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Post by usmc1401 on May 14, 2017 20:15:00 GMT -8
Today's Los Angeles Times 5/14/17 has a very good article on the connector. Mostly about the tunnel boring machine. It is on the front page. Also a seven minute video on the times web site.
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Post by metrocenter on May 15, 2017 12:01:16 GMT -8
Today's Los Angeles Times 5/14/17 has a very good article on the connector. Mostly about the tunnel boring machine. It is on the front page. Also a seven minute video on the times web site. Here's a link to the LA Times story. |
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Post by metrocenter on May 18, 2017 8:11:45 GMT -8
The Flower Street shared segment is very slow, due to crossings at four locations: (1) Washington/Flower, (2) 18th/Flower (with on-ramp), (3) Venice/Flower, and (4) Pico/Flower. The first two are the biggest pain points: the train spends what feels like forever waiting at Washington/Flower and 18th/Flower. Well, I just had a realization: the 18th/Flower conflict can most easily be resolved with changes to the roadway, rather than changes to the tracks. Here's how to do it: - First, remove the intersection at 18th Street, eliminating turns and cross-traffic. Traffic and trains would flow southbound on Flower without stopping.
- Second, create an on-ramp on the *right* side of southbound Flower (the western edge), and have it fly over Flower to the freeway.
- Third, combine this new on-ramp with traffic from 18th Street, guiding all (or most) traffic from that street over Flower onto the freeway.
It is possibly that there's not enough clearance between grade level and the I-10 Freeway to allow the flyover on-ramp. If this is the case, Flower Street could be briefly lowered to dip down as needed. I believe this would be far more cost-effective than a full grade-separation of tracks. The intersections at Venice and Pico should be gated, and the train given full preemption. And, at Washington, the Blue-Expo junction should be moved north, away from the intersection, and should also be gated. |
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 1, 2017 15:55:16 GMT -8
Angeli the TBM has broken through at 2nd/Hope!
From here it will continue south another couple of blocks to 4th Street. There, it will be removed and transported back to Little Tokyo to bore the second tunnel.
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Post by metrocenter on Jun 6, 2017 10:01:50 GMT -8
Major street closures around 6th/Flower are now in effect. Lots of activity has begun under both streets: - Utility relocation under 6th Street; and
- Cut-and-cover work (pile installation, eventually leading to excavation and decking) under Flower Street.
All parking lots are accessible, and most pedestrian paths are still open. |
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Post by exporider on Jun 8, 2017 10:27:35 GMT -8
I'm disappointed to see that LADOT used the subway construction project on/under 6th Street as an opportunity to install pedestrian "beg buttons" at adjacent intersections. This decision is a nuisance for pedestrians, as it forces us to find and activate the beg button in order to be granted a pedestrian crossing phase in the signal cycle. The decision is also unwarranted because pedestrian traffic demand is so high in this area of downtown (probably higher than vehicle traffic demand) and there are pedestrians crossing in every signal cycle. Therefore, the pedestrian phases should be hard-coded into the signal cycle, and not subject to the beg buttons.
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Post by bluelineshawn on Jun 8, 2017 20:47:27 GMT -8
I'm disappointed to see that LADOT used the subway construction project on/under 6th Street as an opportunity to install pedestrian "beg buttons" at adjacent intersections. This decision is a nuisance for pedestrians, as it forces us to find and activate the beg button in order to be granted a pedestrian crossing phase in the signal cycle. The decision is also unwarranted because pedestrian traffic demand is so high in this area of downtown (probably higher than vehicle traffic demand) and there are pedestrians crossing in every signal cycle. Therefore, the pedestrian phases should be hard-coded into the signal cycle, and not subject to the beg buttons. That does suck. Very few intersections downtown require that buttons be pressed and the ones that do are in the highest pedestrian areas (like LA Live). You walk up and 30 people are standing there but no one pressed the button. As downtown grows they should be making it more pedestrian friendly, not less. |
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Post by metrocenter on Jul 12, 2017 6:59:35 GMT -8
Heavy construction continues on Flower Street, now between 5th and 6th Streets. Adjacent to the Central Library, a giant auger is drilling holes for piles which will support the street decking. Utilities are being relocated under 6th Street.
Also, a giant blue gantry crane has appeared at 4th/Flower. It will be used over the next few weekends to remove the TBM "Angeli" from the tunnel it just created. Once removed, the TBM will return to the Mangrove Site in Little Tokyo where it will begin tunnel #2. Both bored tunnels are scheduled to be completed by the end of this year.
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Post by thanks4goingmetro on Jul 12, 2017 8:24:05 GMT -8
Walk through here everyday, been meaning to post the TBM extraction crane at Flower/4th  |
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Post by metrocenter on Jul 18, 2017 14:01:19 GMT -8
^ Nice!
