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Railroad Projects

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Railroad projects 

continue in PdC Sub

By Ted Pennekamp

 

A Continuous Welded Rail (CWR) project conducted by the Wisconsin and Southern Railroad (WSOR) on the Prairie du Chien Sub on St. Feriole Island is about to begin, according to a Wisconsin River Rail Transit Commission report. 

The cost for the CWR project was estimated to be approximately $3.5 million. The work plan has now been altered because it would be more cost effective to install jointed rail rather than CWR due to low speeds and the large number of at-grade crossings. The rail gets cut at each crossing anyway. For cost effectiveness and a little more procurement flexibility, WSOR will use jointed rail at this location. In 2016, WSOR received a $2.5 million Freight Railroad Preservation Program (FRPP) grant from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT) for the project as well as a $317,951 Freight Railroad Infrastructure Improvement Plan (FRIIP) loan.

The rail replacement project is for 2.4 miles of track in Prairie du Chien. Five public crossings and 10 turnouts are also being, or have been reconstructed, between Prairie du Chien and Wauzeka

Several freight rail improvement projects in the Prairie du Chien area are being conducted or have been done over the past few years.

A tie replacement and track resurfacing project has been conducted in the Prairie Subdivision on 45.5 miles of track between Avoca in Iowa County and Prairie du Chien in preparation for installing CWR. The project involved 30,000 ties. WSOR received a $2.98 million FRPP grant from WisDOT and a $372,300 FRIIP loan for the tie replacement and resurfacing project.  

The Spring Green Bridge replacement bid has come in significantly under budget by about $5-6 million, which is a tremendous savings on the project. The replacement of the Spring Green Bridge is considered a necessity in order to keep the Prairie du Chien to Madison line open. In 2016, an FRPP grant of $10.4 million was approved for the project, along with a $1.3 million FRIIP loan. The project is expected to be conducted in 2017.

Since 1994, WisDOT has provided more than $195 million in FRPP grants and more than $120 million in FRIIP loans to help fund 160 infrastructure acquisition, rehabilitation and improvement projects statewide.

Wisconsin’s rail system consists of 10 freight railroads which operate more than 3,500 miles of track in the state. Each year, more than 200 million tons of cargo is moved by rail.

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