ALBANY — It was a long wait, but when funding finally arrived, Portland & Western Railroad didn’t waste any time getting to work on the trestle that crosses the Willamette River in North Albany.

“We call it the golf course trestle, but officially it’s the Toledo Branch or milepost 691.65,” said Andy Cyrus, who is overseeing the project for P&W. “It’s nearing the end of its cycle and this project will give it a new life.”

Work began a little over a month ago on the structure, which was built in 1926. A 2,046-foot section of the wood trestle is being renewed with steel pilings, concrete caps and a concrete bridge head. The $11 million project, with federal support and matching funds from the railroad, is expected to be completed by June or July.

The trestle is an important cog in the P&W wheel, Cyrus said, bringing across about 286,000 pounds of cargo on each railcar. Annually, that’s about 6.8 million tons — or 50,000 carloads, the equivalent of about 150,000 truckloads.

Cyrus said the project will solidify the structure and also eliminate fire danger. Construction began at the steel spans of the trestle near the river edge. Pilings are driven 85 feet into the ground and could go deeper.

The project has not stopped trains from running. Scheduling has allowed workers an eight-hour uninterrupted window, then trains run in the early morning and at night.