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Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture
i doubt they would shift the line over. i know for their old wooden bridges they generally replace it pier by pier leaving it in the original spot. it is more difficult, but you cant have trains do a shift to either side. that would mean a permanent slow section which is a major impact to operations.
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The track over the current bridge alignment is already coming out of a curve on the east side, if you regrade the approaches so that a curve of the same radius starts a few hundred feet earlier then the track could cross the highway far enough on the east side to build a completely new bridge.
It looks to me like the biggest issue might be the need to expropriate some strips of land to make that happen, but there aren't any buildings that would be affected - just a pedestrian overpass from the field at Trinity Western university on the west side, and that's far enough away that the new track might be able to rejoin the original alignment without any excessive curves.
Quote:
Originally Posted by VancouverOfTheFuture
i have a feeling they will probably keep the same alignment, but do some crazy engineering work to keep it operational while upgrading it. i assume the highway will need to be lowered as well. probably a long gradual grade change. the trains will not be changing their grade.
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Replacing existing piers is one thing, but the current overpass is built on a couple of boxes with earthen berms coming right up to the side of the highway right-of way. I can't think of any way for them to excavate the berms and extend the bridge while keeping the line operational. And that doesn't even begin to address the issue of raising the line to eliminate the substandard clearance under the bridge.