The Bechtel-led team building the Dulles Metrorail Project outside of Washington, D.C., successfully completed the installation of the pedestrian bridge that will give travelers access to the Wiehle-Reston East Station on the new Silver Line. This is a significant accomplishment as the bridge crosses 12 lanes of highways, including the Dulles International Airport Access Highway. Crews carried out the installation over a five-night period to limit disruption to motorists.
“Innovative construction techniques, detailed coordination with local agencies and community groups, and the skills of the people who installed the bridge are the reasons the installation was successful,” said Larry Melton, Bechtel’s executive director on the project. “We are building this project in one of the most congested areas in the United States and we do everything we can to minimize disruptions without sacrificing safety and quality.”The construction and installation of the bridge were done in phases to minimize the impact on the community. Large segments of the bridge were built at one location and trucked to a staging area near the station where they were prepared for installation. The assembled sections were then mounted onto a customized self-propelled modular trailer (SPMT) system, which lifted the sections to the height of the bridge. An operator, handling the computer that guides the transport, essentially “walked” the sections into place to form the bridge over the road.
The same method, customized for each location, is being used to install all of the Silver Line pedestrian bridges. Bechtel is building Phase 1 of the new rail line for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The project is currently on schedule for completion in late 2013.
A global leader in the rail industry, Bechtel has successfully completed some of the largest and most complex rail projects in the world, including the San Francisco BART system; Athens Metro; Jubilee Line Extension on the London Underground; West Coast Main Line Route Modernization; and High Speed 1. In addition to the Dulles rail project, the company is also working on Crossrail, a new rail route through the heart of central London.
