Congaree River Railroad Bridge Replacement

RS&H served as the transfer system design engineer for a bridge slide system to allow the removal of an existing railroad bridge onto a temporary work bridge and a slide of the new bridge in place within the 36-hour maximum closure window. The slide system was comprised of steel substructure and roller beams with industrial rollers and hydraulic ram pistons to provide motion. The project required bridge jacking of both the existing and new bridges.

This effort was required to allow the passage of North America’s largest rail car, having 36 axles and capable of carrying over 1,000,000 pounds across the Congaree River in South Carolina. The existing bridge was a 240-foot, 700,000-pound, swing-cantilever truss bridge that was built in 1918. The new bridge consists of two, 120-foot-long, 600,000-pound, through-girder spans.