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Post by culvercitylocke on Aug 22, 2013 8:39:30 GMT -8
Motor Ave falsework installation has started and the street will be closed 7 pm - 6 am for a week, starting tomorrow. I am guessing they will build this bridge in no time. The retrofitted abutments are looking kinda weird though. Yesterday, KCRW helpfully mentioned that Sawtelle would be closed over night in both directions for the next ten days. I presume it's for falsework installation. That'll mean that falsework will be spanning every grade separation except for over Pico, I think. Obviously National wins the prize, but which bridge will be second to be finished?
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Post by joshuanickel on Aug 22, 2013 10:25:41 GMT -8
Motor Ave falsework installation has started and the street will be closed 7 pm - 6 am for a week, starting tomorrow. I am guessing they will build this bridge in no time. The retrofitted abutments are looking kinda weird though. Yesterday, KCRW helpfully mentioned that Sawtelle would be closed over night in both directions for the next ten days. I presume it's for falsework installation. That'll mean that falsework will be spanning every grade separation except for over Pico, I think. Obviously National wins the prize, but which bridge will be second to be finished? Cloverfield/Olympic seems pretty close to done. They will be taking down the falsework next month after being delayed from being done this month.
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Post by bzcat on Aug 22, 2013 10:34:38 GMT -8
Sound wall installation has began between Military and Westwood Blvd. BTW, the construction on the right of way looks to be complete in this section and it is ready for rail installation.
The section between Military and Sepulveda is still untouched (LADOT parking lot). I guess that will be the last section to be constructed on the entire Phase 2.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on Aug 22, 2013 13:25:22 GMT -8
I'm surprised to learn that rail could be installed before the poles go in. Is that really the case? I would have thought tracks would be dead last as once they're down trucks could no longer transport crew and material up and down the line.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 22, 2013 13:50:21 GMT -8
I'm surprised to learn that rail could be installed before the poles go in. Is that really the case? I would have thought tracks would be dead last as once they're down trucks could no longer transport crew and material up and down the line. You will soon meet many of the what are known as "high-rail" trucks.
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f ron
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Post by f ron on Aug 22, 2013 14:52:23 GMT -8
Ha! I'll be pleased to make their acquaintance.!
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Post by bzcat on Aug 23, 2013 9:44:31 GMT -8
As Gokhan noted, the high-rail truck will make pole and wire installation easy once the rail is in. Also you want to do the wires after rail is in because then you know exactly how high the wires should be. Wire is typically the last thing to be installed as was the case in Phase 1.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 23, 2013 12:03:52 GMT -8
This is the at-grade Westwood / Rancho Park Station platform as seen from the street: Close-ups: This is looking west from Westwood Blvd to Military Ave. Fortunately, the sound walls are only 7-ft-high here, shorter than in Phase 1. You can see the subbalast (fine gravel). It will be covered with weed cloth and ballast (stones) will be poured over it. They will then place the concrete ties and welded rail on top of them and install the rail. They will then cover the ties with ballast. Once this is done, a rail-aligning train will carefully align the rail vertically and horizontally. Finally, a rail grinder will give the finishing touch to make the rail smoother and less noisy: This is looking west from Overland Ave to Westwood Blvd. The station platform is in the distance. Unfortunately, the sound walls are 8-ft-high in this section, making it somewhat difficult to see the outside from the train:This is the section north of the tracks that will become a creek and park: Across the street, you can see that the Overland Ave TPSS is brought to its location, wrapped up in black plastic: Curiously, they are doing some clearing and grading outside the track-bed area in the Northvale Road Trench. Is this for landscaping? I will try to find out. This is looking southeast: Looking northwest:
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f ron
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Posts: 222
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Post by f ron on Aug 23, 2013 14:00:16 GMT -8
Thanks Gokhan. These are great! Here's a view of the trench from our property, between Overland and around the bend from the pedestrian bridge. They've laid a drainage ditch on the south side, along the soundwall. Personally, we're grateful for the height of it as any sound mitigation will go a long way for such close proximity. If the riders want a view I suggest POSH accomodations as there won't be a soundwall along the south side of the tracks. Speaking of forthcoming landscaping, Metro has placed signs along Westwood and Overland on all the trees they intend to cut down in advance of future landscaping. For my tastes, there's nothing to lose and everything to gain by replanting trees along Overland. It ought to be a vast improvement. That said, Westwood Boulevard is lined with stately maples --steet defining, old growth beauties. It will be a saddening shame to see them removed. I expect a lot of outrage from the residents when they come to realize what's planned there.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 23, 2013 16:07:50 GMT -8
I haven't estimated the height of the sound wall east of Overland Ave yet. Perhaps it's 7 ft there. You can go on Overland and try to estimate the height of the wall from the street level (which is the same level as the top of the rail).
