Bridges and Tunnels

Got a couple field days in which was nice.  First I headed far south on our district with the district engineer to look at the feasibility of rehabilitating an old railroad bridge that was converted to a bike trail.  Some of the piers have completely rotted through.  The engineer's likely solution is to encase the rotten piers with a sleeve filled with a concrete-epoxy-fiberglass mixture.  It's non-invasive and requires very little excavation.

The other field day I had was up to the Nehalem Tunnel; another railroad debacle.  There's an old railroad tunnel which is actually pretty long which spans the crest between the Scappoose and Nehalem Basins.  And it's not blocked off at all.  And all the old timbers are still in place.  But the tunnel was dug through some highly fractious bedrock and the whole thing is gradually collapsing.

 The east entrance

 The old railroad grade (above)

 The east entrance (above) and the headwaters of Scappoose Creek (below)

Anyway, I headed up to the tunnel entrances with an engineer to look at the feasibility of closing the entrances for safety.  Access with heavy equipment would be super tough and messy.  There are streams at both entrances that would get all mucked up.  But at least I can say I've been there now.

 The old railroad grade at the west entrance (above and below)

The west entrance at the headwaters of East Fork Nehalem Creek