Volume 13 Number 15 November 16, 1983

Main Line Tunnels Slated
for Major Clearance Work

Hope B.C. - CP Rail has awarded Emil Anderson Construction Co. Ltd., of Hope, contracts to increase the vertical clearance in tunnels along the railway's main line through the Fraser Canyon and along the Thompson River Valley.
 
The work will increase the height of six tunnels along the rail line between Hope and North Bend and another just west of Kamloops and will allow the railway to operate new enclosed multi-level auto transporters and other over-sized and dimensional-load rail cars.
 
About 3,700 linear feet (1,128 metres) of tunnels will be drilled, blasted, and scaled to increase their overhead dimensions by between 12 and 20 inches (30.5 and 50.8 centimetres), bringing all clearances to a standard 22 feet (6.7 metres) from rail head to tunnel roof.
 
CAPACITY IMPROVEMENTS
 
Approximately $450,000 will be spent on the tunnel work which includes rock bolting and "shot creting" (applying a concrete mixture to rock faces to prevent weathering).
 
Meanwhile, CP Rail's capacity improvement work in the Twin Butte, B.C., area has been completed this month.
 
About 7.4 miles (11.9 kilometres) of double track was laid at various points three miles (4.8 kilometres) east of Revelstoke.
 
The work, which included new bridges at Twin Butte and Greeley last year, is specifically designed to improve service on the Mountain subdivision between Revelstoke and Field.
 
Other work included the grading of the right-of-way and construction of 7.4 miles (11.9 kilometres) of track and the installation of automatic signals, bridges, and culverts. Some 155 men were employed in this season's program.
 
In addition to the track work, this year's program included clearing and grading for the 1984 double tracking project which will see an additional 8.7 miles (14 kilometres) of double tracking constructed in the area.
 
In Lachine, Quebec, CP Rail will spend $246,000 to purchase and install an electronic weigh scale and complete paving at its bulk products distribution centre at Sortin Yard.
 
The scale will be purchased from Howe-Richardson of Canada Inc. of Pointe Claire at an approximate cost of $40,000. The installation of the scale as well as the paving of the truck operating area will be completed by Ross & Anglin Ltd. of Lachine. It will take about seven weeks to complete the work.
 
The Sortin Yard bulk distribution centre opened in April, 1982 with potash and salt being the principal commodities handled. In December, 1982, CP Rail expanded the centre to transfer, without commodity contamination, synthetic resins in the form of plastic pellets.
 
The computerized weighing system will eliminate delays in processing the documents required for delivery to the customer, establishing maximum load limits for truckers, and billing data for the railway and trucking firms.

This CP Rail News article is copyright 1983 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.