WAC 296-860-20040   Maintain overhead clearances.  

     Exemption:

     Engine houses and car shops are exempt from the overhead clearance requirements of this section.

     You must:

     • Make sure overhead railroad clearances are at least twenty-two feet six inches unless a clearance requirement found in Table 1 applies.

Note:	• Clearance requirements are based on the assumption that generally used rail equipment in private yards and plants is no more than ten feet ten inches wide by fifteen feet six inches high.
	• WAC 296-860-20070 regulates the use of any rail equipment that exceeds the above dimensions.
	• Minimum vertical clearances for all overhead wires are specified in Parts 1, 2, and 3 of the National Electrical Safety Code (NESC) as referenced in WAC 296-45-045, electrical workers safety rules, NESC applicable. See NESC 231 and 232.

Table 1 - Minimum Overhead Clearances for Buildings, Structures, Tunnels, and Bridges

If your overhead clearance involves:	Then the minimum overhead clearance requirements are:
An entirely enclosed building	18 feet when tracks end inside an entirely enclosed building. Also:
	•	The department must approve any reduction from 22 feet 6 inches before the reduction takes place.
	•	If an overhead clearance is less than 22 feet 6 inches, all cars, locomotives or other equipment must come to a full stop before entering the building.
	•	See Illustration 1.
All other structures	Defined by the half-circumference of a circle whose:
	•	Radius is 8 feet 6 inches
		AND
	•	Center is located on a line perpendicular to the track's centerline and 14 feet above the top of the highest rail.
	•	See Illustration 1.
Tunnels, over-crossings, and bridges	Defined by the half-circumference of a circle whose:
	•	Radius is 8 feet
		AND
	•	Center is located on a line perpendicular to the track's centerline and 14 feet 6 inches above the top of the highest rail.
	•	See Illustration 1.

Illustration 1 - Minimum Overhead Clearances for Buildings, Structures, Tunnels, and Bridges






[Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010, 49.17.040, 49.17.050, 49.17.060. 07-03-163, § 296-860-20040, filed 1/24/07, effective 4/1/07. Statutory Authority: RCW 49.17.010,[49.17].040 , and [49.17].050. 02-17-106, § 296-860-20040, filed 8/21/02, effective 10/1/02.]