Current Status Bill Number:3566 Type of Legislation:General Bill GB Introducing Body:House Introduced Date:19970227 Primary Sponsor:Vaughn All Sponsors:Vaughn, Allison, Sandifer, Wilder, F. Smith, Haskins, Leach, Moody-Lawrence, Hawkins, Hamilton, Fleming, Walker, Klauber, Rice, Loftis, Robinson, D. Smith, Barrett, Martin and Lanford Drafted Document Number:gjk\20064sd.97 Residing Body:House Current Committee:Education and Public Works Committee 21 HEPW Subject:Bridge owned by railroad company, Railroad Bridge Replacement Fund, Highways and Streets, Transportation
Body Date Action Description Com Leg Involved
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House 19970227 Introduced, read first time, 21 HEPW
referred to Committee
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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976 BY ADDING SECTION 58-17-155 SO AS TO PROVIDE THAT IF A BRIDGE FOR MOTOR VEHICLES OVER A RAILROAD TRACK WHICH BRIDGE IS OWNED BY A RAILROAD COMPANY IS CLOSED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION AS BEING UNSAFE FOR VEHICULAR USE, NO RAILROAD TRAFFIC MAY USE THE TRACK UNDERNEATH SUCH BRIDGE UNTIL IT IS REPLACED OR UNLESS FLAGMEN ARE USED ON THE RAILROAD TRACKS APPROACHING THE BRIDGE UNTIL IT IS REPLACED; AND TO ADD SECTION 58-17-156 SO AS TO ESTABLISH A "RAILROAD BRIDGE REPLACEMENT FUND" INTO WHICH RAILROAD COMPANIES SHALL PAY ASSESSMENTS FOR THE REPLACEMENT OF CERTAIN BRIDGES OWNED BY IT THE COST OF WHICH SHALL BE SHARED EQUALLY BY THE RAILROAD COMPANY AND THE STATE AND TO PROVIDE THE PROCEDURES UNDER WHICH THESE FUNDS MUST BE EXPENDED.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 58-17-155. (A) If a bridge for motor vehicles over a railroad track which is owned by a railroad company is closed by the Department of Transportation as being unsafe for vehicular use, no railroad traffic may use the track underneath such bridge until it is replaced, or unless the railroad company at its expense places a flagman on the track approaching the bridge in both directions warning oncoming trains of the unsafe bridge. The requirement of a flagman shall continue until the bridge is replaced.
(B) Warning signs and barricades must be placed by the Department of Transportation at both ends of the road or highway approaching the bridge until the bridge is replaced warning pedestrians and oncoming traffic that the bridge is unsafe for any use and is closed.
(C) Nothing herein eliminates a railroad company's obligation to keep its bridges in good repair."
SECTION 2. The 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 58-17-156. (A) A fund separate and distinct from the state general fund to be known as the 'Railroad Bridge Replacement Fund' is hereby established. It shall be administered by the Department of Transportation. Income from the fund must be retained therein and used as provided in this section.
(B) The Department of Transportation shall survey the State and identify those bridges of the type specified below that are for motor vehicles over railroad tracks which bridges are owned by railroad companies. The bridges to be surveyed are all those that are wooden and those that are nonwooden which if built today would not meet current building code specifications in the opinion of the department. The department shall estimate the cost to replace the bridges, and shall update these estimates every three years if a bridge has not been replaced by that time. The railroad company owning these bridges shall pay into the fund an assessment equal to the amount required to pay fifty percent of the cost estimated as of that date by the department to replace all such bridges owned by that railroad. This assessment shall be paid annually and amortized over a period of ten years and reamortized when the Department of Transportation updates its replacement cost estimates every three years.
(C) The State of South Carolina shall be responsible for paying the other fifty percent of the replacement cost of such bridges. Once the department determines that sufficient state funds are available for the state's fifty percent match, it shall cause such bridge to be replaced using fifty percent state funds and fifty percent drawn from the Railroad Bridge Replacement Fund.
(D) Any federal funds which may be obtained to offset the cost of replacing such a bridge must be deducted from the total estimated replacement cost before the railroad's and the state's fifty percent shares are determined. Any income earned on a railroad's assessment paid into the fund must be credited against a railroad's assessment.
(E) If all of the railroad's bridges have been replaced, and it has any assessments remaining in the fund, they must be returned to the railroad.
(F) The term 'replacement' as used herein means to completely rebuild the bridge with state-of-the-art materials, up to code specifications, but does not mean to expand the bridge to include more lanes, more capacity, or other similar design-type improvements. The cost of any such design-type improvements must be solely the responsibility of the State.
(G) The provisions of this section apply only to bridges over state roads or rights-of-way and not to bridges over local or private roads or rights-of-way. If any written contracts or agreements exist between the State and a railroad company in regard to any such bridge which imposes a greater financial obligation upon the railroad company to replace such bridge than the provisions of this section, the written contract or agreement controls.
(H) Upon a bridge being replaced as provided in this section, it must be transferred to the State by the railroad company."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.