FORT WORTH, Texas – BNSF Railway’s engineering crews have added a 1,300-foot wind fence to block the pesky prevailing wind on a bridge in Abo Canyon on its Southern Transcon in New Mexico.
The Clovis Subdivision bridge, at milepost 874.2 near the west end of the canyon, experiences more severe winds due to the terrain, BNSF says. The bridge is oriented north-south, which exposes trains to the easterly wind.
“This project is a great example of how safety and service go hand in hand,” says Craig Rasmussen, assistant vice president of engineering, services and structure. “The concentrated wind gusts at this location coming out of Abo Canyon have caused problems in the past. Installing the wind screen will help by lowering the wind impact against the side of trains, which will help keep trains safely flowing through the area.”
High winds can prompt BNSF to temporarily halt traffic on its busiest route across the Southwest.
Abo Canyon is a pass through the Manzano Mountains in central New Mexico. BNSF opened a second track through the canyon in 2011 after completing a massive three-year construction project.
