EVERETT, Wash. -- Work is being finalized on a project aimed at protecting North Sound railroad tracks from landslides. More than $16 million of federal money is being spent to get the job done.
The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad (BNSF) has completed three catchment walls and a retaining wall between Mukilteo and Everett. The hope is to prevent loads of soil and rocks from crashing onto train tracks in the area.
"We put 40-foot beams, 30 feet down into the ground," said BNSF spokesperson Gus Melonas. "Then, in between the beams, we have concrete pads."
Roughly 90 percent of all the slides in the Pacific Northwest in the past four years have happened in this area of concern, according to Melonas. He says the investment will ensure passengers and freight move on time.
Since 1914, there have been more than 1,100 landslides that have caused impacts on the railroad lines in the area, according to BNSF. A train derailed in Everett in late 2012 and numerous mudslides were reported two years ago.
Melonas says a slide can cost millions of dollars for companies when freight stops. For passengers, Amtrak automatically shuts down for two days following a slide while engineers inspect the damage.
"You have a light top soil," said Melonas. "When it rains and rains and rains, that debris has to come down, [the rain] can't penetrate. The water washes the dirt away and debris comes down on top of BNSF's main line."
Crews will conduct a couple of weeks of testing before the project is officially declared complete.
