Canadian National Railway – Arcola High Bridge Upgrade

Project: Arcola High Bridge Upgrade

Owner: Canadian National Railway

Scope of Work: Upgrade the deck of a century-old bridge spanning 2,700 feet between Wisconsin and Minnesota over the St. Croix River. The bridge, which sits 185′ above the river, had a walkway and handrail system on its south side but not on the north. Without a proper walkway system on both sides of the bridge, everyday tasks such as track inspections and rail repairs were challenging and treacherous. Lakehead was tasked with adding a northern walkway system to eliminate the fall hazard.

While most of the bridge had timbers long enough to accommodate the walkway, about 600′ feet of the western end did not. Lakehead crews replaced nearly 128 of the bridge’s 12-foot timbers with 16′ timbers to widen the bridge. Once that was complete, Lakehead Ironworkers installed a 2,700’ walkway system that included 2’-side grating, a hand railing, and 550 vertical handrail posts.

Special Equipment: Lakehead used two specialized trucks for the project, as well as special equipment to protect workers in the event of a fall. One was a hi-rail grapple (log loader) truck equipped with creep drive, a magnet, and onboard hydraulics for tool usage, allowing the operator to move freely along the track while never leaving the operator station. The second truck was a modified F-550 Crew Truck  equipped with rail gear and furnished with hydraulic tools and a small crane.

To ensure worker safety, Lakehead purchased a safety system that included a R550 rescue and descent drive, pulley, 8-foot twin leading-edge self-retractable, rail clamps, and other accessories. This equipment allowed the crew to clamp onto the rail and move freely while having a system in place to complete a retrieval if needed.

Safety: Lakehead’s crew of Operators, Laborers, and Ironworkers completed the work under budget without incident.