Engineers will dive into the murky waters of the Cuyahoga River and climb train bridges across the region to help Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority meet federal safety inspection requirements, according to a presentation at the April 1 meeting of the RTA board’s Operational Planning & Infrastructure Committee.

RTA engineer Grant Kersh told the committee that the transit authority will inspect 34 structures, including 19 “STEN” (steel tension) bridges, this year. Most are on the Red and Green lines.

Also on the list: the Viaduct Bridge and bulkhead in the Cuyahoga River. That inspection will involve a team of divers.

“They’ll actually dive down and perform these up-close inspections of the underwater components of the bridge and they’ll take photographs,” Kersh said. “They’ll do other testing methods such as ultrasonic testing and sonar imaging.”

The inspections are routine and not related to the recent report from the National Transportation Safety Board about bridges that could be vulnerable to ship collisions. No RTA structures were on the NTSB’s list.

The committee approved the almost $372,000 contract for the inspection work with Burgess & Niple, a Columbus-based engineering and architecture firm.

Some inspections will interrupt service, but the schedule has not yet been determined, according to RTA spokesman Robert Fleig.

RTA grants easement for sewer project

The Audit Safety Compliance and Real Estate Committee heard from RTA Property Manager Jim Reed about easements requested by the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District. An easement is permission to use or cross someone else’s land for a specific purpose.

NEORSD asked for two permanent and one temporary easement related to the Kingsbury Run Consolidated Sewer Project. The easements will allow for construction operation, maintenance of access roads, sewer lines and flow regulator structures on RTA property, Reed said.

The Kingsbury Run project is part of Project Clean Lake, an ongoing effort to build up NEORSD’s infrastructure and prevent billions of gallons of sewer overflow from reaching Lake Erie.

The location of the work that impacts RTA is Kinsman Road and Opportunity Corridor just east of the central rail facility and the East 55th Street station, Reed said. It’s the authority’s primary storage and staging area for large heavy rail components. The Kingsbury Run project will not interfere with RTA’s use of the land.

The committee voted to grant the easements.

Read the meeting notes from Documenter Colleen Boyd.