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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2009 10:12:48 GMT -8
"Danger 100% Fall Protection"? So, 100% Fall Protection actually means 0% Fall Protection and you must 100%-protect yourself from the fall. It's interesting and good to know. We will keep it in mind. It might save our lives in the future. LOL
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Post by darrell on Sept 21, 2009 11:22:27 GMT -8
It's interesting that the concrete forms a good bond with the invert concrete. I was looking more closely at the detail and noticed angle rebars that hook over the rebar loops and I presume are epoxied into the slab, similar to how the underpass wall rebar is hooked into the CIDH piles (lower photo). And thanks for the Red Line citation, Justin. We like that technical detail!
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2009 13:01:42 GMT -8
I was looking more closely at the detail and noticed angle rebars that hook over the rebar loops and I presume are epoxied into the slab, similar to how the underpass wall rebar is hooked into the CIDH piles (lower photo). Thanks, that's interesting. Epoxy is certainly the wonder glue. I still don't understand how you manage to take these trench pictures though.
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Post by darrell on Sept 21, 2009 13:54:14 GMT -8
I still don't understand how you manage to take these trench pictures though. Of course Greg Starosky of Expo gets credit for the second one. Speaking of, there are some new photos posted there, including this one of the finished (except for rails) underpass interior.
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Post by metrocenter on Sept 21, 2009 14:49:10 GMT -8
It's certainly somewhat a matter of philosophy: Should all rail be grade-separated as Fix Expo argues? Or should we build as much rail as possible using grade separations only when necessary (such as La Brea, La Cienega, Venice). The Fix Expo position is extreme the other way. I don't think all crossings need to be grade-separated. But I do believe we should think ahead to the future and not just grade-separate for the bare minimum of situations. Otherwise, we're just kicking the can (future operational problems) down the road for someone else to handle. In the case of Figueroa, I think it's a good call. Vermont would have been good to separate too.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2009 15:08:26 GMT -8
Of course Greg Starosky of Expo gets credit for the second one. Yes, but how do you guys get such good pics of the tracks? The work area seems to be protected like a military zone.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2009 15:10:55 GMT -8
Speaking of, there are some new photos posted there, including this one of the finished (except for rails) underpass interior. Does anyone know why there are adjacent girders at some locations but not at others?
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Post by darrell on Sept 21, 2009 15:37:40 GMT -8
Yes, but how do you guys get such good pics of the tracks? The work area seems to be protected like a military zone. Like I wrote, I stepped over the K-rails on Flower just south of the portal and shot through the chain-link construction fence. The close-up was zoomed in and cropped further (12 Mpixel originals are useful for that!). Although it was a Sunday. Does anyone know why there are adjacent girders at some locations but not at others? The precast concrete girders? They used those where the streets cross the trench, so street closures were limited to a weekend. Cast-in-place is cheaper but takes longer.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2009 15:48:16 GMT -8
Does anyone know why there are adjacent girders at some locations but not at others? The precast concrete girders? They used those where the streets cross the trench, so street closures were limited to a weekend. Cast-in-place is cheaper but takes longer. That's right. But I'm wondering why the vertical clearance is lower in the girder sections:
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Post by darrell on Sept 21, 2009 16:51:51 GMT -8
But I'm wondering why the vertical clearance is lower in the girder sections: I take the girder section in the photo to be the curve under the Flower/Expo intersection. The slab sections are south of the Flower portal and on the south side of westbound Exposition Blvd. I'll conjecture that (1) a cast-in-place slab can be thinner and/or (2) there's less load there for the structure to carry.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 21, 2009 17:17:09 GMT -8
But I'm wondering why the vertical clearance is lower in the girder sections: I take the girder section in the photo to be the curve under the Flower/Expo intersection. The slab sections are south of the Flower portal and on the south side of westbound Exposition Blvd. I'll conjecture that (1) a cast-in-place slab can be thinner and/or (2) there's less load there for the structure to carry. The third reason I can think of is that this is on Flower near the tunnel portal, with the bend toward Exposition, and you don't need a strong ceiling near the tunnel portal and you need more clearance as the trains will come at an up - down angle.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 22, 2009 15:50:26 GMT -8
There you go: OK, it's not the entire line that is postponed until further notice but it's now coming close to that. With the given tortoise progress, this line simply can't and won't be finished anytime soon. Why don't they just say that this line won't open at least until some time in 2018 or so and be done with it? Please be advised that the temporary closures outlined below have been postponed until further notice. To view the postponed notice, please click here.
