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Post by Gokhan on May 6, 2014 11:38:05 GMT -8
Surely the Pico crossing counts as a schedule slip, yes? Or has that component caught up to original timing expectations? Yes, it has.
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Post by RMoses on May 6, 2014 15:29:37 GMT -8
Surely the Pico crossing counts as a schedule slip, yes? Or has that component caught up to original timing expectations? No, it's a figment of your imagination; all bridges were completed by end of 2013 right on schedule.
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Post by Gokhan on May 6, 2014 15:38:54 GMT -8
Surely the Pico crossing counts as a schedule slip, yes? Or has that component caught up to original timing expectations? No, it's a figment of your imagination; all bridges were completed by end of 2013 right on schedule. Is it going to affect the overall completion date? Not at all. That's the good thing about successful construction management. They don't stop working on the entire project when some part stalls. They can swap parts around and they could work on something else that they would normally work on later. They then come back to the other part. This way, the overall schedule isn't affected. Remember, last time the project status was reported at 50% completion, it was 100% on schedule, and that took into consideration the Pico bridge construction, which had stalled, as well.
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Post by darrell on May 6, 2014 15:55:43 GMT -8
No, it's a figment of your imagination; all bridges were completed by end of 2013 right on schedule. Is it going to affect the overall completion date? Not at all. That's the good thing about successful construction management. They don't stop working on the entire project when some part stalls. They can swap parts around and they could work on something else that they would normally work on later. They then come back to the other part. This way, the overall schedule isn't affected. Remember, last time the project status was reported at 50% completion, it was 100% on schedule, and that took into consideration the Pico bridge construction, which had stalled, as well. I doubt it would matter if the rails and catenary on the Pico bridge were installed at the end of those activities. Speaking of critical path items, any progress on the east-of-Sawtelle and east-of-Sepulveda MSE ramps?
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Post by Gokhan on May 6, 2014 16:11:11 GMT -8
Speaking of critical path items, any progress on the east-of-Sawtelle and east-of-Sepulveda MSE ramps? Of course, MSE section under the freeway was more than halfway done when I saw it a couple of weeks ago and it's probably on the rise or about to be on the rise east of Sepulveda as well.
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Post by culvercitylocke on May 6, 2014 16:37:11 GMT -8
don't they have to open the new parking structure before they can do the east of sepulveda MSE ramp?
when are they going to do the only at grade street crossing between Venice and Overland?
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Post by Gokhan on May 6, 2014 16:41:39 GMT -8
It's open. Bagley circa July.
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Post by joshuanickel on May 6, 2014 17:33:46 GMT -8
Is it going to affect the overall completion date? Not at all. That's the good thing about successful construction management. They don't stop working on the entire project when some part stalls. They can swap parts around and they could work on something else that they would normally work on later. They then come back to the other part. This way, the overall schedule isn't affected. Remember, last time the project status was reported at 50% completion, it was 100% on schedule, and that took into consideration the Pico bridge construction, which had stalled, as well. I doubt it would matter if the rails and catenary on the Pico bridge were installed at the end of those activities. Speaking of critical path items, any progress on the east-of-Sawtelle and east-of-Sepulveda MSE ramps? East of Sepulveda, they have spent the past two weeks digging up the parking lot and the old ROW underneath. There have been truckloads of dirt coming out of there preparing the area for the ramp. East of Sawtelle, When I drove by there on Monday, it appears the ramp was almost at full height.
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Post by joshuanickel on May 6, 2014 19:27:20 GMT -8
don't they have to open the new parking structure before they can do the east of sepulveda MSE ramp? when are they going to do the only at grade street crossing between Venice and Overland? The parking lot has been open for a few weeks now. LADOT is now using the first level which is accessible from their property. The second and third level for Expo parking accessible from Exposition, remains fenced off until the train opens.
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Post by culvercitylocke on May 7, 2014 11:24:26 GMT -8
oh wow, I can't believe the parking lot opening wasn't ever mentioned here. How about the pico falsework, is it gone or still up? So I presume the Bagley-to-Venice rail installation and installation of rails on the venice bridge will be after that in July/August?
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f ron
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Post by f ron on May 7, 2014 12:20:33 GMT -8
oh wow, I can't believe the parking lot opening wasn't ever mentioned here. How about the pico falsework, is it gone or still up? It's still up. Scheduled to be removed sometime this month. Right on schedule apparently.
