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August 18, 2015

BNSF resumes work on slide-prone areas

By JOURNAL STAFF

Photo from WSDOT [enlarge]
Last year BNSF worked on two areas near Mukilteo.

This week the state is resuming a $16.1 million project to lessen the impact of landslides along railroad tracks near Puget Sound in Snohomish County.

BNSF Railway crews are performing the work under a contract with the Washington State Department of Transportation, which has federal funding. BNSF owns the rails.

Last year BNSF finished work on two slide-prone areas near Mukilteo. This year it is working on one area near Everett and three near Mukilteo. Crews are building retaining walls to catch debris, installing early-warning slide detection fences, stabilizing slopes, and installing erosion controls and better drainage systems.

Work is expected to wrap up in October.

In the past 10 years there have been more than 200 landslides along the Seattle-to-Everett coastline. In 2011, which was a particularly wet year, Amtrak had to cancel 84 runs and delay 103. Sometimes passengers had to be bused to their final destinations.

Each slide that covers or disturbs rail lines triggers a mandatory 48-hour halt to passenger traffic while BNSF clears tracks and ensures the area is stable.

Amtrak last year carried about 232,000 passengers on the route between Seattle and Vancouver, B.C. Sound Transit also uses the rail for its Sounder line.




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