Flash floods wash out BNSF tracks near Arizona-New Mexico border

LUPTON, Ariz.

Flash flooding washed out part of BNSF Railway’s main line near the Arizona-New Mexico border Monday and damaged the ground beneath the tracks at multiple locations, forcing emergency repairs as more rain threatened the region.

Crews worked along the Puerco River about 3 miles east of Lupton, where muddy water ran below the railroad embankment. Heavy equipment moved earth and large rocks beside the tracks while workers assessed the damage. BNSF expected trains to resume moving through the area Tuesday afternoon, weather allowing, said Kendall Sloan, the railroad’s director of external communications.

“Due to flash flooding events in the area, BNSF experienced a washout on a portion of its track Monday near the Arizona-New Mexico border,” Sloan said. “These events have caused failures in track sub-grade on BNSF’s main line at multiple locations.”

The sub-grade is the ground beneath the track and supports the layers of rock and rails above it. Sloan did not have an exact number of locations where it failed and did not say how many trains were delayed or rerouted.

At the riverbank site Monday, a bulldozer worked a steep slope of freshly exposed earth. Loaders moved soil through the work area and an excavator handled large rocks beside a dump truck. Workers wearing hard hats and orange safety vests stood along the rail corridor as piles of earth and rows of rock stretched beside the line.

A train hauling coal moved west toward the repair work Monday, though it was not clear whether it crossed the damaged section.

BNSF did not identify every damaged stretch or say whether each required the same repairs. Sloan said crews were strengthening and rebuilding an embankment because of the nature of the failures.

“We are also in close communication with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers as severe weather and flooding continue, with additional locations at risk of being affected,” she said. “There have been no releases of hazardous materials or known impacts to environmental resources.”

Sloan did not describe the Corps’ specific role. Asked whether the agency would assess the site or recommend longer-term stabilization, she said, “I can’t speak to that. I’m not on the ground there, so I don’t know. I just know that we’re in close contact with them.”

The Corps regulates the placement of dredged or fill material in federally regulated waters under the Clean Water Act. Its Albuquerque District has a regional general permit for certain emergency repair and protection work in New Mexico, parts of West Texas and the Navajo Nation, including tribal lands in Arizona and Utah.

The permit can cover limited bank stabilization and restoration during emergency work. BNSF has not said whether it sought authorization under the permit.

The Navajo Times contacted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Albuquerque District about its role in emergency repair work involving BNSF. The agency had not responded Tuesday afternoon.

The washout occurred as flood threats continued on both sides of the state line. The National Weather Service in Flagstaff forecast heavy rain and flooding in northern Arizona through late Tuesday, with tropical moisture from Hurricane Polo and the remnants of Odalys interacting with an early fall storm.

Eastern Arizona could receive 1 to 2 inches of rain, with higher amounts possible in stronger storms, according to the weather service. The forecast was regional and did not represent rainfall measured at the damaged tracks.

In New Mexico, the weather service included Gallup and areas west to the Arizona border in a flood watch through late Tuesday night. Runoff could flood streams and low-water crossings.

The Puerco River flows west through Gallup toward the Arizona border near Lupton. The U.S. Geological Survey maintains monitoring locations along the river at Gallup, near Manuelito and near Lupton.

The affected stretch is part of BNSF’s Southern Transcon, which the railroad describes as its primary route between southern California and the Midwest. BNSF had not provided an estimate Tuesday afternoon of how many shipments were affected.

Sloan said operations were expected to resume Tuesday afternoon if weather allowed, but she did not confirm that trains had resumed.

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