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Post by RMoses on Dec 17, 2013 20:39:12 GMT -8
They were removing the forms at the Palms Station plaza today. I am guessing falsework for the east end of the platform will be next. These are some of the gaps along the line at the moment, preventing track installation: Venice Blvd MSE ramp Palms Station Clarington Ave retaining wall Military Ave parking lot I-405 MSE ramp Pico Blvd Bridge Colorado Ave Colorado Ave including the 17th St. Station as well, and the 4th St Terminus for sure. Some recent pics of the station progress to follow.
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Post by RMoses on Dec 17, 2013 20:43:21 GMT -8
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Post by RMoses on Dec 17, 2013 20:45:37 GMT -8
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Post by roadtrainer on Dec 18, 2013 13:33:33 GMT -8
They were removing the forms at the Palms Station plaza today. I am guessing falsework for the east end of the platform will be next. What false work?
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Post by Gokhan on Dec 18, 2013 14:03:48 GMT -8
They were removing the forms at the Palms Station plaza today. I am guessing falsework for the east end of the platform will be next. What false work? Falsework installation, not removal.
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Post by darrell on Dec 21, 2013 0:35:55 GMT -8
Colorado work is moving toward the closure of 11th Street to install the first section of embedded track (photos early this afternoon): ... The crossing-to-be at 11th Street. (Finally) some after photos of the 11th Street embedded crossing, taken this afternoon (12/20): Rails sticking out beyond the concrete of the crossing The (gray concrete) crossing, with asphalt patching alongside (Colorado has become very bumpy with all the temporary patches) And the rails sticking out the other side
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Post by Gokhan on Dec 21, 2013 2:53:14 GMT -8
Colored concrete was a good safety feature and it's a bummer that out of all possible cost-cutting options, they decided to remove this safety feature. Perhaps part of the reason that the old Blue Line section of the Flower St tracks keeps having accidents but the Expo Line section has never had an accident is clearly visible colored concrete vs rails blending in pavement-colored (gray) concrete.
I'm curious what other cost-cutting measures we'll see in Phase 2.
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outthere15
New Member
Take back the rails
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Post by outthere15 on Dec 21, 2013 8:13:25 GMT -8
I my memory serves me correctly, they had trouble with the colored concrete section on the Gold Line East LA extension as the ferrous coloring components were enabling micro voltage to disrupt some control issues, Does anyone else have this recollection?
Happy Holidays to all, Mark
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Post by darrell on Dec 21, 2013 10:36:36 GMT -8
I my memory serves me correctly, they had trouble with the colored concrete section on the Gold Line East LA extension as the ferrous coloring components were enabling micro voltage to disrupt some control issues, Does anyone else have this recollection? Happy Holidays to all, Mark Yes, I remember that too. Here's a 2009 Neon Tommy article about the problem and Supervisor Gloria Molina's displeasure with its fix.
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Post by Gokhan on Dec 21, 2013 18:17:57 GMT -8
Well, there are no stray leakage currents in Expo Phase 1 due to colored concrete. The rails in embedded sections need to be isolated using rubber boots any way.
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Post by Gokhan on Dec 23, 2013 18:31:19 GMT -8
I can't believe Skanska/Rados have only 16 months left to finish the construction (contract completion date May 2015) but they are only about halfway done. Go figure...
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outthere15
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Take back the rails
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Post by outthere15 on Dec 23, 2013 22:43:53 GMT -8
I believe that they are more than halfway done. There are no more caissons to be drilled and poured and once the Pico bridge is formed and poured they only have walls, compaction and at-grade stations to form and pour. The rails and overhead electrical systems are fairly routine. What took the time on Phase I were the finishes; the steel canopies, fences, hardscaping, landscaping and control systems. From what I see, they are very organized and agile, they seem to perform work wherever they can so that if they are held up by another agency of problem like the Pico Bridge pile incident, they move on and come back to it. This all bodes well for good schedule control.
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Post by fissure on Dec 23, 2013 23:54:30 GMT -8
While the groundbreaking was Aug/Sept 2011, things didn't really start picking up until a year later. That was almost 16 months ago, so being halfway done seems about right to me...
