CPKC wraps up construction on Ottensmeyer international rail bridge

Canadian Pacific Kansas City yesterday announced construction has been completed on the second span of the international rail bridge linking Laredo, Texas, and Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico.

Kansas City Southern broke ground on the $100 million construction project in late 2022, before the merger between KCS and Canadian Pacific in 2023. Built to accommodate growing trade between the United States and Mexico, the structure is now known as the Patrick J. Ottensmeyer International Railway Bridge. Ottensmeyer, who died in July, was the last president and CEO of KCS prior to the merger.

"Pat's leadership and vision were instrumental in the development and successful completion of this project," said CPKC President and CEO Keith Creel in a press release. "His legacy lives on in the work we do at CPKC each and every day, enabling growing international trade across three great nations — Canada, the United States and Mexico."

Completion of the structure more than doubles CPKC's capacity to move freight through the border at the largest international trade port of entry in North America, Creel said.

"By linking expanding markets for our customers, this CPKC investment will accelerate growth between the industrial heartland of Mexico and points across the United States and Canada," he added.

Key features of the new structure are:
• a total length of 1,170 feet;
• a ballasted deck plate girder bridge built with six reinforced concrete piers; 
• a second track bridge constructed on the right-of-way roughly 35 feet from existing track bridge, allowing trains to operate in both directions at the same time; 
• 4,500 feet of new track; and
• enhanced border security investments, including a new VACIS X-ray rail-car inspection system and surveillance cameras.

The Ottensmeyer bridge is the only railroad bridge crossing the Rio Grande River linking Laredo and Nuevo Laredo across the international border, according to CPKC. The U.S. Presidential Permit for construction of the new bridge span was received in July 2020.