What: Temporary Street Closures for Track Crossing Installation at 7th, 11th, and Crenshaw
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Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 22, 2009 19:06:13 GMT -8
"Danger 100% Fall Protection"? So, 100% Fall Protection actually means 0% Fall Protection and you must 100%-protect yourself from the fall. It's interesting and good to know. We will keep it in mind. It might save our lives in the future. LOL "100% fall protection" means that when working 6 or more feet (now often 4 feet) above grade, you need to have what OSHA considers to be 100% fall protection. This is usually handrails that conform to OSHA standards or safety harnesses and lanyards that conform to OSHA standards. It used to be (and may still be) that nets could be used for fall protection and that's an example of something that's not 100%.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 23, 2009 12:47:40 GMT -8
^^ Thanks for the explanation.
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Post by darrell on Sept 23, 2009 20:34:18 GMT -8
This was another step forward today at La Brea, showing the side forms off, both the lower sides and the upper edge of the bridge deck.
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Post by Justin Walker on Sept 23, 2009 22:10:56 GMT -8
This was another step forward today at La Brea, showing the side forms off, both the lower sides and the upper edge of the bridge deck. Neat development! It's good that both La Brea and La Cienega are starting to look like something now. And some more stuff out east: The Flower St overpass has been progressing very quickly lately; here you can see rebar in place for the vertical elements of the box beams: The eastbound platform at Vermont has been one of the slowest platforms to take shape but work here at least has started now:
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 24, 2009 10:24:43 GMT -8
Malcolm has now moved their equipment to west of National and doing some drilling or predrilling there. You can see the drill rig on the far left at the edge of the street: And how about a construction video for a change? I didn't have time to adjust the settings and it was recorded at the lowest resolution as a result. It turns out that the large steel pipes are for the supports near Ballona Creek. The video shows them being hammered into the ground, with the hammer making a really loud noise when it hits the pipe support: Finally this is what I think to be the most exciting Expo development yet in that this is the first time you get to see a rail corridor since the abandoned tracks were removed: As you see the K rails have now been removed and people can actually see a rail corridor now when they are driving, like in the old times. The photo was taken just east of Normandie.
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Post by roadtrainer on Sept 26, 2009 18:59:56 GMT -8
Which rail bridge will be finished first? I say the Adam's/Flower street. Any opinions? And with all the excitement about the Blue Line tie-in, when is it going to happen? And will Darrell or Gokhan stay up late on weekends to get some Good Pctures?
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Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 27, 2009 14:10:13 GMT -8
I was looking at the east la gold line construction thread and while obviously not apples to apples, Expo looks to be way behind the progress rate set by that line. It's hard and almost impossible to conceive of Expo opening within the next 18 months and perhaps not for 24-30 months. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next year, but I don't have high hopes.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 28, 2009 8:20:24 GMT -8
I was looking at the east la gold line construction thread and while obviously not apples to apples, Expo looks to be way behind the progress rate set by that line. It's hard and almost impossible to conceive of Expo opening within the next 18 months and perhaps not for 24-30 months. It'll be interesting to see what happens over the next year, but I don't have high hopes. My guess is that Crenshaw may open in December 2010, Venice/Robertson in August 2011, and Phase 2 in the second half of 2014, all maybes.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Sept 28, 2009 20:02:59 GMT -8
I know that some don't like speculation, but it's ok IMO as long as it's clear that it's speculation based on limited info. And on that note...