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Post by darrell on Aug 23, 2013 22:18:55 GMT -8
New photos from this afternoon in Santa Monica and thereabouts.... The western part of Colorado still looks about the same, except for the patches from utility relocation and now new curbs being built on the south side. But a big change is east of 14th, where the eastbound lanes now follow new curbs farther south and the center has been cleared for the tracks. At about 16th the lanes curve even farther south to clear the future station. Forms are coming off the sides of the bridge over Olympic. The sides of the station platform have been poured at 26th. It's looking like the deck will also be cast in place, unlike the precast slabs of phase 1's stations. Looking east from Stewart we see ballast sub-base, the Centinela ramp in the distance, and stacks of rails to the right of the future tracks. Also looking east from Stewart, the old Verizon buildings are being demolished for the new Expo yard. The view of the Bundy station from Bed Bath and Beyond's roof parking shows the earth fill nearing the top of the abutment. Not a lot has visibly changed looking east from BB&B, but it was a nice clear day that I could see downtown L.A.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 25, 2013 1:32:56 GMT -8
Current status of Motor Ave abutments and falsework:
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Post by culvercitylocke on Aug 25, 2013 10:46:10 GMT -8
are they going to do concrete girders for this bridge?
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 25, 2013 11:38:48 GMT -8
are they going to do concrete girders for this bridge? Just like the National/Palms bridge -- cast concrete several feet over the abutments, posttension, and lower in place with several small remote-computer-controlled hydraulic truck jacks.
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Post by culvercitylocke on Aug 25, 2013 23:01:32 GMT -8
We drove down national and westwood today on our way to the Landmark, and holy cow, it looks different looking west from Westwood. Sub ballast is down and soundwalls are about 5 feet high. Driving down national is a bit disconcerting with so much of the walls in place, it already feels quite different than just a few months ago.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 25, 2013 23:02:43 GMT -8
are they going to do concrete girders for this bridge? Just like the National/Palms bridge -- cast concrete several feet over the abutments, posttension, and lower in place with several small remote-computer-controlled hydraulic truck jacks. From looking at the pic, I may be wrong about the lower-it-after part. Perhaps they will simply restrict the access of tall vehicles -- Motor Ave isn't a truck route to begin with. We'll find out in a couple of weeks when they finish the falsework.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 26, 2013 11:16:21 GMT -8
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Post by darrell on Aug 26, 2013 13:20:48 GMT -8
Love the time-lapse quality of your photos of the Venice bridge construction, Gokhan!
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 27, 2013 10:33:12 GMT -8
Curiously, they are doing some clearing and grading outside the track-bed area in the Northvale Road Trench. Is this for landscaping? I will try to find out. This is looking southeast: Looking northwest: This is the answer from the Expo Authority: "I believe the grading is for drainage purposes, so water off the hill doesn’t get into the track ballast. Also, I believe there is some emergency lighting in the trench area."
