Bojaxs
Senior Member
They did something similar with the viaduct just west of Oakville GO. Widened the viaduct to allow for a third track. That was pre-2010.
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- Thread starter Admiral Beez
- Start date
drum118
Superstar
Same can be said for the Georgetown bridge over the Credit River for the 2th track. A 3rd and 4th track can go on the south side easy.
nfitz
Superstar
I hadn't realised they'd done that work on the Kitchener line already! Good to see progress!
drum118
Superstar
They expanded the piers on both sides of the existing single track back in 2010/11 with the new north side bridge being installed. The south side bridge can go in anytime when every X wants it.
2020 shot
drum118
Superstar
I should note, if haft mile is to be double track, a new bridge will have to be built to replace the existing one as it would be far cheaper to do it. You can build a second bridge beside the existing one, but is worth it based on the age and condition of the existing one??
crs1026
Superstar
That's a very good question, but it's one that we in the spectator gallery need to not overthink, nor get too dug in on. It would take hard data on a condition assessment of the current bridge and some data-driven estimating of the alternatives - and while we may have opinions, we aren't bridge builders and we don't have the necessary data. It will likely come down to a spreadsheet exercise and none of us can predict the math.
My one observation is that those old bridges were built to last a very, very long time and there's little or no evidence that the original piers are not good for another century. I can't think of a case where a stone/masonry railway bridge in the GTA has been completely abandoned in favour of a totally new bridge... mostly we are adding sideways, or building single new spans to twin existing structures that in many cases are a century or more of age already.
If HFR turns into HSR, possibly the budget will call for twinning this bridge. If I had to bet money I would go with a) a value engineering exercise would land on maintaining only single track over this span and b) the condition assessment would say that refurbishment is all that's required. But that's pure swag. And I'm not betting my mortgate on it.
- Paul
TwinHuey
Active Member
May 4