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outthere15
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Take back the rails
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Post by outthere15 on Dec 24, 2013 7:51:22 GMT -8
Well, it is the Holiday Season so I am only looking on the bright side. ; } This is where we were two years ago as this pic was taken on the 21st of January, 2012 - just East of Sepulveda. Look at how far we have come!
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Post by roadtrainer on Dec 24, 2013 9:50:47 GMT -8
Dear Mark: Thanks for your optimism. And Merry Christmas to all!!!!
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Post by darrell on Dec 24, 2013 11:17:05 GMT -8
Comparing with Phase 1: - Track laying and grade crossings began east of Crenshaw, on Flower, and in the underpass in November, 2009
- First OCS poles installed March, 2010
- Falsework came down for both La Brea and La Cienega bridges in April, 2010
- First OCS wires hung in June, 2010
- Farmdale crossing completed in September, 2010
- First test train pulled along tracks and first operated under power in April, 2011
- Public opening to La Cienega in April, 2012
We seem to be in-between November, 2009 and April, 2010. All bridges except Pico are pretty much finished. The first crossings are in. The right-of-way is mostly complete - OCS pole footings, duct bank, drainage, sub-ballast. A test train in a year or so seems reasonable. The big constraint will be new trains.
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Post by Gokhan on Dec 24, 2013 15:34:39 GMT -8
Yes, Darrell's assessment seems correct. It looks like Skanska/Rados, thanks to their curious slowdown lately -- is it because they are having trouble meeting the contract requirements of the local-jobs program? -- will finish about six months later than they planned, in late 2015 instead of early 2015. In other words there is still about two years of construction left. But then, as he said, no trains -- no service. It's been really annoying recently because they don't even have enough trains to run Expo Phase 1. Quite often they've been running overcrowded two-car trains during rush hour because of lack of trains.
So, we should still be OK with an early-to-mid-2016 opening. They need many new trains, as they want to run 5-minute headways with Phase 2, and it will be at least May 2016 or so when they get them. Or, perhaps, they can change their plans and start with 12-minute headways if they don't get the new trains soon enough. I don't expect the initial ridership to be huge anyway.
Merry Christmas!
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Post by darrell on Dec 26, 2013 20:59:56 GMT -8
To finish out 2013, where most of the Phase 2 construction news has been most of the bridges nearly completed, here is a drive-by tour early this afternoon. Looking west of 20th toward the Olympic ramp. Three of Olympic-Cloverfield, of the presence this bridge has at a distance and above. Vehicles on the Centinela bridge - just not trains. Side forms are off Bundy - like Sepulveda, the other aerial station - but falsework remains. Pico forms are finally well underway. Sawtelle and west look pretty finished. And a new perspective, from the I-405 - I-10 ramp. Sepulveda, with MSE walls rising on its west but not yet on its east. Looking from the pedestrian bridge toward the I-10 tunnel, awaiting ballast. Motor's I-10 underpass frames the new Expo bridge in light. A long view of the National station and bridge, showing the retaining wall and station building. And the Venice bridge looking pretty finished except for its west ramp. A year ago had the first columns and beginning of falsework at Cloverfield - we've come a long way in this year's construction!
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Post by darrell on Dec 27, 2013 0:13:48 GMT -8
I just completed an update to the Friends 4 Expo Phase 2 Construction Photo Galleries with these photos and some of Gokhan's from earlier this month, trying to keep this illustrated timeline of construction highlights current. You may also enjoy this 360-degree panorama taken on the restricted-use easement just north of the tunnel on 1/31/03, long before there was any construction here.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Jan 4, 2014 15:49:14 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 6, 2014 16:55:58 GMT -8
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Post by roadtrainer on Jan 7, 2014 11:52:20 GMT -8
MSE-wall foundation at the Venice Blvd abutment. I don't know why there is a step (third picture): [i/quote] I still have a hardtime figureing out that the first layer of blocks just sits there and is not secured to the foundation, but only the weight of the other blocks stacked on top of each other, keep it in place for the life of the ramp,.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 7, 2014 12:25:25 GMT -8
I still have a hardtime figureing out that the first layer of blocks just sits there and is not secured to the foundation, but only the weight of the other blocks stacked on top of each other, keep it in place for the life of the ramp,. The foundations are only there to prevent the walls from sinking to the ground vertically. The sideways force exerted on the walls by the weight of the backfill material is gigantic. It's equal on the opposite walls. It's balanced by the tension forces on the many wire meshes compacted within the backfill material holding the opposite walls together and that's why the walls don't fall outward. The two opposing walls also cannot shift sideways together in the same direction because the force needed to overcome the giant weight of the backfill material would be enormous.