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Post by joshuanickel on May 7, 2014 13:11:09 GMT -8
oh wow, I can't believe the parking lot opening wasn't ever mentioned here. How about the pico falsework, is it gone or still up? It's still up. Scheduled to be removed sometime this month. Right on schedule apparently. The forms are off of most of the bridge. They are currently finishing where the two halfs of the bridge meet and placing concrete on the ends of the bents now that the tensioning is done. Here are two photos that Dwight got from someone at Skanska: EXPO LINE FAN's photos
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Post by tramfan on May 7, 2014 13:39:55 GMT -8
I live on the corner of Military and Exposition East of Sepulveda and I posted some photos as soon as the parking lot was abandoned by the Parking Enforcement. They have been digging for two weeks now where the ramp to the station will be. The OCS foundations have been placed on the ramp towards Sawtelle. Only the top cover for the wall needs to be constructed. The middle isle on Sepulveda that was necessary for the falsework has been removed as well. Things are changing fast on this section.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on May 7, 2014 14:54:40 GMT -8
So, l'm looking at the pictures which Joshua Nickel posted (thank you for that) and I'm seeing the bridge in pretty much the state as it appears to be right now. My question for the board is what's the difference between a "completed bridge" as it was described in December 2013 and the state the the bridge is in right now? Thanks!
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Post by masonite on May 7, 2014 15:55:50 GMT -8
Metro is reporting that some Expo trains will only be 2 cars tonight due to a railcar shortage. I still don't believe we are fine as far as railcars for future openings. I know this is not the first time there has been a railcar shortage either. If we are running out now, I can't imagine when we have additional lines open and the new cars are not here yet. Also, Metro continues to maintain this is a major issue regarding the opening of Expo.
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Post by joshuanickel on May 7, 2014 18:20:15 GMT -8
So, l'm looking at the pictures which Joshua Nickel posted (thank you for that) and I'm seeing the bridge in pretty much the state as it appears to be right now. My question for the board is what's the difference between a "completed bridge" as it was described in December 2013 and the state the the bridge is in right now? Thanks! Since December, the tension cables were installed and tightened which now allows for the falsework to be removed.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on May 7, 2014 19:13:21 GMT -8
So, l'm looking at the pictures which Joshua Nickel posted (thank you for that) and I'm seeing the bridge in pretty much the state as it appears to be right now. My question for the board is what's the difference between a "completed bridge" as it was described in December 2013 and the state the the bridge is in right now? Thanks! Since December, the tension cables were installed and tightened which now allows for the falsework to be removed. Thank you Joshua. I must admit I find the terminology baffling at times. As a layperson I would have inferred that a "completed bridge" is a structure which can both support it's own weight as well as the weight of traffic. Today I've learned that isn't the case. One day I'll catch up of course by then the train will be running!
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Post by joshuanickel on May 7, 2014 20:02:29 GMT -8
Getting info from Dwight, I am correcting the timeline. On January 10, EXPO posted these four photos to facebook of them building the form of the pico bridge. The copyright was from 2013: Pico Bridge Progress!On February 20th, The Source posted this photo of the contractor pouring the concrete for the bridge: Work on the bridge over Pico Boulevard 2-20-2014The Bridge Deck was poured in mid March The Bridge tension cables were installed in Late April The Forms were just removed in Early May and they are now finishing the work currently shown in earlier photos. By this schedule, I don't know where or how it came up that the bridge was completed in December, but it is not possible due to the photo evidence.
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Post by metrocenter on May 8, 2014 13:01:15 GMT -8
So, l'm looking at the pictures which Joshua Nickel posted (thank you for that) and I'm seeing the bridge in pretty much the state as it appears to be right now. My question for the board is what's the difference between a "completed bridge" as it was described in December 2013 and the state the the bridge is in right now? Thanks! I don't see anything from December suggesting that the Pico bridge was a "completed bridge". In fact, in December that bridge was being cited as a potential cause of delay because it wasn't completed. Darrell's picture from the end of December shows the forms on the bridge: Pico forms are finally well underway. Now if you're referring to this: No, it's a figment of your imagination; all bridges were completed by end of 2013 right on schedule. ...I believe that was sarcasm.
