49 CFR § 237.51 - Railroad bridge engineers.
---
identifier: "/us/cfr/t49/s237.51"
source: "ecfr"
legal_status: "authoritative_unofficial"
title: "49 CFR § 237.51 - Railroad bridge engineers."
title_number: 49
title_name: "Transportation"
section_number: "237.51"
section_name: "Railroad bridge engineers."
chapter_name: "FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION"
part_number: "237"
part_name: "BRIDGE SAFETY STANDARDS"
positive_law: false
currency: "2026-03-24"
last_updated: "2026-03-24"
format_version: "1.1.0"
generator: "[email protected]"
authority: "49 U.S.C. 20102-20114; 28 U.S.C. 2461 note; and 49 CFR 1.89."
regulatory_source: "75 FR 41302, July 15, 2010, unless otherwise noted."
cfr_part: "237"
---
# 237.51 Railroad bridge engineers.
(a) A railroad bridge engineer shall be a person who is determined by the track owner to be competent to perform the following functions as they apply to the particular engineering work to be performed:
(1) Determine the forces and stresses in railroad bridges and bridge components;
(2) Prescribe safe loading conditions for railroad bridges;
(3) Prescribe inspection and maintenance procedures for railroad bridges; and
(4) Design repairs and modifications to railroad bridges.
(b) The educational qualifications of a railroad bridge engineer shall include either:
(1) A degree in engineering granted by a school of engineering with at least one program accredited by ABET, Inc. or its successor organization as a professional engineering curriculum, or a degree from a program accredited as a professional engineering curriculum by a foreign organization recognized by ABET, Inc. or its successor; or
(2) Current registration as a professional engineer.
(c) Nothing in this part affects the States' authority to regulate the professional practice of engineering.