is approximately six feet above the water level of the 
stream.
    Track ties of 7 inches by 9 inches by 9 feet rest directly on top 
of the stringers, and support in turn tie plates and the two running 
rails, 75 pounds per yard, one 75-pound-per-yard guard rail connected 
to the west running rail, and two 55-pound-per-yard inner guard rails. 
The track is of conventional bolted rail construction.
    Bent 5 is missing piles 1 and 2, and is supported by only piles 3 
and 4, both under its west side. An outrigger beam has been placed 
under span 5, under the stringers and directly against the north face 
of the cap of bent 5. This beam consists of several timbers, 8 inches 
by 16 inches in cross section, placed vertically. These timbers are 
packed in four plies. Plies 1 and 3 each consist of two 16-foot timbers 
butt joined at the center of the beam. Plies 2 and 4 each consist of 
one 30-foot timber and one 2-foot timber, butt joined two feet from the 
west end of the beam, nearest the bridge. The beam is oriented with its 
individual plies placed on their short edges.
    The outrigger beam is supported on its east end by a track tie 
resting on the ground on the south bank of Johnson Creek where the 
creek makes a sharp bend to the north on the east side of the bridge. 
The outrigger beam is supported on its west end by a \3/8\-inch 
diameter chain wrapped once around two track ties. Wooden blocks and 
wedges are placed between the bottoms of the stringers and the top of 
the outrigger beam. The east, or ``free'' end of the cap of bent 5 has 
settled approximately five inches from the bottoms of stringers 1 
through 4.
    Stringer 1 over spans 5 and 6 has essentially failed, with a deep 
shear crack near its neutral axis for its full length. The cap of bent 
6 is demonstrating severe crushing over piles 3 and 4. The bridge shows 
signs of heavy vertical deflection under load on the east side.
    On December 1, 1999, a track safety inspector and a bridge 
inspector from the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT), and a 
track safety specialist from FRA inspected the bridge. On December 2, 
1999, they advised Mr. Samuels of the unsafe condition of the bridge. 
Mr. Samuels verbally agreed to immediately remove the bridge from 
service until it could be properly repaired. This discussion and 
agreement were memorialized in a letter dated December 6, 1999, to Mr. 
Samuels from FRA's regional administrator for Region 8, Dick L. 
Clairmont. Subsequent investigation by FRA has revealed, however, that 
the Oregon Pacific Railroad did not take the bridge out of service, but 
instead placed more blocking and wedges between the stringers and the 
top of the outrigger beam and continued to operate railroad rolling 
stock over the bridge.
    The ODOT inspectors, along with an FRA inspector who has received 
specialized training in timber bridge inspection, then performed a more 
detailed measurement of the components of the bridge which are 
summarized in the paragraphs above. Using those measurements, FRA has 
determined that the Johnson Creek Bridge is in danger of imminent, 
catastrophic failure at any time that a railroad load passes over the 
bridge. The configuration of the outrigger beam arrangement overly 
stresses the stringers, caps, and piles of piers 4, 5 and 6 far beyond 
their normal capacity, and even the outrigger beam itself could fail at 
any time. Depending on the amount and direction of deflection of the 
bridge components, the \3/8\-inch diameter chain which secures the west 
end of the outrigger beam also may become stressed far beyond its 
ultimate capacity. Merely replacing or reinforcing the chain would not 
correct the unstable condition created by the lack of piles 1 and 2 in 
bent 5.
    Failure of the bridge under load could have very serious 
consequences. The bridge failure could cause the train to fall into 
Johnson Creek, killing or injuring any railroad crew members operating 
rolling stock, killing or injuring any innocent bystanders using 
Johnson Creek or its banks, and possibly blocking the creek resulting 
in widespread flooding in the immediate area. Locomotive diesel fuel 
and/or fuel and contents of a mechanical refrigerator car could cause 
severe environmental damage to Johnson Creek and the nearby Willamette 
River.

Finding and Order

    FRA has concluded that any future railroad use of the Johnson Creek 
Bridge on the Oregon Pacific Railroad poses an imminent and 
unacceptable threat to public and employee safety. The past failure of 
the Oregon Pacific Railroad to voluntarily remove the bridge from 
service and perform proper repairs persuades FRA that the agency cannot 
rely upon the cooperation of the railroad to protect public safety in 
relation to the Johnson Creek Bridge. I find that these unsafe 
conditions create an emergency situation involving a hazard of death or 
injury to persons.
    Accordingly, pursuant to the authority of 49 U.S.C. 20104 delegated 
to me by the Secretary of Transportation (49 CFR 1.49), it is ordered 
that the Oregon Pacific Railroad Company shall discontinue, and shall 
not permit, the operation of trains or any railroad on-track equipment 
over the Johnson Creek Bridge while this Emergency Order remains in 
effect.

Relief

    The Oregon Pacific Railroad Company may obtain relief from this 
Emergency Order by providing the Federal Railroad Administrator with a 
report of inspection and evaluation of repairs, indicating to FRA's 
satisfaction that the Johnson Creek Bridge has been acceptably 
repaired. The report shall be prepared and sealed by a registered 
professional engineer who is licensed to practice in the State of 
Oregon and is technically proficient in the field of timber railroad 
bridge engineering. The report shall state that the capacity of the 
bridge to carry safely railroad cars and locomotives has been restored. 
The configuration and weights of the loads for which the determination 
has been made shall be stated in the report, together with all 
calculations upon which that determination is based. The original of 
the engineer's report, bearing the embossed imprint of the seal of the 
engineer, shall be provided to the regional administrator of FRA's 
Region 8 before the report will be considered by FRA. Upon FRA's 
approval of the engineer's assessment of the bridge restoration, and 
following an inspection

[[Page 71846]]

by FRA in which the agency finds the bridge properly repaired to safe 
condition, the Administrator will rescind this Emergency Order.

Penalties

    Any violation of this order shall subject the person committing the 
violation to a civil penalty of up to $22,000. 49 U.S.C. 21301. FRA 
may, through the Attorney General, also seek injunctive relief to 
enforce this order. 49 U.S.C. Sec. 20112.

Effective Date and Notice to Affected Persons

    This Emergency Order shall take effect at 12:01 a.m. (PST) on 
December 17, 1999 and apply to all operations of trains or railroad on-
track equipment on the Johnson Creek Bridge on or after that time. 
Notice of this Emergency Order will be provided by publishing it in the 
Federal Register. Copies of this Emergency Order will be sent by mail 
or facsimile prior to publication to Mr. Richard A. Samuels, President, 
Chief Executive Officer and General Manager, Oregon Pacific Railroad 
Company, P.O. Box 22548, Portland, Oregon 97269; the Union Pacific 
Railroad Company; the City of Milwaukie, Oregon; AmeriCold Logistics; 
Oregon Department of Transportation; the Association of American 
Railroads; and the American Short Line and Regional Railroad 
Association.

Review

    Opportunity for formal review of this Emergency Order will be 
provided in accordance with 49 U.S.C. 20104(b) and section 554 of Title 
5 of the United States Code. Administrative procedures governing such 
review are found at 49 CFR part 211. See 49 CFR 211.47, 211.71, 211.73, 
211.75, and 211.77.

    Issued in Washington, DC on December 16, 1999.
Jolene M. Molitoris,
Administrator.
[FR Doc. 99-33209 Filed 12-21-99; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-06-P