Repairs and cleanup underway after bridge collapse near Fort Frances, Ont. CN says

Posted on August 15, 2024 by Peggy

CN says crews have begun repairs on a railway bridge that collapsed Wednesday northeast of Fort Frances, Ont.

No trains were involved in the incident and there are no reports of injuries, the company said.

“Environmental crews have contained and are recovering a release of biodegradable, non-toxic hydraulic oil related to the incident,” CN said in an emailed statement Thursday afternoon.

The cause of the collapse is still under investigation, according to the Transportation Safety Board.

“TSB was notified at 17:55 local time on Wednesday that a railroad bridge collapsed at mileage 84 of the Canadian National Fort Frances Subdivision,” TSB Media Relations Coordinator Hugo Fontaine said in an email.

“We have not deployed investigators to the scene,” Fontaine said.

Carol Boivin, who, along with her husband, Al, operates the Rainy Lake Boat Taxi, which ferries tourists and their belongings to camps and cottages on the lake, said she heard the bridge fall.

“There was a train that went by … and then shortly after, I heard this big bang,” said Boivin, who lives less than half a kilometre from the bridge and can see it from her home.

“So we took a boat ride over and we seen it and, yeah, it was down. … Like the cement — I’m not sure what they call it. There’s this cement piece that was the weight for it to go up and down — had collapsed and the bridge fell.”

The collapsed bridge prevents the company from reaching the north arm of Rainy Lake with the barge it uses to transport building materials and other large items, Al Boivin said.

“It’ll be a loss of … quite a bit of my business,” he said. “I could even be done for the season, as far as that goes — going to the north arm.”

He doesn’t yet know how long it may take before the route is passable again by larger boats, he added.

Boivin estimated that the bridge is between 18 and 24 metres.

The CEO of the Port of Thunder Bay says he’s optimistic that CN will collaborate with CP to ensure that cargo continues to make it to the port after a rail bridge collapsed east of Fort Frances, Ont., on Wednesday.

But that could lead to delays in service, Chris Heikkinen said.

“Grain is the primary cargo that Thunder Bay receives on that line,” he said.

“We receive grain from both the CP and the CN lines. Volumes on CN are probably 30 to 40 per cent of the grain that the port receives … so it’s a sizeable chunk.”

The Town of Fort Frances notified the public about the collapse Wednesday afternoon, urging people to avoid the area known as the Five Mile Bridge.

“The town of Fort Frances is currently monitoring the situation and is prepared to activate the Emergency Control Group if necessary,” it wrote in a statement Wednesday on the town’s Facebook page. “We are in contact with CN and are awaiting update.”

Ontario Provincial Police also urged boaters to avoid the area as the bridge is too low to pass under.