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Post by darrell on Jan 7, 2014 13:31:17 GMT -8
A repost of my 10/13/09 La Brea bridge phase 1 photo of the grids that anchor MSE wall panels:
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 9, 2014 11:41:18 GMT -8
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 10, 2014 12:45:47 GMT -8
While we're inching toward the circa November 21, 2015, revenue-operation date (ROD), here are some construction pics. The gap at Clarington Avenue in the Great Wall of Palms is going to be gone in a week or two. Catalina Pacific Concrete (located at Exposition/Sepulveda) is at work. Also note the station communications building in the background: Palms Station is taking shape and the gap for the westbound track and station platform should be closed in a few months: I am not sure if the wire meshes that hold the mechanically supported earth (MSE) wall panels will connect to the wire meshes coming from the panels of the opposite wall. If they do so, they will have to find the ends of the wire meshes through the backfill earth. It's somewhat strange that they are doing the two opposing walls separately. Monday morning: Thursday morning: Thursday evening: Friday morning (today):
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Post by darrell on Jan 10, 2014 22:45:02 GMT -8
While we're inching toward the circa November 21, 2015, revenue-operation date (ROD), here are some construction pics .... I am not sure if the wire meshes that hold the mechanically supported earth (MSE) wall panels will connect to the wire meshes coming from the panels of the opposite wall. If they do so, they will have to find the ends of the wire meshes through the backfill earth. It's somewhat strange that they are doing the two opposing walls separately. ... Good construction-progress photos, Gökhan! I never had the impression that the grids were connected across the fill, but that the compacted earth alone is enough to anchor them. But I'm open to a counter-example.
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Post by Alexis Kasperavičius on Jan 11, 2014 0:12:58 GMT -8
Nice pics Gökhan! BTW, does anyone know why this MSE system is being used on every bridge? It seems like such a waste of retail space. For example, here in Berlin they have a similar bridge system for their S-Bahn, but under the embankments are grocery stores, manufacturing, retail, bars, restaurants, you name it. It lends to the atmosphere around a station and provides a good revenue stream for the transit agency.
I'm racking my brain trying to the think of why Metro would do this and fill all the potential revenue generating space (some in prime retail areas) with dirt so it can never be used. Is it some sort of regulation? Fire codes? Earthquake codes? Or did they just not consider it. Anyone know?
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Post by RMoses on Jan 11, 2014 9:25:31 GMT -8
Nice pics Gökhan! BTW, does anyone know why this MSE system is being used on every bridge? It seems like such a waste of retail space. For example, here in Berlin they have a similar bridge system for their S-Bahn, but under the embankments are grocery stores, manufacturing, retail, bars, restaurants, you name it. It lends to the atmosphere around a station and provides a good revenue stream for the transit agency. I'm racking my brain trying to the think of why Metro would do this and fill all the potential revenue generating space (some in prime retail areas) with dirt so it can never be used. Is it some sort of regulation? Fire codes? Earthquake codes? Or did they just not consider it. Anyone know? Capital cost, cheap compared to additional bridge structures and a column step down; they are very fortunate that the ROW provided so much space.
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Post by Gokhan on Jan 12, 2014 3:23:35 GMT -8
Reinforced concrete costs higher than MSE panels and backfill. On that note, there are level MSE sections as well, such as between La Cienega Blvd and Ballona Creek and Bundy Drive and Centinela Avenue. These could have been on columns if cost wasn't a factor.
They have made some rooms under the future embankment for the westbound track at the Palms Station. It's not a ramp there but a level section. They had to build a retaining wall there anyway, as there was no access to both sides for an MSE section. Therefore, the additional costs were not that high. Rooms are for electrical, elevator, etc. equipment. See my picture above.
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