Silver Line Dulles WMATA Metrorail progress/pictures

[JackRussell]

I went out to the airport today after having taken pictures of the maintenance in Arlington. The airport station is coming along nicely, but there is obviously still a lot of concrete to be poured. They still have not demolished the section of the old tunnel.

Photos below - click to enlarge thumbnails:

This is the west end of the station - piers are coming along outside of the station, and they have begun work on the piers that will be within the station itself:



Here they have a massive form that they set up to help them pour the actual walls:



There is still a lot of rebar that they are working on for the slab/floor:



The piers on the East end of the station are coming along nicely as well:



The piers leading around the corner from the station are nearly all complete now:



I still don't know what they are going to do on this end:



Other stations along the line are coming along. Herndon is starting to look like a station now. The tower crane is in place at Reston - my recollection was that they intend to erect a 2nd tower crane there as well - I think I see where that will ultimately go. Concrete barriers are going on between Herndon and Rt 28. I didn't get a chance to see what was going on out on the Greenway - the section of elevated track near the rental car lots looks like it is essentially done as far as the concrete work is concerned. They still haven't started to install girders south of Rudder Road yet.

[Sand Box John]

"JackRussell"
. . . The tower crane is in place at Reston - my recollection was that they intend to erect a 2nd tower crane there as well - I think I see where that will ultimately go. . . .

Second crane to be erected on the weekend of 06 18 2016 according to a traffic alert published 06 07 2016.

Will make a run over the bridge on the weekend of 06 25 2016 to photograph the progress. Will likely get some before pictures along the path of the Purple line as well.

[Sand Box John]

WMATA: Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project progress update e-mail 06 13 2016

Silver Line Phase 2 Construction Ramps Up

Steady progress continues on Phase 2 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project with the design nearly complete and ample elements to capture curious eyes.


Night crews work on the future Dulles Airport Station.
Photo by Chuck Samuelson, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

As construction continues to ramp up through 2016, commuters will see work along the entire 11.4 - mile stretch of Phase 2, which extends from the existing Wiehle-Reston East Station westward to Dulles International Airport and beyond to Ashburn in Loudoun County.

"This is the biggest year so far for construction all along the Phase 2 alignment from Reston west to Ashburn," said Charles Stark, the executive director for the project. "there is a lot of work to be done."

Currently, the project's design is 99.3 percent complete and construction is around 17 percent complete.

Considerable work has been done at Dulles Airport and at the Innovation Center Station site, which is the first station to the east of the airport. Traversing the Dulles Airport property requires the use of an aerial guideway consisting of drilled shafts, columns, caps, girders, decks and other engineering elements. The shafts, columns and caps are mostly complete with about 200 girders set along the guideway.

In addition to the aerial guideway, considerable work has been done at the Dulles Airport Station site adjacent to Garage 1. The pedestrian tunnel running from Garage 1 to the main terminal has been closed to permit construction of the station. Once work has finished, the tunnel will reopen to provide access for those parking in the garage as well as those arriving or departing via Metro.

The future Innovation Center Station site has experienced the most progress, taking on the look of the Phase 1 Stations, while enabling and excavation work continues at most of the other five stations comprising Phase 2. Ashburn remains an exception but excavation work is expected to begin there later this year.

Crews continue to supplement their restricted daytime schedules with night work along the alignment.

The Journey Continues at Dulles Airport Station

Pictured below is the latest rendering of the highly anticipated Dulles Airport station. Dulles will be the only station to have different design aspects apart from the rest of the metrorail. The station intends to resemble the terminal's sleek and iconic design. Passengers will be able to access the terminal through a pre-existing tunnel originating at Parking Garage 1. The tunnel is closed during construction but when reopened it will provide ease of access with multiple moving walkways.


Rendering of proposed Dulles Airport Station

What's Happening at Horsepen Lake?

Pictured below, the Capital Rail Constructors girder crew sets a precast concrete girder over Horsepen Lake at Dulles International Airport. This aerial guideway will carry metrorail cars to and from the new rail yard and maintenance facility that is being constructed as part of Phase 2 of the Silver Line. At 150 feet long, the four girders that will span Horsepen Lake are the longest and heaviest girders in the aerial guideway.


Photo by: Jennifer Alcott, Capital Rail Constructors

Highlights

On June 3, reporters from Loudoun Now toured the construction site of Innovation Center Station.



On June 4, employees from the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project answered questions about Phase 2 and handed out goodies to the public at the 36th Annual Herndon Festival.



On May 23, members from the American Society of Civil Engineers took a closer look at Dulles Airport Station and the construction of the aerial guideway.



Did You Know?

