CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – January 9, 2009 – The Cedar Rapids and Iowa City Railway Co. (CRANDIC) has begun staging materials in preparation for construction of the Cedar River Bridge. It will replace the 1903 bridge, which collapsed June 12, 2008, during record flooding.
“Losing that bridge was the biggest flood-related blow to our operation,” said Kevin Burke, vice president and general manager – CRANDIC. “The new bridge resurrects a strategic link for us and the local shipping community, and rebuilding it now is the right choice.”
The replacement will be in the same location as the previous structure, between the 8th and 12th Avenue city bridges. HDR Engineering of Omaha, Neb., designed the new 794.5 ft., ballast-deck bridge. Permits and approvals have been received from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and city of Cedar Rapids.
The new bridge will look very different than the 1903 bridge. “It will more closely resemble Union Pacific’s Cedar River Bridge near their grade crossing at C Street Southwest,” Burke explained. “With today’s technology we will be able to raise the bottom trusses almost two feet while maintaining the existing approaches.”
CRANDIC expects 20,000 rail car shipments to traverse the bridge annually, primarily corn moving from northern Iowa elevators to the local processing community. “Some of this traffic has been rerouted hundreds of miles at great expense during the outage,” said Burke. Four to six trains per day will use the bridge in the normal course of business.
“The new bridge and its substructures have been designed to withstand a similar event,” Burke said. “We’re confident it will last for many years.”
CRANDIC owns more than 100 miles of rail lines in four counties, much of it along the Cedar and Iowa Rivers. On June 13, 2008, company officials estimated seven miles of tracks were under water. Total flood damage and clean-up costs are expected to exceed $10 million. To date, CRANDIC has received no state or federal assistance for repairs or clean-up. The Cedar River Bridge was not insured.
CRANDIC, an Alliant Energy Transportation company, has existed for more than 100 years as a valuable business partner to eastern Iowa shippers, providing safe and efficient freight service 365 days per year. For more information, visit www.crandic.com.
