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Bridge Management

The Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) established Federal safety requirements for railroad bridges in 2010 under 49 CFR Part 237. VTrans established a Rail Bridge Management Program in September 2012 in accordance with these regulations. The program is responsible for collecting and maintaining an inventory of rail bridges, their condition, and making recommendations on repairs, strengthening or replacement of components or entire structures. These regulations also mandate that annual safety inspections are performed for each bridge.  All bridges have had an initial load capacity analysis completed as of September 2017 in accordance with these regulations. The load capacity analysis is verified or updated on a 10 year recurring cycle or when a planned project will affect the capacity of a bridge.

There are 214 rail bridges on State-owned property. The State is responsible for 172 of those bridges, with the railroad operator responsible for the remaining 42 bridges through existing lease agreements.

If you have any questions, please contact Erin Charbonneau, the VTrans Rail Bridge Management Engineer.

VTrans Rail Bridge Management Program Manual

Rail Bridge Management Consultant Sharepoint Site

VTrans Rail Bridge Management ArcGIS Online Group


PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
February 27, 2024

  • Barre City WACR(22) – Bridge 308 on the Washington County Railroad, Montpelier & Barre Division Over Stephens Branch 

Details:

A hybrid public involvement meeting was conducted in an open house format on Thursday February 22, 2024. The recording and presentation materials used during this presentation can be found below.

The intent of the meeting was to gather input from stakeholders, including town officials, local residents and businesses, emergency services and other interested parties. During this meeting we discussed the alternatives for the bridge that were evaluated through the scoping process, including the consultant’s recommended alternatives.

VTrans will be accepting comments regarding this project through Friday March 15, 2024.

Please contact Project Manager Erin Charbonneau with any questions or comments.

Recording - Microsoft Teams Meeting:

Barre City WACR(22) – Bridge 308 - Public Meeting 2-22-24

Meeting Resources:

Barre City WACR(22) – Bridge 308 - MS PowerPoint Presentation