Culvert Work Restores Rail Service to DOE Site

The U.S. Department of Energy announced this week that tracks providing rail service to and from the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant were recently placed back into service. A failed drainage culvert forced the temporary closure.

The project was completed last month by Swift & Staley, Inc., the infrastructure support services contractor for the Paducah Site. After construction, inspection and DOE approval, rail service supporting environmental cleanup and depleted uranium hexafluoride conversion operations at the site resumed.

“The timely repairs to the rail line allowed for several work activities to resume at the Paducah Site,” said Paducah-Porstmouth Project Office's Paducah Site Lead Jennifer Woodard. “The Deactivation & Remediation Contractor was able to resume waste shipments by rail which enabled them to meet contractual milestones.”

The Depleted Uranium Hexafluoride (DUF6) Conversion Project was also able to resume shipping by rail, reducing potential risks and improving schedule compliance and cost control.

While conducting a monthly track inspection last year, the contractor discovered a depression in the track embankment that had not been there before. Investigation revealed that a 48-inch reinforced concrete pipe culvert had deteriorated, causing the joints to begin to separate. The culvert dated back to the original construction of the Kentucky Ordinance Works in the 1940s to support TNT production during World War II and had been in service for approximately 70 years.

A hydraulic analysis revealed the existing culvert was undersized, so two 72-inch corrugated metal pipe culverts were chosen to replace the single 48-inch pipe. Each replacement pipe is 140 feet in length and had to be placed approximately 25 feet below grade. No additional railroad culverts were identified that required replacement.