There is almost no way that Expo will be completed, much less open, to Crenshaw by the end of next year. I will be happy to be wrong, but up to this point it's going slower than the gold line extension based on the pics that were taken over the last few years.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 28, 2009 21:15:52 GMT -8
Well, if the line doesn't open to Crenshaw by the end of 2011, I will still not be surprised. But I think they can open it to Crenshaw by the end of 2010 if they get their game going right.
It will be interesting how El Niño will effect the line. There have been recent heavy floodings throughout the world but the effects of El Ninõ vary greatly with location. It could be that we won't get much rain here. The first rain is expected next Tuesday. I doubt if the contractor has prepared for the rains. Last year there were a lot of rain delays. It took weeks for the lakes of water on the right-of-way to dry. I don't think they prepared all sections of the right-of-way for the rain.
Sadly the morale at the Expo Authority seems low, from the faces of the staff. Farmdale and the contractor hit them hard. I noticed that lawyers are involved in CEO performance evaluation at the Thursday's board meeting because of "personnel matters." I'm not sure which personnel is involved. I don't think this was the case last year.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 4, 2009 17:44:09 GMT -8
We haven't visited the line recently and I know you guys have been dying to find out what is going on with Expo recently. Therefore, I took a set of pictures this evening, headed from west to east as usual. In fact it turned out that there had been a lot of new developments. Immediately after I started driving on this very windy day, I ran into this. It is not really an Expo development, although only a few hundred feet from the Expo Phase 2 tracks. It was certainly a photographer's opportunity. It's a block from where I live in "Palms." Malcolm drill rig close-up at Washington and National. This is next to the car dealer there: Malcolm drill rig at Wesley St: Close-up of the drill bits. The blue one is either 12 or 15 ft in diameter: There are now two of these 12-ft-diameter cages: Concrete forms for drill shafts near Ballona Creek: Already a support has been erected on the west side of the Ballona Creek bridge: Close-up of the new Ballona Creek support: Sewer jet-grouting continues at the east side of Ballona Creek: These skinny and long cages just east of Jefferson and National are for the abutment there: Latest situation with the utilities at La Cienega. All seem to have gone now except for an orphan pole: Another thing that is new. Retaining walls for the bridge ramps are coming up at La Cienega: La Cienega bridge with the forms come off and the ramp retaining wall partially up: Work on the ramp retaining wall: Close-up of the earth-retaining walls for the ramp. Note that they are being cut to match the slope of the ramp: When I headed further east, I was very glad to see that the very first Expo Line bridge has finally appeared over La Brea, its falsework to be precise: Looking northeast at La Brea from under the new bridge: Close-up of the new falsework: Only 0.53 miles away from La Brea, this is the location of the Farmdale Station. It's 0.63 miles away from Crenshaw. It may end up having good ridership, given that both Buckingham and Farmdale are moderately used north - south connectors and several hundred students from Dorsey High will ride the train. Perhaps we will see the statue of a familiar high-school football hero as the station art. The nice thing is that the station will enable the line to be opened to La Cienega instead of Crenshaw. The only drawback is the one minute extra trip time. There might be some opportunity of transit-oriented development here, too. The Expo Inn at the background will be the first hotel next to a Metro Rail station: Finally this is the current situation of the Trousdale (USC/Expo Park) Station. The eastbound tracks are laid now on this side of the tunnel portal as well (not seen in the photo):
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Post by losangeles2319 on Oct 5, 2009 8:35:20 GMT -8
Whoa! Since when did they decide to build a Farmdale Station?!?!?
