BRIGHTON, Tenn. — A complaint about a railroad bridge full of cracks and leaking mud and water had inspectors Canadian National Railway traveling to Tipton County.
They inspected one of two railroad bridges and tunnels in Brighton, Tennessee, and say they are safe.
People who drive through the tunnels have seen the wear and tear, and are glad to know someone is taking notice.
There’s no telling how many freight trains have rumbled across the Woodlawn Road bridge in Brighton, Tennessee, since it was built in 1903.
Most drivers have gotten used to the tight squeeze as two lanes narrow to one.
Brighton resident John Mitchell said the bridge is a part of Brighton’s history.
“I used to be a reserve police officer here in Brighton and drove through it everyday,” he said.
But some are little concerned, because the 112-year-old tunnel beneath the tracks has been showing its age.
“I see some cracks in it. And when it rains it has, like, water sipping through it,” B.J. Howard said.
Howard owns a construction company and frequently drives through the Woodlawn Road tunnel and another one on Kenwood Road.
Howard said he wasn’t surprised to learn someone complained that mud and pieces of concrete were falling from the bridge tunnel’s ceiling.
“It’s been there a long time and they probably need to take some looks at it,” Howard said.
The Town of Brighton leases the underpass from Canadian National Railway, which owns both the bridges and is responsible for repairing them.
CNR sent an inspection crew to Brighton and reported the Woodlawn Road bridge is “structurally sound and good for normal and safe rail operations.”
Still, both bridges are restricted in height and width.
For Emily Rapp of Brighton, the big worry isn’t what might fall, but what may be coming around the curve.
“I have never had any bad experiences going there. I’ve never had nothin’, like, fall off from the railroad tracks or anything like that. But my main concern is that they need to be widened,” she said.
