Construction crews with the Norfolk Southern railroad will be making repairs to the viaduct over Seminary Street in Danville over the next few days, with the hope that the city will be able to reopen the roadway in about a week.
City Engineer Sam Cole says that the railroad officials found holes in the timber decking that were allowing rock to slip through onto the roadway below. He also says that concrete was falling onto the sidewalk. Those reasons were why the traffic through the viaduct was shut down Monday morning.
Like all other railroad crossings, the viaduct itself is owned by the railroad, and they have total control over the repair process.
“It’s not our bridge to officially assess and to make a determination on,” Cole explains. “We’re tasked with (determining if it is) safe for the public to be under there and use this thing, but we don’t get to dictate what’s done with it.”
Cole says that railroad officials have been at the crossing the past two days. The structure is inspected every year, and is considered safe for trains to use.
One of the unique things about the structure is that it is jointly owned by the Norfolk Southern and CSX railroads. CSX has an unused rail on the west, while the NS has lines to the east. Cole says CSX’s portion of the bridge is in worse shape than the other half.
