Following Hurricane Helene, OCCI was called for an emergency repair of a railroad bridge in Poplar, North Carolina, after its spans were washed into the Nolichucky River off the existing pier caps. Retrieving the spans from the river and performing on-site steel repair to the salvageable spans. In addition, the spans were retrofitted with a new floor system, converting the timber deck bridge into a ballast deck bridge. The concrete piers were raised by two feet and reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer wrapping. Two new abutments were cast in place using custom wood forms, while a new hammerhead footer, column, and cap were also poured. After retrofitting four existing spans and assembling three new DPG spans, a 1,000-ton crane was utilized to set all seven spans over the course of a week.
Emergency Repair; Existing Sub-Structure Rehabilitation; Steel Repair; Superlift Crane