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 27, 2013 10:41:50 GMT -8
The oldest tree in Palms, and Palms being the oldest suburb of Los Angeles, the oldest tree in Los Angeles outside the Downtown area, fell off yesterday. It was probably about 150-year-old. It was located directly across the original Palms Station (Palms Depot) at Vinton Ave and National Blvd: Fortunately, it has a twin still standing next to it. This is adjacent to the old Palms Fire Station (opened circa 1953, closed circa 2007), which has just been converted into a three-unit apartment building:
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Post by davebowman on Aug 28, 2013 8:41:23 GMT -8
The falsework on the Centinela Ave. bridge is gone (sorry, no pictures), and it looks nice and new and clean. Which bridge will be next?
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Post by joshuanickel on Aug 28, 2013 12:44:52 GMT -8
The falsework on the Centinela Ave. bridge is gone (sorry, no pictures), and it looks nice and new and clean. Which bridge will be next? They are currently taking the wood forms off of the Cloverfield/Olympic bridge and running the post-tenshion cables through the bridge. According to a City of SM update, the road will be closed next month and October to remove the steal beams. See note number 8 in the following update: Facebook - SMConstructs
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 29, 2013 11:26:34 GMT -8
7. Stewart Street b/w Olympic and Exposition - street closure is scheduled for Saturday September 7th, 2013 9am-9pm for transport of 900ft pieces of train tracks. It sounds like finally track installation.
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 29, 2013 11:32:53 GMT -8
Clarington Ave / National Blvd TPSS work. It's amazing how much work goes into building a TPSS. There are so many structures below ground. You can see that the concrete boxes have holes in them to feed the power-line conduits. Harsh shadows are obscuring the picture a little bit: Venice Blvd Bridge deck work continues. You can see that the deck is extended over the box edge by perhaps a couple of feet. One thing I am worried about these bridges is that there is no protective wall at all. High-speed-rail bridges seem to have good derailment protection. What would happen if a train derailed on such Expo bridges? Do they think about the derailment safety of these bridges at all? Does anyone know? It's a little scary to ride a train on these aerial structures without any walls:
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Post by macross287 on Aug 29, 2013 15:43:32 GMT -8
As I recall most of BART's aerial structures only had the third rail between the train and the edge of the aerial structure
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Post by Gokhan on Aug 30, 2013 12:12:10 GMT -8
Close-up of the conduits for the power lines at the Clarington Ave / National Blvd TPSS. Some of them must be inputs ( ? [probably a few thousand] V AC) and some outputs (750 V DC). Despite I being on the sidewalk and behind the fence, the security woman across the street called at me, "Excuse me, you can't take pictures here." I replied, "Yes, I can." Lol Looking west, the tracks are across the street to the right: Looking south, the tracks are across the street to the back of the camera:
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Post by bobdavis on Aug 31, 2013 0:21:26 GMT -8
Looks like an archaeological "dig". One of the problems with building a subway/metro in places like Athens or Rome is that the whole town is one big archaeological site. "Hold everything! We just found the wine cellar for the Temple of Dionyseus!"
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Post by darrell on Sept 1, 2013 10:24:17 GMT -8
Here's another archeological dig, west of Sepulveda, although not as dramatic as Gokhan's ... The long shot, showing the Sepulveda falsework and soon-to-depart concrete plant. The close-up (far left in the first photo), of the excavation below what I thought was to be a raised embankment between the Sepulveda and Sawtelle bridges. And the parking structure under construction, east of the post office; you see the Sepulveda falsework on the far left. Photos taken 8/27/13.
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Post by darrell on Sept 1, 2013 10:38:01 GMT -8
And I happened to be driving west Wednesday night (8/28) and found Motor Avenue closed for falsework installation. (Night shots at ISO 1600 are where a DSLR shines!) Road closed. View from the north. Detail of the east abutment forms, tubular supports for the future bridge, and gap in horizontal beams. I-beams across Motor. Detail of supports and bracing of falsework uprights.
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Post by Gokhan on Sept 1, 2013 19:51:34 GMT -8
The long shot, showing the Sepulveda falsework and soon-to-depart concrete plant. Better not. Otherwise, they won't be able to finish the Expo Line, as that's where the Expo concrete comes from. Thanks for the great pictures!
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