Q: I saw a barge next to the Coos Bay railroad bridge in early July doing repairs of some sort. Is the Port of Coos Bay doing the work? I thought it decided to postpone repairs after Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad closed the rail line.

A:  You’re right.

The current repair activities on the Coos Bay Rail Bridge are not part of the proposed phase II rehabilitation of the bridge, according to Martin Callery, the Oregon International Port of Coos Bay’s director of communications and freight mobility.

“Phase II has been postponed until such time as the ownership and future operations on the Coos Bay rail line are more definite,” he said in an e-mail Monday.

You’re also right that there is repair work happening on the bridge.

Workers are repairing damage to bridge components caused by two incidents when tug and barge tows moving through the open bridge bumped into the structure. Those occurred in July 2003 and November 2005.

Under the contract between the Port of Coos Bay and CORP, which is lessee and operator of the bridge, the railroad company has the responsibility to repair the bridge and collect for the damages from the responsible parties.

After several years of discussions, engineering inspections and analysis, and finally threat of legal action, CORP established an escrow account for the funds to repair the bridge, according to Callery.  

“Port staff has been involved in an oversight capacity with several local firms and the railroad to complete the repairs and disburse the escrow funds,” he said.

(I Want to Know is a regular feature of The World, offering readers a chance to anonymously ask questions and have reporters pursue answers. Those interested can send questions to The World newspaper.)