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Post by Jason Saunders on Oct 5, 2009 8:36:13 GMT -8
W Only 0.53 miles away from La Brea, this is the location of the Farmdale Station. It's 0.63 miles away from Crenshaw. It may end up having good ridership, given that both Buckingham and Farmdale are moderately used north - south connectors and several hundred students from Dorsey High will ride the train. Perhaps we will see the statue of a familiar high-school football hero as the station art. The nice thing is that the station will enable the line to be opened to La Cienega instead of Crenshaw. The only drawback is the one minute extra trip time. There might be some opportunity of transit-oriented development here, too. The Expo Inn at the background will be the first hotel next to a Metro Rail station: Thanks for the photos Gokhan. With respect, Did CPUC and Expo/Metro make a decision on the Farmdale crossing or are you only speculating and wording it as fact? Sadly the morale at the Expo Authority seems low, from the faces of the staff. Farmdale and the contractor hit them hard. I noticed that lawyers are involved in CEO performance evaluation at the Thursday's board meeting because of "personnel matters." I'm not sure which personnel is involved. I don't think this was the case last year. I think you are projecting, Gokhan. I don't think institutional morale is something you can gleam from the expression of a few civil servants at a single meeting.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 5, 2009 10:21:19 GMT -8
No official settlement and/or CPUC decision on Farmdale yet. There was a CPUC prehearing meeting last week. Too bad that LA Times no longer attends these meetings. But, from what I heard on the meeting, this issue is approaching a closure and the Farmdale Station seems to be favored by the parties among the given options (street closure with a pedestrian bridge, 24-hour stop, or station). Remember that at 6 PM tonight, there will be the first one of the very, very last set of official Expo Line planning meetings, which have been taking place for a decade. This meeting will be held in the gymnasium of Vista Del Mar, which is just north of National Blvd, immediately past the Expo railroad tracks, at 3200 Motor Ave in Palms/Cheviot Hills. Expect to see all Expo supporters and foes there. Perhaps I will ask Fix Expo and NFSR about the Farmdale situation. LOL
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 5, 2009 12:48:01 GMT -8
A few more pics. Work on the new abutment just east of Jefferson and National: In addition to this abutment being built, they are installing the second column, diagonally aligned with the first one, on the west side of Ballona Creek. When the sewer jet-grouting on the east side of the creek is completed in about a month, the columns there will be built as well. Here is another Exportunist just west of Buckingham Ave hoping to get money out of the Expo Authority: Elsewhere they are preparing for track installation near Normandie. It's striking how narrow is the right-of-way there, trains fitting barely. This is because Exposition Blvd was widened in this area in 1939.
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Post by darrell on Oct 5, 2009 15:53:51 GMT -8
Great photos, Gokhan! Here are two more from this afternoon on the subject of the MSE (Mechanically Stabilized Earth) walls. At La Cienega the earth fill is already being graded and rolled between the first sections of precast retaining walls. East of La Brea they were pouring the footing. It is only the thickness of the forms - no deeper into the ground - and is just to level the wall sections, according to the guy in the yellow vest. I want to see the first wall sections placed on it, which should be soon.
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 5, 2009 20:03:58 GMT -8
Great photos Darrell. I wonder how they will prevent them from collapsing. Perhaps the two sides will be connected with cables?
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Post by Gokhan on Oct 5, 2009 20:15:48 GMT -8
I was at the Cheviot Hills Expo meeting tonight. It was the ultimate NIMBY fest. I'm glad that these meetings are over.
I congratulated Fix Expo on the Farmdale Station. In turn I was laughed at and told we (the people on this board) are all so stupid and we don't know what we are talking about, implying that the perception of a station settlement is just a trick they will use as a way to turn the project upside down.
Fix Expo said there will be countless lawsuits; the project won't open until way past 2015 as a result, and then questioned Steve Polechronis' contributions to city council persons.
Other NIMBYs vowed for lawsuits.
The meeting also had a nice simulation of Phase 2.
The good thing is that I've got the whole thing on video, including the presentation, Phase 2 simulation, and the outrageous Fix Expo and NFSR NIMBY comments. It's a classic. I will post the hour-long video in a few days.
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