Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project progress update e-mail 12 16 2011

[Sand Box John]

Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project progress update e-mail 12 16 2011

 

Into the sky at Wiehle: Dulles Metrorail crews erect the structural steel canopy on the mezzanine at the

Wiehle Avenue Station under construction in the median of the Dulles Airport Access Highway/Dulles Toll Road corridor.

Photo by Stephen Barna, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

2011: Construction Success All Along Phase 1

 

Track Being Laid in Some Areas; Bridge Work Continues in Tysons

 

Construction of Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project has passed the 60 percent mark.

 

All along the 11.8-mile alignment, progress is changing the landscape from East Falls Church to Reston.

 

During early 2011 the project saw a ramp-up to peak employment levels, a significant boost to the region's economy.

 

A highlight continues to be the ongoing construction of the tie-in for the Silver Line to WMATA's existing Orange Line between the existing East Falls Church and West Falls Church Metrorail stations. This tie-in will provide a one-seat, no transfer ride to downtown Washington from Reston and Tysons Corner when the new line opens in late 2013.

 

Progress at Falls Church Yard: Crews complete jack-and-bore crossings for the Service and Inspection building.

Photo by Stephen Barna, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

Other signs of progress include:

 

Each one of the five rail stations is clearly visible.

Bridges are in place to carry the rail line from the Dulles Connector Road to the northwest side of Route 123, all along Route 123 and Route 7 in Tysons Corner. Track is being laid in many places.

The bridges to carry rail from Route 7 to the Dulles Toll Road/ Dulles Airport Access Highway are being built.

Construction of the bridges across I-495 are almost complete.

Tunnels are being readied for track in Tysons.

A tunnel to provide access for trains into the West Falls Church Yard is well under way.

 

Here are some details. Mining and concrete operations for the in-bound and out-bound tunnels connecting the Tysons Central 7 and Tysons Central 123 stations were completed earlier this year and track will soon be put in place. These twin tunnels run beneath the highest natural point in Fairfax County at the intersection of Routes 7 and 123. Both tunnels are approximately 2,400 feet in length, just shy of a half-mile. During mining operations, this team successfully excavated more than 100,000 cubic yards of dirt which was carried by truck to Washington Dulles International Airport grounds.

 

The most visible construction continues to be the aerial bridges (or guideways), which are being built using the large, horizontal cranes commonly called trusses. Those 366-ton pieces of specialized bridge-building equipment were awe-inspiring mainstays of Tysons Corner for most of the year.

During the summer, three trusses were in commission simultaneously, a construction feat that is believed to have been accomplished nowhere else in North America.

 

In Spring 2011, the truss building the sections of bridges between the west side of the Beltway and the Tysons Central 123 Station completed its work, was disassembled, and then reassembled in the median of Route 7 where it continues to work today.

 

Bridge work is now taking place in the one-mile stretch of Route 7 between Route 123 and the Dulles Toll Road. The truss has moved through the Tysons Central 7 Station area (between SAIC and the Marshalls/Home Goods shopping center) and is now near the Tysons West Station (between Spring Hill and Tyco Road). It will continue its westward bridge building efforts toward the Tyco Road/Westwood Center Drive area in the coming weeks.

 

Tysons West: Work continues at the site of the future Tysons West Metrorail Station near Spring Hill Road at Route 7.

Photo by Chuck Samuelson, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

There has been significant progress at all five stations--Tysons East, Tysons Central 123, Tysons Central 7, Tysons West and Wiehle Avenue this year. Tysons East and Wiehle Avenue construction is ahead of the other three. The first escalators are in place in the Wiehle Avenue Station where the steel canopy is very visible to drivers using the Dulles Airport Access Highway and the Dulles Toll Road.

 

Creating a bridge: Concrete segments being hoisted into place along Route 7 are creating a bridge for rail in the median of Route 7 in Tysons Corner.

Photo by Chuck Samuelson, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

The project's first Traction Power Substation and Train Control Room were moved to sites along the Dulles Connector Road and bridges were built across Magarity Road, Pimmit Run, Difficult Run and the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.

 

Bridge for rail along route 7: Crews are making rapid progress building bridges for the Silver Line.

Photo by Chuck Samuelson, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

Completing work near Capital One: This horizontal crane continues its work building bridges for rail along Route 123.

Photo by Stephen Barna, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

Looking west: The guideway/bridge for rail in Tysons is almost ready for track. This photo is looking

 

westward from the Tysons West Station area with the Tysons Sheraton in the background.

Photo by Stephen Barna, Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project

 

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Link to PDF version is not on the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project web site yet.

 

John in the sand box of Maryland's eastern shore.

[Shortline Bus]

Thanks for update. It would be nice down the road for a 1-seat no transfer ride between the three NYC metro airports and Midtown Manhattan.

[qjtransitmaster]

Thanks for update. It would be nice down the road for a 1-seat no transfer ride between the three NYC metro airports and Midtown Manhattan.

 

newark,LGA and JFK?? We have airtrain at LIRR and direct train service to newark. A shuttle to stewart and LIRR direct to LI macauthur . LGA has M60 from metro-north I met 14 ppl today who got off metro-north at 125th for M60 to LGA. If you want speed to LGA I will say it till I am blue in the face BQE and grand central HOV then some lines to LGA. You already know my takes nuff said. BAck to dulles silver line I have a feeling that connecting buses will get CRUSHLOADED. I saw express lines in fairfax,VA those buses get buttraped with ppl.

[Sand Box John]

Shortline

Thanks for update.

 

You are welcome.

 

It would be nice down the road for a 1-seat no transfer ride between the three NYC metro airports and Midtown Manhattan.

 

It is important to remember, this extension is not about providing a one seat ride between the urban core and Dulles Airport, it is about connecting the employment center that is Tysons Corner by rail transit to rest of the region (Tysons Corner has more commercial square footage then downtown Boston).

 

Had the plan been to only provide a one seat ride between DC and Dulles Airport without the stops in Tysons, Reston and Herndon there would still be trees and grass growing in the median of the Dulles Access Road.