Redesign and Rehabilitation of Railroad Bridges with Advanced Adverse Lateral Migration

Much of the railroad infrastructure in the United States was initially built over a century ago, whereas the highway infrastructure is roughly half as old. Consequently, the existing railroad infrastructure presents more cases with advanced stream stability issues. These include advanced lateral and vertical migration which must be addressed when assessing, mitigating, or redesigning railroad bridges for stream stability and scour. Bridge 433.3 on the Union Pacific Railroad near Chickasha, Oklahoma is used as a case study to illustrate the problems with redesigning a railroad bridge crossing which has experienced advanced long-term lateral stability issues, and to demonstrate how mitigating for stream stability and scour at railroads differs from similar work within the National Highway System.