• The Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project is currently one of the largest megaprojects in the United States.
• Over 50,000 cubic yards of concrete will be used in constructing the aerial guideway that will carry trains through Dulles International Airport, to the rail yard, and out to the Dulles Greenway.
• Approximately 4,200 pieces of precast concrete will be fabricated and erected to form the six Silver Line Phase 2 stations.

###

Link to PDF version at Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project web site.

[JackRussell]

The DCAC met this past week. Powerpoint slides are up. As before, there are two presentations - one is related more to the construction, the second is financial. The one with the construction details is here:

http://www.dullestollroad.com/sites/def ... 2-2016.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

They start out with a few details regarding the closeout of phase 1.

First of all there is a Verizon fiber optic duct bank at Old Meadow in McLean that needs to be relocated, and the project is on the hook for the costs. That is still in the design phase, and will go on in 2017/2018.

The RTU upgrades are in progress. 3rd rail heater controllers are yet to be installed. For some reason they need to upgrade the heat tape somewhere or another.

As for phase 2, they give statistics regarding the girders. The 72" girders have 50 fabricated and installed (out of 88 total). The 84" girders have 201 fabricated and 146 installed out of a total of 338. Note: they give the double-quote "inch" in the ppt - I was wondering whether these are 72 ft/84 ft.

Regarding the decks, 53 out of 173 decks have been poured (30%).

Lots of good pictures. They show the station manager's kiosk being installed at Innovation Station.

Edit: fill in a few more details.

[JDC]

What is 'heat tape upgrades'? And wow, installation of the kiosk caught me off guard - station didn't seem to be THAT far ahead when I was there last time.

[Sand Box John]

"JackRussell"
Lots of good pictures. They show the station manager's kiosk being installed at Innovation Station.

Bet me to it, That was the first thing I noticed when I rolled up on the Innovation Center station to take picture on 06 26 2015.

"JDC"
What is 'heat tape upgrades'?

Third rail deicing. There have been issues between WMATA and MWAA about the heat tape sense before the phase I opened.

And wow, installation of the kiosk caught me off guard - station didn't seem to be THAT far ahead when I was there last time.

The Innovation Center station has been months ahead of the rest of the stations sense the beginning. Major structural work is done. I expect the canopy arch frame to up by the end of the calendar year.

Will post my observation with pictures by the end of the week.

[Sand Box John]

You'll are getting first crack at seeing this.

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project progress pictures 06 26 2016

Construction on all of the stations along the Dulles Access Road continues.

Right of way barrier wall have reached as far east the Fairfax County Parkway.

Excavation at the Reston Town Center station is mostly complete and the foundation are being poured. The second tower crane has been erected.

The walls and column to support the mezzanine and mezzanine canopy are done at the Herndon Station with the exception of the small section where the tower crane stands. The invert under the platform in the east half along with the track bed subgrade is has been completed. Traction power substation #13 west of the bus terminal loop has its conduit stubouts in place for both third rail feeds and 34.5 KV power feeds. The slab for the substation has not been poured.

The Innovation Center station has its platform and mezzanine in place including the station manages kiosk. Column foundation for the south pedestrian bridge are in place on both sides of Sunrise Valley Drive. The south entrance pavilion site has been cleared and the well casings for the entrance elevators pistons have be installed. Brush and trees have been cleared from the site for the north entrance.

Traction power substation #15 inside the loop ramp from southbound VA-28 Sully Road to eastbound VA-267 Dulles Toll Road is basically at the same stage as #13 at the Herndon station.

All of the columns and straddle bents north of Aviation Drive are done, forms on one pair remain to be striped. The straddle bent over the westbound Dulles Access road south of Aviation Drive is done, the one over the westbound lanes has been poured. The remainder of the columns between Aviation Drive and the Dulles Airport station are in various stages of completion.

The wall surrounding the Dulles Airport station mezzanine are mostly complete. The walls surround the west ancillary area are done. The columns that will support trackways and platforms in the station are in various stages of completion.

All of the columns west of the Dulles Airport station and south of Aviation Drive are done with one pair awaiting the stripping of the forms.

The first 4 girders set on the columns along Airfright Lane that were later to be discovered with cracks in them have been removed.

None of the columns south of the southern most column on the east side of Autopilot Drive have girder on them.

All of the column from the same southern most column to the eastbound shoulder of the Dulles Greenway have girders and completed decks and parapet on them. The columns of yard lead 3 between eastbound track N1 and the junction with westbound yard lead 2 have had their girders set. The deck has been poured to just short of yard lead 2 and the parapet 1/4 of the way. The columns for yard lead 1 and 2 from just east of the yard lead 3 junction to the columns just short of the west side of Horespen Lake have had their girders set. 4 150' girders have been set over Horespen Lake. Construction of the abutment west of hourspen lake has not begun. The columns for the mainline and yard lead straddle bents in the median of the Dulles Greenway are beginning to come up out of the ground. The eastbound shoulder of the Dulles Greenway between the on ramp from eastbound VA-606 Old Ox Road to south of the mainline flyover has been completed. Clearing of the site for traction power substation #18 adjacent to the right shoulder of the off ramp from westbound VA-267 Dulles Greenway to VA-606 Old Ox Road has begun.

