Atlas Bridge Works on Connecticut River Crossing

Continuing my coverage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) High Speed Rail Project on the New England Central Railroad’s Roxbury and Palmer Subdivisions, this installment will take a minute look at some of the work being performed by Atlas Bridge Construction on the Connecticut River Bridge between Bellows Falls, VT and North Walpole, NH.

Arriving on site to begin my photo work, I met with Atlas Foreman Eric Stover to discuss the plans and got the “Job Briefing” for the day, along with the track warrant limits and time.  

The plan for this particular day, Sunday, April 3, was to do some finishing work on cross-ties that had already been replaced on the north end of the Bridge.  That work would include various side beams and edge ties, as well as anchor bolt installation.  Simultaneously with that work, the tie crane would retrieve old timbers from the adjacent unused side of the bridge from the north end and take them to the salvage pile where the former Rutland Roundhouse stood in Bellows Falls.

The crane moves into position to move some of the stored old ties near the new ties being delivered.  The crane will head out onto the bridge and work independently of the crewmembers that are putting down new timber.

Organizing the pile in preparation for more arrivals, the crane operator has employed the retractable stabilizers that lock onto the rail to allow it its stretch away from the rails.

Foreman Eric Stover drills holes for the anchor bolts on the bridge project's north end.  New timber is not being installed this day... 

A short time later, Stover hamers in the anchor bolts.

The crane operator retrieves sets of old ties from the unused side of the bridge on the New Hampshire end of the bridge.

And delivers the old ties to the storage area on the south end (Bellows Falls, VT) of the bridge by the old Rutland roundhouse site near the Bellows Falls Dam.