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Post by culvercitylocke on Nov 7, 2017 21:40:57 GMT -8
www.kcrw.com/news-culture/shows/design-and-architecture/tunnels-planes-and-art-and-architecture-in-the-desert#seg-does-la-have-tunnel-visionKCRW ran a story on the regional connector and Musk's tunneling. Garcetti mentions in the story that they're working with/following Musk's innovations (as are other tunneling contractors) in how TBMs are built unrelated to the article, fyi if you haven't been following the goals of the Boring Company, Musk wants to fully automate the reinforcement stage so that mining can continue non-stop (other than maintenance). currently TBMs mine for 12 hours and then reinforcement is done for 12 hours. If he can figure out a way to roboticize the reinforcement stage he can double the operational speed of tunneling. this, obviously, should drive costs down considerably. Such an innovation would change tunneling around the world and change the cost calculation in opting for tunneling around the world. and an innovation like that is likely to be adopted or heavily researched by all the TBM manufacturers because the first person to get there is going to win all the bids until the competition catches up. Let's say that Musk achieves success in automating reinforcement, and as a result the costs of tunneling declines 30%. That is a massive win for LA county, as over the life of measure M, those savings could be rather substantial. I imagine the first candidate for a new machine might be the tunnels for the Van Nuys line, though obviously the 30 km Orange/VanNuys-LAX, Sepulveda pass tunnels are the big target for anyone.
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Post by jeisenbe on Nov 10, 2017 17:14:23 GMT -8
While this will be helpful, the cost of an underground transit line wouldn't decline by 30% overall, unless the stations can also be built much more efficiently.
I believe the stations on the Purple Line extension are about 1/2 of the total cost. Moreover, the cost of the between-stations tunnels is only partially for the tunnel itself; there's also the tracks, electric systems etc.
One possibility would be using oversize tunnels, which would allow stations to be built in the tunnel, with just elevator/escalator shafts built down from above, instead of a large "station box" being dug out from street level down to the tunnels. But larger tunnels mean excavating a much larger amount of dirt. All those trucks carrying dirt are a big expense, as is the much larger cutter-head needed, and the extra reinforcing for the tunnel. So this might make sense for lines with frequent stations (eg, a new downtown line?), but not for long stationless stretches (eg Sepulveda Pass)
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Post by usmc1401 on Nov 10, 2017 17:23:44 GMT -8
Yesterday 11/9/2017 it was announced that the regional connector will be delayed one year in finishing. Per KCAL 9 TV. The Los Angeles times also had a story on this. Most of the delay was caused by utility relocation problems. Such as masonary electrical vaults and steel riveted pipes.
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Post by metrocenter on Dec 12, 2017 8:48:35 GMT -8
The TBM "Angeli" has completed the second tunnel between 2nd/Hope and Little Tokyo.
Up next: Angeli will head south through 2nd/Hope station, and bore the second tunnel between 3rd and 4th under Flower.
LA Curbed Metro's The Source (video) |
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jan 22, 2018 20:35:29 GMT -8
Tunneling is finished!
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Post by metrocenter on Jan 23, 2018 14:48:24 GMT -8
Yep! (From Metro's The Source.) Over the next few weekends, Metro will be removing the snake, piece by piece, from the extraction hole at 4th/Flower. Then Angeli will be retired, and can go home to spend more time with the family. Coming soon: - Start digging out Little Tokyo station.
- Finish digging out Historic Core station.
- Finish building Bunker Hill station.
- Finish digging out the cut-and-cover tunnel to 6th/Flower. (I'm still salty that Metro removed the Flower Street pocket track!)
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Post by metrocenter on Jan 30, 2018 14:17:52 GMT -8
Here is the status of the Regional Connector (as of January 2018): - Overall Project Progress is 43%
- Tunneling: Second bore through future Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill Station and re‐launched for final section of drive to Flower Street
- Little Tokyo/Arts District Station: Under steady state until tunnel operations are completed
- Historic Broadway Station: Underpinning and excavation continues under steady state
- Grand Av Arts/Bunker Hill Station: Permanent invert and wall construction underway
- Flower Street: 6th Street re‐opened to traffic; utility relocations, support of excavation, decking and excavation continue
Projected cost: $1,810M (in line with budget) Projected opening: Dec 2021 (in line with schedule) Project is proceeding consistent with schedule forecast and revised LOP budget as approved by the Board in January 2017. |
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Post by culvercitylocke on Jan 31, 2018 9:58:09 GMT -8
The regional connector is 1.9 miles with three stations At a cost of 1.8B, or about 1 billion per mile to build
It’s so expensive because it’s hard to build in downtown it’s old there! Unexpected things happen!
