Repairs still underway on railroad swing bridge over Calcasieu

WESTLAKE, LA (KPLC) - Repairs are still underway on the swing bridge used by Amtrak in Westlake after a train became stuck for several hours yesterday.

Sixty Amtrak passengers were stuck on the train for six hours and the cause of the malfunction is still unknown.

Amtrak's Sunset Limited line was traveling from Los Angeles to New Orleans when it came to the swing bridge in Westlake.

The bridge swings open to allow boats traveling along the Calcasieu River to pass, but the railroad owner, Union Pacific, says the swing bridge broke when it was in the process of moving back into place to allow the train through.

"At this time, the specific cause of the issue hasn't been determined yet," said Union Pacific spokesman, Jeff DeGraff. "We do know that there was some issues with some of the bolts involved in the turning mechanism, but all of that is being investigated while we conduct the repairs, simultaneously."

DeGraff says crews are still on site trying to turn the bridge.

"It is still in the open position," he said. "We've run into some issues with the weight of the bridge in the equipment that we have available so we're bringing in some heavier equipment in order to move the bridge to get it back in alignment at which point some additional repairs can be made."

The railroad company is holding or rerouting all of its freight traffic to avoid the bridge as well as working with their partner Amtrak.

The passengers yesterday had to be re-routed to Beaumont, Texas, where they could board an alternate route.

DeGraff says Union Pacific crews hope to have the bridge fixed by the end of Monday.

Union Pacific says it inspects all of its bridges annually and the last time this one was checked there were no issues.

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