Railroads no longer have to check old bridges for load limits

The US Federal Railroad Administration has removed a rule that required track owners to evaluate bridges without a known load capacity. This means railroads no longer have to perform these specific safety checks on older bridges.

For almost 15 years, railroads had to figure out how much weight their oldest bridges could handle. This rule was meant to be temporary, a way to get everyone up to speed on safety. Now, that requirement is gone, which means less paperwork and fewer mandatory evaluations for track owners.