Lava Wildfire Damages UP Dry Canyon Trestle near Hotlum, CA

(no Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

Josh Vanriper posted four photos with the comment: "The Union Pacific bridge lost in the lava fire being rebuilt."

1, cropped
[The crane on the left is probably a Manitowoc 2250. And they have finished building a nother crane to help.]

2

3

4, cropped

I saw a photo earlier of a melted girder. I didn't bother to save it because there was no location information. But it looked a lot like this one. Are the missing girders because they fell during the fire or has the 2250 already taken them down?

Photo 1 digitally zoomed to Facebook resolution

"The damage is affecting all UP's rail operations between Redding and Eugene, Tysver said. Freight trains are being diverted over Donner Pass. Scheduled trains for the Amtrak Coast Starlight, which also runs along the route, have been canceled at stops north of Sacramento until at least mid-July....The Lava Fire burned 25,000 acres around Mt. Shasta and as of Wednesday [July 7, 2021] was 72% contained." [StatesmanJournal, paycount 3; MtShastaNews has the same photos and text]

The alternate routing may introduce delays in excess of 72 hours. [UP]

A reader provided the following information: "This part of the Black Butte Sub was constructed in 1926 as the 18.25 mile long Black Butte cutoff which chopped off almost five miles of curves on the original Weed Lumber Co./California Northeastern (CP/SP) between Black Butte and Grass Lake to the north. The cutoff has no tunnels and one other "major" bridge, the much lower 560' long bridge over Graham Creek (called Whitney Creek on the track profile) at 41.5084741, -122.2696626 in a rock/boulder field on the very edge of damage from the Lava fire."

Jeff Lewis posted

Damage to the 1,200-foot-long Dry Canyon Bridge near Hotlum, CA is expected to close UP’s main route between California and the Pacific Northwest until at least Sept. 1. Along with the bridge 9 miles of mainline require repairs as a result of the Lava Fire, which has destroyed 26,000 acres to this point. (Union Pacific)

https://www.up.com/.../inside_track/lava-fire-7-12-2021.htm

Bob Mason: Anyone know if the old SP route that mostly follows I-5 can be used as an effective bypass to and from Eugene? Perhaps they worked something out with the BNSF between Keddie Y and Klamath Falls.
Jeff Lewis: Bob Mason I would guess they rerouted via Keddie and the BNSF Inside Gateway because the right of way is far superior to the old Siskiyou Line, now owned by Central Oregon & Pacific.
[The article credits their fire train for saving 20 miles of this mainline, but the fire was too dangerous to try to save the bridge.]

UP

safe_image for Employee Efforts Reopen Dry Canyon Bridge Ahead of Schedule
Union Pacific's Dry Canyon Bridge north of Redding, Calif., is open for business nearly a month ahead of schedule thanks to employees' tireless efforts to recover from the Lava Fire. Five trains crossed the bridge during its soft opening on Sunday.
The bridge was officially put back into service at 7 a.m. Aug. 2 but maintains a five-hour daily curfew over the next eight days.

mtshastanews article about the opening (source)
"UP operations were also impacted by the Dixie Fire, just north of Oroville, which on Monday was 220,000 acres and is 23% contained. Last week, the fire jumped the railroad tracks, damaging the decking on two bridges on the route north of Oroville. Those bridges were reopened Monday, said Tysver."

safe_image for Rising from the Ashes: Dry Canyon Bridge Rebuilt in One Month

UP-rising
"Only one of the 19 spans didn’t need repaired or replaced.Nine bridge spans were installed, while another nine were heat-straightened by a specialized contractor before being lifted back into place....The Dry Canyon Bridge wasn’t the only victory – employees worked tirelessly in the Feather River Canyon to repair two bridges north of Oroville, California, damaged July 24 by the Dixie Fire. Both bridges reopened Aug. 1, also ahead of schedule....The Dry Canyon Bridge wasn’t the only victory – employees worked tirelessly in the Feather River Canyon to repair two bridges north of Oroville, California, damaged July 24 by the Dixie Fire. Both bridges reopened Aug. 1, also ahead of schedule."

safe_image for Analysis: Union Pacific bridge repairs show how railroads get the job done
"UP detoured 221 trains, which added more than 200,000 train miles and lengthened transit times by 48 to 72 hours during the closure."