A barge struck a rail bridge on the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake, Va., when the mate at the helm lost control of the tow, “possibly due to his error in switching from autopilot to hand steering or impairment by fatigue,” according to a National Transportation Safety Board report on the June 15, 2024 accident.
The contact of the 191’ deck barge Weeks 281, loaded with precast concrete materials and pushed by the 96.4’ Mackenzie Rose, left the Norfolk and Portsmouth Belt Line Railroad Bridge displaced over 6’ at its the western end. The tow was transiting the southern branch of the Elizabeth River in Chesapeake, Virginia just before 4:30 p.m. when the barge’s raked bow struck the bridge.
The extent of damage was discovered two days later “when a train crew stopped at the bridge…it was evident they would not be able to lower the lift span and cross the bridge,” NTSB investigators wrote. “The railroad bridge was severely damaged; total damages were $15.8 million.”…