A fire on driftwood resulted in a bridge repair project for the railroad. During this work it became apparent that the driftwood was causing more concerns than just a fire threat. The railroad needed a contractor that could support their crew's bridge repair work and to pull out the driftwood from around the bridge piers.

Hulcher deployed a Caterpillar® 325 excavator and hi-rail grapple truck to remove the damaged pieces from an 80-foot stretch of the bridge. The excavator carefully disassembled the burned segments, breaking them into manageable lengths that were then loaded onto the grapple truck for disposal. The excavator cut off affected pilings below ground level, dressed up the slope and cleaned remaining debris from the area. This work was completed in six hours, allowing the railroad’s bridge gang to rebuild the affected portion of the bridge and restore it to full working order.

The Hulcher crew’s railroad expertise allowed them to work quickly and smoothly with the railroad’s bridge crew as they completed the bridge repair work. Finally, with the driftwood removed, the risk of fire, structural stress and flooding due to water flow obstruction has been eliminated.