The other subway in downtown, through the same “it’s so hard and unexpected conditions” for phase one, was four miles, with five stations costing 1.4 Billion in 1993, or a cost of 311 million per mile. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about 600 million per mile in 2017 dollars.
It’s a shame we are so much worse at building transit than we were twenty five years ago.
What’s the big difference? I would guess its executive pay, executive bonuses, and hundreds of millions in design work (and bonuses for the work) done by multiple conflicting layers of consultants instead of being done by salaried staffers.
If you figure 300 million per mile to pay the consultants for the regional connector, I imagine the cost of construction per mile between it and the redline is pretty similar.
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Post by mattapoisett on Jan 31, 2018 16:05:33 GMT -8
This has a good breakdown, at least for NYC. mobile.nytimes.com/2017/12/28/nyregion/new-york-subway-construction-costs.html?The regional connector is 1.9 miles with three stations At a cost of 1.8B, or about 1 billion per mile to build It’s so expensive because it’s hard to build in downtown it’s old there! Unexpected things happen! The other subway in downtown, through the same “it’s so hard and unexpected conditions” for phase one, was four miles, with five stations costing 1.4 Billion in 1993, or a cost of 311 million per mile. Adjusted for inflation, that’s about 600 million per mile in 2017 dollars. It’s a shame we are so much worse at building transit than we were twenty five years ago. |
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Post by jeisenbe on Feb 1, 2018 21:29:08 GMT -8
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Post by culvercitylocke on Feb 1, 2018 23:33:29 GMT -8
Alon says that consultants drive up project management costs in NYC 7x to 27% of the total project budget.
In the bad old days, they simply called it graft. In the greed is good days of today we call graft consulting and make it legal.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Feb 27, 2018 16:32:00 GMT -8
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Post by metrocenter on Feb 28, 2018 9:56:36 GMT -8
TBM is fully removed, the gantry crane is gone and the hole at 4th/Flower has been re-closed. (Source: my observations from the YMCA-Bonaventure ped bridge.)
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Post by metrocenter on Feb 28, 2018 9:57:54 GMT -8
As I noted in another thread, the Regional Connector is planned to have three separate 'phased' openings, due to the fact that the 1st/Alameda tie-in will break the existing Gold Line. The three openings are: - Opening 1: service opens from the south (Blue+Expo Lines) up to 1st/Alameda, the existing Gold Line is closed at 1st/Alameda, and bus bridges are established.
- Opening 2: service opens to the Eastside branch.
- Opening 3: service opens to northern branch.
Between Opening 1 and Opening 3, they will be demolishing nearly all of the built ROW along Alameda, and digging the new trench, building the new bridge, and installing the new track corridor. So I wonder: when they say that revenue service is expected in 2021, do they mean Opening 1 (service up to Little Tokyo), or Opening 3 (full through service)? Does anybody here know? |
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Post by culvercitylocke on Mar 28, 2018 22:44:07 GMT -8
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Post by usmc1401 on May 20, 2018 11:15:44 GMT -8
Per KNX radio in Los Angeles the connector project is now fifty percent complete. Mayor yoga pants was interviewed and talked about the one seat ride through downtown Los Angeles and what a great thing it will be. Should open in 2021.
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Post by metrocenter on May 30, 2018 8:06:25 GMT -8
^ I know it's supposed to be good news, but I just can't believe after all this time we are only at 50%.
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Post by usmc1401 on May 30, 2018 10:39:20 GMT -8
Talked to two people that are working on the connector yesterday. Word is that the time left for construction is for the stations.
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Post by culvercitylocke on May 30, 2018 12:02:05 GMT -8
^ I know it's supposed to be good news, but I just can't believe after all this time we are only at 50%. . It’s crazy, but that’s three years of utility relocations and two years of station palace excavation for you. Tunnel ventilation and tunnel utilities and cross passageway construction and station palace construction will probably take another three years to complete, plus a year of back fill and street restoration Given the depth of the line, this really should have been a single bore Barcelona / San Jose style construction. Twin bore construction just adds such a gargantuan amount of time to the construction schedule. We probably would have already opened the line if it had been single bore. |
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Post by bzzzt on May 30, 2018 16:11:48 GMT -8
To me, it's more about the money than the time; Metro only gets a set amount of money to burn. I am disappointed that the San Jose single bore saves only a pittance ($50M-$70M), while the operating cost actually increases. It seems that single bore should save more money.
I do value the multiple entrances and shallow stations of dual bore, especially in DTLA, but if single bore could legitimately save 5% to 10% rather than 1%, I'd get whole heartedly behind single bore.
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