Engineering Study Shows 11/20 Rail Bridges In Western PA In Serious/Poor Condition; Norfolk Southern Dismisses Concerns

In February 2023, 38 train cars owned by the company Norfolk Southern derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, sparking a fire and leading to the vent and burn of thousands of gallons of the toxic chemical vinyl chloride. Norfolk Southern recently announced a settlement with the town for $22 million. Since the derailment, rail safety in the United States has taken on a new sense of public urgency. In western Pennsylvania, just over the border from East Palestine, a report on rail bridges aims to raise the alarm about the state of aging infrastructure. An engineering firm inspecting 20 Norfolk Southern and feeder bridges in the Pittsburgh area found 11 in serious or poor condition.

“It is critical for Pittsburgh, for Pennsylvania and for the rest of this country that we have more oversight,” said Glenn Olcerst, founder of Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh, a grassroots group that advocates for changes to rail regulation and hired the firm to produce the report. “They’re playing Russian roulette with us. Each time a train passes, especially over these bridges, it’s a spin of the cylinder in a gun.” In a statement to Inside Climate News, Norfolk Southern said its engineers have deemed all its bridges “structurally safe” and discounted the report’s inspections because they were only based on the appearance of the bridges. “Norfolk Southern is committed to the safety of our operations and our infrastructure, including our bridges,” said the spokesperson, Heather Garcia. Garcia said one of the bridges in the report, located on River Road, is not owned by Norfolk Southern.

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David Schmidt, a structural engineer and certified bridge inspector who was hired by Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh to carry out the inspections, said that one of the bridges, on 7th Street in Freeport, appeared to be too damaged to justify repairs. “If I were the owner, I would be looking at replacing that bridge. I wouldn’t be looking at fixing it. It had too many problems,” he said. Garcia, with Norfolk Southern, said the 7th Street bridge is “confirmed to be safe for rail operations” but is “slated for pre-scheduled maintenance work in 2025.”

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Schmidt’s inspections were also limited by the lack of public information about previous inspections. Those are conducted by the company, not the government. “I do believe the feds should be more involved in the railroad industry,” he said. “We can’t even get their [Norfolk Southern’s] reports to see how they compare to what we found, and they’re not required to disclose anything.” Schmidt said rail bridge regulations should be more like the rules for highway bridges. “If a politician wants to know the condition of the highway bridge, he can get it, but the railroad bridge he can’t,” he said. Rail bridge safety, unlike road bridges, is the responsibility of private railroad companies.

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https://insideclimatenews.org/news/03022025/western-pennsylvania-norfolk-southern-rail-bridges-disrepair/