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Post by Gokhan on May 8, 2014 13:19:30 GMT -8
Regarding the Pico Blvd Bridge, it took Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc, five months to completely finish the Venice Blvd Bridge in early April 2014 after falsework was removed in early November 2013. As soon as they left, Skanska started track installation but there hasn't been much progress on that as they are waiting for the MSE ramp to finalized.
So, if the falsework is removed now, they can easily start track installation on the bridge by October. Since Skanska seems faster than Balfour Beatty Infrastructure, Inc, they could probably start installing tracks on the bridge as early as August. Also, there is no waiting for another contractor to finish the work as with the Venice Blvd Bridge and more than one thing can be done at once.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on May 8, 2014 13:58:42 GMT -8
...Now if you're referring to this: No, it's a figment of your imagination; all bridges were completed by end of 2013 right on schedule. ...I believe that was sarcasm. Yeah, that I took as sarcasm though it echoed something that Joshua had stated on May 2nd in the "Expo Line Phase 2 developments" thread that "all bridges were done". That stuck with me since it didn't seem right. When it was more or less repeated by rmoses I questioned just what done/completed actually meant --because it sounded contrary to what I felt I knew. Since Joshua stepped up last night and clarified I've been satisfied. For the record, I went beneath the Pico crossing this morning. While it's true that some of the forms have been removed, well more than half remain.
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Post by Gokhan on May 8, 2014 15:26:33 GMT -8
For the record, I went beneath the Pico crossing this morning. While it's true that some of the forms have been removed, well more than half remain. All that steel and wood can't be removed all at once. It's a multiday/night process.
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Post by Gokhan on May 8, 2014 15:29:05 GMT -8
expolinefan says:
"All the posts in the last day about the Pico bridge are incorrect. The forms were in place but no rebar as of Jan 10th, 2014.
I was there remember on Jan 27th and I got you the pictures around Motor Ave and not the bridge but at that time no cement pour yet."
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Post by RMoses on May 8, 2014 16:01:54 GMT -8
So, l'm looking at the pictures which Joshua Nickel posted (thank you for that) and I'm seeing the bridge in pretty much the state as it appears to be right now. My question for the board is what's the difference between a "completed bridge" as it was described in December 2013 and the state the the bridge is in right now? Thanks! I don't see anything from December suggesting that the Pico bridge was a "completed bridge". In fact, in December that bridge was being cited as a potential cause of delay because it wasn't completed. Darrell's picture from the end of December shows the forms on the bridge: Pico forms are finally well underway. Now if you're referring to this: No, it's a figment of your imagination; all bridges were completed by end of 2013 right on schedule. ...I believe that was sarcasm. Yes, correct my comment was meant to be viewed as sarcasm; my apologies if it caused some confusion.
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Post by Gokhan on May 10, 2014 8:48:57 GMT -8
A Summer 2015 opening is now a growing possibility. It's not easy -- they are short in rail cars and they need at least six more. New cars cannot be used immediately as they need to be broken in.
It's important to open the line in Summer 2015 because the alternative is to wait until Summer 2016 -- earliest the line can open with 6-minute headways as 35 - 50 new cars needed and the SM facility needs to be fully staffed and new budget allocations must be made for the new facility and new trains.
Note that it's 12-minute, 6-minute, or 5-minute headways -- there is nothing in between.
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Official info from Metro:
Blue + Expo Long Beach Yard total number of cars: 92 Blue + Expo number of 3-car trains running during peak hours: 25 Blue + Expo hot emergency spare train waiting at 7th/Metro: 1 Blue + Expo total no. of hot trains: 26 Blue + Expo no. of cold spare cars: 1 or 2 Blue + Expo no. of cars in maintenance or repair: 12 or 13
My calculations:
Blue Line no. of trains running between LA and Willow with 6-min headways: 15 Blue Line no. of trains running between Willow and LB with 12-min headways: 3 Expo Line no. of trains running between LA and CC with 12-minute headways: 6 Expo Line no. of trains running between LA and SM with 12-min headways: 8 or 9 Blue + Expo hot emergency train at 7th/Metro: 1
Blue + Expo to CC number of trains running during peak hours: 25 Blue + Expo to SM number of trains running during peak hours: 27 or 28
So, the long story short, Metro is running perhaps 1 more train than they need to, partly due to a long layover at Culver City, partly due to in case some train is delayed on the way, and partly because the turnback at 7th/Metro is slow.
