Norfolk Southern Rail Corridors

Gray & Pape completed cultural resources inventories for the Herndon, VA, to Cleveland, OH Fiber Optic Line. The 400-mile project passed through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, along the route of the Norfolk Southern Railroad. Services included development of a historic context for the railroad and its attendant structures to assist determinations of eligibility and project effect. The firm successfully coordinated with SHPOs in the five states, Williams Communication, and Norfolk Southern Railroad regarding resource identification, documentation, evaluation, treatment, and construction-related issues. A significant number of bridges were inventoried and evaluated for this project: more than 100 bridges in Ohio and 500 bridges in Pennsylvania; 30 bridges in Virginia; 15 in West Virginia; and 15 in Maryland. Gray & Pape devised a comprehensive matrix of information about each bridge, accompanied by labeled photographs and GIS-generated maps showing each bridge location. In Pennsylvania, most of the architectural resources were associated with the Pennsylvania Central Railroad, a resource determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places. Cultural resources staff completed the CSX Railroad Safety Training class prior to conducting resource survey on the rail corridors.