Heartland Corridor

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The item below is from the online edition of Railway Track and Structures magazine.  I saw the cranes in place at the bridge when I was in Bluefield last Saturday.

Gordon Hamilton


      Belcher Bridge is coming down for NS Corridor        
      Tuesday, July 06, 2010  


      Norfolk Southern contract crews have set up warning signs, and one of Bluefield, W. Va.'s bridges that traverses the NS main line in the city's East End will be coming down within the next two weeks?, ?the Bluefield Daily Telegraph reports. 

      Robin Chapman, NS spokesman said, "the span will come down the week of July 19," although crews are already working to remove the bridge decking material and preparing the structure for its removal.?? 

      "There will be a 10-hour outage as crews remove the span," Chapman said. "It's not going to affect our traffic."?? 

      The Belcher Bridge, also known as the Hardy Street Bridge, represents the final piece in NS's multi-million dollar Heartland Corridor project aimed at removing the physical obstacles for double-stacked freight loads on the route from Chicago, Ill., to Hampton Roads, Va.?? 

      "We have completed the work we needed to do on Wayne Street to improve access for residents living in the East End," Bluefield Mayor Linda Whalen said. "We researched the idea before we decided the right way to go on the project. The traffic count on that bridge was minimal, and the railroad is giving us compensation for the bridge that we can apply to meet the local match to receive federal stimulus funds so we can repair the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge." 

      ??Whalen said that the city was fortunate to find a way to get the MLK Jr., Bridge repaired with no out-of-pocket expense for the city.?? 

      "It's really to Andy Merriman's credit," Whalen said. "He was able to work all of this out and make this happen." 

      ????The Belcher Bridge had been a main access point to the old J.B. Belcher Lumber sawmill that had been located in the East End of Bluefield. 
     


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