They need 2 or 3 more trains to run Expo Phase 2. So, it looks like they need about 6 more cars. One complaint by Metro is that the LADOT signal timing is so awful and some trains are late if they aren't lucky with the signals.
Note that Blue and Expo headways need to be integer multiples of each other. 5 and 5, 5 and 10, 6 and 12, etc.
Green Line requires 10 2-car trains and perhaps one 2-car hot spare train. Current Green Line inventory: 29 cars. So, Green Line seems to have some extra cars.
Some bad news: Santa Monica Station will be problematic. After all the design changes, final design didn't allow any section of tail track at all and the bumpers will be located immediately at the end of the platform where the trains will stop. This means that the westbound trains will have to crawl into the platform to avoid hitting the bumper. Thank you City of Santa Monica!
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Post by joshuanickel on May 10, 2014 13:24:51 GMT -8
Some bad news: Santa Monica Station will be problematic. After all the design changes, final design didn't allow any section of tail track at all and the bumpers will be located immediately at the end of the platform where the trains will stop. This means that the westbound trains will have to crawl into the platform to avoid hitting the bumper. Thank you City of Santa Monica! I am not that surprised by this. Ever design that expo has come up with for this station has not had any sort of tail track. The problem is the size of the property. That was one of the reasons for the third track. I do have to say, the current design should help solve some of the problem. The train now only has a slight curve going in to the station. If they had it as they did in the old design, the train would of had a bigger turn in to the station which would be even slower. I imaging the slow part will be between 6th street and the station which is two blocks. You have the crossover there so you already have trains slowing down to switch tracks and going through the 5th street intersection to the station.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 12, 2014 22:58:49 GMT -8
Train testing on the Expo Line Phase 2 will partially start in early 2015, as early as January, as it has been planned by Skanska/Rados. Meanwhile, testing of the new P3010 LRVs on the Green Line should start around that time or earlier.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on Sept 13, 2014 16:48:52 GMT -8
Train testing on the Expo Line Phase 2 will partially start in early 2015, as early as January, as it has been planned by Skanska/Rados. Meanwhile, testing of the new P3010 LRVs on the Green Line should start around that time or earlier. That's a scant four months away from a potential partial test. What does the partial part mean? That they're not comprehensive tests or that they'd be running trains on just part of the line? It's hard to imagine they'll be in any place in four months to run the train further than Sepulveda or maybe Bundy. It gets a little sketchy after that. Can they run a train on a segment where there's no fences along the right of way? They haven't really begun that kind of work at all.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 13, 2014 18:06:39 GMT -8
Construction, including fences, is expected to be finished by December 31, 2014. However, work on electrical and train-control systems will continue at least until April or May 2015. After that, the line will be handed over to Metro.
Train testing starts with clearance testing using dummy carts. They then slowly pull a single-car train using a truck. These last for a couple of weeks. After that, you see slowly running self-powered single-car trains. At this point, all intersections are controlled by flagmen. They gradually increase the speed and add more cars. Once the signals and barriers are checked to be working, no flagmen are needed. This could take several months. At a later point, prerevenue operation starts, which lasts for at least a month. Prerevenue operation mimics the revenue operation. After the prerevenue, the line opens to revenue service. Testing also includes operator training. The whole testing and start-up process can take up to a year.
Note that the operation and maintenance facility won't be finished until May or later. It also needs to be tested just like the rest of the line.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on Sept 15, 2014 11:40:04 GMT -8
Construction, including fences, is expected to be finished by December 31, 2014. However, work on electrical and train-control systems will continue at least until April or May 2015. After that, the line will be handed over to Metro. Train testing starts with clearance testing using dummy carts. They then slowly pull a single-car train using a truck. These last for a couple of weeks. After that, you see slowly running self-powered single-car trains. At this point, all intersections are controlled by flagmen. They gradually increase the speed and add more cars. Once the signals and barriers are checked to be working, no flagmen are needed. This could take several months. At a later point, prerevenue operation starts, which lasts for at least a month. Prerevenue operation mimics the revenue operation. After the prerevenue, the line opens to revenue service. Testing also includes operator training. The whole testing and start-up process can take up to a year. Note that the operation and maintenance facility won't be finished until May or later. It also needs to be tested just like the rest of the line. 107 days, minus holidays, sounds rather optimistic to me for an end to construction given the state of construction today. We'll see!
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