California lawmakers are pressuring railroads to share maintenance and construction data for infrastructure exposed to increased crude-oil traffic from North Dakota. There are 5,000 railroad bridges in California, but almost no public data exists on them, says U.S. Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.). "Are they safe?" he asks. "I don't know, but there should be some standard for determining their safety."
Garamendi tells ENR that infrastructure upgrades and maintenance, especially to bridges, are crucial as more crude from North Dakota moves to California refineries and ports. Railroads were ordered to release information by U.S. transportation officials last May, he says. It hasn't happened. "Currently, there is no catalogue of at-risk bridges, so we really don't know what some of the dangers are," Garamendi says.