According to the progress report (2.48 MB PDF file) released by MWAA dated 06 21 2016, 146 of the 338 84' girders have been set, 50 of the 88 72' girders have been set, 4 of the 4 150' girders have been set over Horespen Lake. 53 of the 173 spans have had their decks poured.

The clearing of the site for Loudoun Gateway station has begun. Lane shifting work has begun behind the Jersey walls along the eastbound shoulder.

The abutments for the bridge over Broad Run are done. The girders on the west end have been set, the ones for the east end have not.

Jersey walls are at various locations between Broad Run and the tail track west of the Ashburn Station.

No work has begun at the site of Ashburn station however some grading is taking place along the south edge of the Dulles Greenway right of way easement adjacent to the east end of the station.

Clearing of bedrock at the site of Dulles Yard continues. According to the same report, linked to above, the basement of the shop building has been excavated and the foundations for the inspection pit have been poured.

The bridge abutment that will carry the new westbound alignment of VA-606 Old Ox Road over Horespen Run is mostly done.

###

This and previous posts in this series can be seen at cambronj.blogspot.com.
Pictures at picasaweb.google.com/cambronj DCMP 06 25 2016.

[JDC]

John's post is, as always, extremely detailed and helpful. Thanks SBJ!

I was amazed at the size of the Dulles Yard from the photo - I knew it was going to be large, but seeing it (as opposed to schematics) reiterated how large that yard would be. Also, I can see the ride to/from Ashburn being quite beautiful in the winter as you pass all of the snowy landscapes.

[Sand Box John]

"JDC"
John's post is, as always, extremely detailed and helpful. Thanks SBJ!

You are welcome.

I was amazed at the size of the Dulles Yard from the photo - I knew it was going to be large, but seeing it (as opposed to schematics) reiterated how large that yard would be. Also, I can see the ride to/from Ashburn being quite beautiful in the winter as you pass all of the snowy landscapes.

The layout of Dulles Yard is very similar to Greenbelt Yard, its just not as compact. The biggest difference is, all of the tracks for storing rolling stock are long enough to hold 1 8 car train. Greenbelt Yard along with rest of the yards can not make that claim.

[dcmike]

I all the years I have been observing the construction metrorail, the think that struck me as odd was how tall the grout pads were on Silver line. The grout pads along the Silver lane are 4 to 7 times taller compared to the height of the grout pads in the existing system.

This is due to the construction method employed, known as "top-down". A very brief explanation here: http://www.trackguy.com/railroad_track_ ... stance.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[JDC]

I had wondered the same thing. That website explained it perfectly.

[JackRussell]

A recent traffic alert:

On or about the week of Aug. 1, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project crews will continue setting concrete girders and constructing the deck of the Silver Line's aerial guideway across Autopilot Drive near the Rudder Road intersection at Dulles International Airport. Weather permitting, the girder installation and deck construction will take place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weeknights, and will continue south towards the cargo area.

I would take this to mean that there are no longer any girders that they can set further north (awaiting construction of straddle-bents to get across the Greenway).

[Sand Box John]

"JackRussell"
I would take this to mean that there are no longer any girders that they can set further north (awaiting construction of straddle-bents to get across the Greenway).

Can't say for sure. When I was out there in late June, two of the spans of the west lead columns east of the east lead junction had girder on them. The abutment on the west side of Horsepen Lake hadn't been built yet. If memory serves the 150' span over Horsepen Lake was done in early June. The picture in the progress update e-mail from 06 13 2016 above showed no girders on the columns east of Horsepen Lake. There are roughly 20 column between the Horsepen Lake span and the column supporting the west lead girders shown here.

[JackRussell]

Google Earth has updated their imagery to 4/16/2016. Which of course is 3 months old, but nonetheless you can get a birds-eye view of the construction progress as of that date.

[Sand Box John]

[i][b]"JackRussell"[/b]
Google Earth has updated their imagery to 4/16/2016. Which of course is 3 months old, but nonetheless you can get a birds-eye view of the construction progress as of that date.[/i]

Got a PM from someone on reddit.com about that last week, seems Google updated Earth before updating Maps. On Map the update only go east to 19L. Did you notice the shadow of the Airbus A333 on approach to 19C on the area cleared for the Loudoun Gateway entrance?