Train derails as bridge drops two feet over Calgary’s swollen Bow River

Canadian Press | 13/06/27 | Last Updated: 13/06/27 12:16 PM ET

Transportation Safety Board of Canada    The train that derailed on Bonnybrook Bridge in Calgary Thursday.

 

CALGARY — Emergency crews are at the scene of a train derailment on a sinking bridge over Calgary’s swollen Bow River, working to keep railcars full of petroleum product from falling into the water.

At approximately 3:30 a.m., local time, the train derailed on the Bonnybrook Bridge outside of Canadian Pacific’s Ogden yard. The bridge gave way after most of the train had crossed. Cars that were still on the tracks were pulled away from either end.

The Transportation Safety Board has deployed a team to the site of the derailment. The federal agency said four of the cars contain petroleum products and one of them contains ethylene glycol residue. There may be a sixth empty car.

Twitter      The Bonnybrook Bridge is dropping into the Bow River. 

 

Crews are stringing a cable through the railcars and securing it to bulldozers on land so that, if the bridge gives way, the cars won’t be carried down the river.  Officials said workers are hoping to use a bucket truck for that operation so no one has to go on the bridge.

Crews then hope to pull another train along a parallel bridge so the cargo can be pumped off and the empty cars can be removed with a crane.

Booms are being deployed down river in case of any spills.
Calgary’s emergency management director Bruce Burrell says the cars are not leaking.

“The bridge is continuing to drop as we speak so that distance between the failure point and where the bridge decking is, is starting to open up more,” he said. “So it appears that the bridge is failing.”
Burrell said it’s possible the cars are carrying diesel fuel, but he couldn’t confirm that.

“Each car could have about 80,000 pounds of product in that car and they’re all flammable liquids so if something does go wrong we could have a very big pile of burning material and also then you have the smoke and the combustibles in the air that come off that,” said Deputy Fire Chief Ken Uzeloc.

Uzelok said the bridge dropped about two-thirds of a metre in less than two hours Thursday morning. The immediate area around the derailment has been evacuated.

The city’s busy Deerfoot Trail, a major traffic artery in the vicinity of the derailment, was closed for the morning commute, and people were being asked to stay out of the area. Nearby roadways were closed as well.

The result was gridlock for the morning commute in Calgary. The city is advising motorists to stay off the roads with reported delays of up to three hours.

“I don’t want people driving through thick black smoke clouds on Deerfoot Trail that could have the potential of causing other accidents,” Uzelok said.

The derailment is further stretching emergency crews who have been working flat out for a week dealing with the flooding, he said.

“If I was at the emergency management college taking the training and the course I would expect this because this is what usually happens … one on top of another,” he said.

“Not really expecting it in real life, so it’s going to be adding on to a lot of responders who have already been working long hours.”