Private visual exam of 20 railroad bridges in Pittsburgh area claims 11 are in poor condition, need major repairs

A public advocacy group claims a visual review of 20 short rail bridges in Pittsburgh and surrounding communities by a certified bridge engineer found 11 of them in poor or worse condition, endangering nearby residences because the bridges routinely carry hazardous materials.

The report released by Rail Pollution Protection Pittsburgh includes dozens of photos of bridge conditions and claims two bridges, one over Riverfront Road in Millvale and another over Seventh Street in Freeport, are in “serious” condition. The group’s leader, Glenn Olcerst of Pittsburgh’s North Side, said the goal is to highlight problems so the bridges are replaced or repaired so there isn’t an incident here similar to the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023 that spilled dangerous chemicals that were deliberately burned and may have caused long-term hazardous living conditions.

“I’m trying to make sure that doesn’t happen in Pittsburgh,” Olcerst said.

Norfolk Southern, which owns most of the bridges, said in a statement that a visual inspection isn’t sufficient to determine whether a bridge is safe to use. The railroad said it spends about $2 billion a year on infrastructure improvements, including maintenance and improvements for railroad bridges.

“Norfolk Southern is committed to the safety of our operations and our infrastructure, including our bridges, and we inspect and maintain all our bridges in accordance with the Federal Railroad Administration’s Bridge Safety Standards (Section 237) and Norfolk Southern’s Bridge Management Program,” the statement said. “A bridge’s visual appearance seldom has a correlation to its structural integrity.”

All bridges that the railroad uses have been inspected and deemed to be safe.

The citizens group paid veteran Maryland bridge inspector David Schmidt, who now owns his own firm, to review 20 bridges in this area. The work involved a visual review rather than the federal required hands-on inspection with special instruments and gauges because Schmidt wasn’t allowed on private railroad property.

Additionally, the review was limited to small, short bridges because it is difficult to get a good view of high and long bridges from the ground underneath them.

Schmidt and his team did visual inspections of the bridges and created a report for each one of them that included recommendations for improvements. The reports also included a series of photographs to show the problems the inspectors saw.

Olcerst said his group decided to pay for its own inspections because railroad bridges are inspected by the railroads and reports are not available to the general public. Elected officials can request copies of railroad inspections, but in some instances some items may be blackened out so they can’t be seen.

Olcerst’s group is trying to follow the example set by Binghamton, New York, where Mayor Jared Karaham released a report in July 2023 citing what he called “deplorable conditions” on 12 of 25 Norfolk Southern bridges in that city. With additional pressure from federal officials, the railroad earlier this year began a series of extensive repairs on the bridges.

The local report, completed just before Christmas, has been circulated to all Democratic state officials, local communities and select federal officials, Olcerst said.

In this area, visual inspections by Schmidt’s team identified troubling problems with 11 of the 20 bridges reviewed and said they need rehabilitation or replacement. Nine were rated 4, considered “poor,” because they have “advanced section loss, deterioration, spalling, or scour,” and two were rated 3, considered “serious” because they have “Loss of section, deterioration, spalling or scour have seriously affected primary structural components.  Local failures are possible. Fatigue cracks in steel or shear cracks in concrete may be present.”

Under federal guidelines, bridges are rated from 0 to 9 based on their condition. Six of the 11 bridges reviewed in Pittsburgh were rated 4, and the best rating for any of the bridges reviewed locally was 6.

On the bridge over River Road in Millvale, which the report rated in serious condition, inspectors said they saw spalled concrete hanging as much as 6 inches away from the underneath side of the bridge. The bridge abutments, wing walls and pier all have serious concrete deterioration and spalling.

In Freeport, the bridge over Seventh Street also is considered in serious condition due to the poor condition of steel girders, abutments and supports. Also, much of the sealing material between joints on the underneath side of the deck has fallen away.

“The girders are in poor condition. Severe rust scale and pitting have resulted in loss of section along the bottom of the web and bottom flange of the fascia girders. There is severe loss of section to many rivet heads that connect the cover plates to the bottom flange of the girders.”

U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, who sits on the House Transportation Committee, called the report “yet another wake-up call about the lousy condition of railroad bridges in Western Pennsylvania.” He has been a leading advocate for stronger railroad oversight since the East Palestine incident, just across the Ohio border from his district.

“It is unacceptable to me that powerful railroads too often shirk their responsibility to maintain their bridges,” he said in a statement. “… Overall, we should change the bridge inspection system — which regularly leaves railroads to inspect their own bridges — and strengthen oversight by passing the Rail Bridge Safety and Transparency Act, a measure I’m proud to co-lead.

“We need these commonsense safety measures to better protect our communities. I am not willing to risk our safety on the generosity of powerful railroads and their lust for profit.”