A railroad bridge across the Petaluma River has been struck by barges so often that it could collapse, according to the North Coast Rail Authority.
The Rail Authority is suing the barge company, saying boats have hit the Black Point Bridge at least four times since 2002.
The latest accident caused so much damage that the $30 million swing bridge could fail, cutting the Northwestern Pacific Railroad off from the rest of the United States, according to an attorney for the Rail Authority.
"If we don't have access to this bridge our shippers won't have access to the national (rail) system," attorney Christopher Neary said last week.
The bridge is near Highway 37 at Black Point on the Sonoma-Marin county line.
The barge company owner denied his vessels were responsible for the damage.
Chris Lind of Jerico Products and Lind Marine Inc. said the rail authority has failed to maintain the 93-year-old bridge. He said it's a safety hazard that should be removed.
"It's so old that if you touch it, it crumbles," Lind said.
The Coast Guard is seeking almost $700,000 in penalties against the Rail Authority. The Coast Guard says the span no longer meets its navigation safety requirements because of the collision damage.
Freight service on the southern portion of the Rail Authority's Northwestern Pacific line was halted in 2001 but could resume in March, Neary said.
The bridge is vital for freight shippers wanting to connect to the Union Pacific main line in Solano County. But it isn't on the line that would be used for a commuter rail system linking Sonoma and Marin counties.
The Rail Authority, a public agency created to operate the railroad line, wants Lind to pay for repairs to the bridge and any penalties assessed by the Coast Guard. The authority filed a lawsuit Dec. 15 after failing to negotiate a settlement.
The Rail Authority's lawsuit seeks a court order to limit barge traffic on the river until the train bridge is repaired. The suit names Jerico Products and Lind Marine, which own and operate tugboats and barges on the Petaluma River.
Lind said the lawsuit wrongly blames his company for the damage. He said restrictions on river traffic would kill his business and increase the number of heavy trucks on nearby Highway 101. Lind's barges haul construction materials and other products on the river.
No date has been set for a trial in the case.
The publicly owned Northwestern Pacific Railroad line includes 300 miles of track from Arcata to Schellville. The system has been plagued by maintenance problems and large portions of the rail network have been closed for years.
According to the lawsuit, a barge and tugboat owned by Lind and operated by Jerico struck the bridge in 2002, causing damage to pilings and other structures that protect the span.
Company vessels hit the span twice in 2003 and again Dec. 1, the Rail Authority said.
The latest crash destroyed a structure that protects the bridge's support system, leaving it vulnerable to collapse if it is struck again, according to the Rail Authority.
Lind said a Coast Guard investigation concluded that his vessels didn't cause the Dec. 1 damage, and Neary said the Rail Authority now is unsure who struck the bridge on that date.
Neary said the Rail Authority believes that other barge companies also have damaged the bridge and the lawsuit will be amended to say the Dec. 1 damage was caused by an unknown party.
Lind said a company barge caused significant damage to the bridge in 1992 but his firm hasn't done any serious damage to the structure since then, although his vessels have scraped it a few times.
He said the rail bridge is poorly located on the river and is difficult for barge operators to avoid. "That bridge is a bottleneck to the whole Petaluma River," Lind said.
A spokesman for the Coast Guard couldn't be reached for comment.
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