This is a very old report and the Baykeeper organization nor the News source are qualified to inspect bridges. Every railroads I have worked and when I managed railroads I made sure we had a comprehensive bridge inspection and maintenance programs. I went out in the field many times to look at the bridges and we had a bridge engineer inspect all bridges yearly and if we noted a problem we had the engineer back to review our findings , Track inspectors looked at every bridge once a week during track inspections and train crews had instructions on what to look for or feel on a bridge so they could also report any issues

The FRA bridge folks and the common sense they use is a refreshing part of the FRA and they are willing to help Shortline with free training.

On another note California CPUC now have I think 3 bridge inspectors , they all came from CALTRANS the highway side and know nothing about railroad bridges and the design of a wood railroad bridge which is a breathing loving thing as a train passes over it and on an inspection. I went out on with one of them he did not understand the dynamics of a wood bridge
So lots of so-called Experts out there in the environmental justice community would like to see the railroads go away and try and find a CAUSE and many news agencies who look for a story that is not there. Sorry for the rant at the end