Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) Underpass Bridges at IH 820
North Richland Hills, TX

IEA was responsible for preparing Exhibit A and the Plans, Specs & Estimates (PS&E) for the Union Pacific Railroad crossing over IH 820 as part of the construction of the North Tarrant Expressway Design/Build Project.

The project included 3,239 linear feet of track work for original and shoofly lines. The proposed highway improvements required the existing 234 ft. UPRR Bridge to be removed and replaced with two new longer bridges to accommodate the widened highway.

One bridge accommodated the main line track and was on a 2 degree curve. The other bridge was designed as the shoofly bridge while the existing bridge was removed and will serve as a permanent structure to be used by the UPRR in the future. Both of the new ballasted deck through plate girder bridges were designed and will be built on a 30 degree skew with the roadway. The shoofly bridge has a tangent alignment and is a 497 ft. long, 4-span, 106’-128’-134’-129’ unit. The main line bridge is on a 2 degree curved alignment and is a 499 ft. long, 4-span, 103’-127’-140’-129’ unit.

Both Bridges were designed to accommodate Coopers E80 Class I railroad loads and were designed to meet the latest UPRR and AREMA requirements. The total weight of the structural steel for both bridges is approximately 4,700,00 lbs.