Railway Track & Structures - April 2008 - (Page 9)

DART forwards financial plan to cities for review Following more than three months of study, the DART Board of Directors has voted to send a draft long-range Financial Plan supporting future rail projects to its 13 member cities for a 30day review. The Board is scheduled to adopt a final version of the plan as early as this month. The Plan supports the construction of a 14-mile Orange Line northwest to the Las Colinas Urban Center in 2011 and to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in 2013, as well as a 4.75-mile extension of DART's existing Blue Line to Rowlett in 2012. Other projects in the Plan include the Downtown Dallas Transit Study (D2), which is currently studying a second rail line through the Dallas Central Business District with revenue service scheduled for 2014 and a Blue Line extension from Ledbetter Station to I-20 in 2018. Combined, these projects are projected to cost approximately $2.3 billion. Funding strategies have been identified to address the shortfall. DART's 28-mile Green Line project, connecting Pleasant Grove and Carrollton, remains on schedule and on budget. The $1.8-billion project began in late summer 2006. The first phase of the project, Downtown Dallas to Fair Park, is scheduled to open in September 2009 in time for the State Fair of Texas. The rest of the project is scheduled to open in December 2010. Tunnel machine completes second Seattle tunnel Sound Transit contractors punched through the east side of Beacon Hill in Seattle, completing the second of two 4,300-foot tunnels through the hill for Link light rail trains to begin service in 2009. Obayashi Corporation’s 300-footlong tunnel boring machine, nicknamed the “Emerald Mole,” emerged within five millimeters of its target. “Link light rail in Seattle truly is seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, or tunnels in this case,” said Sound Transit Board Chair and Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “Later this summer we will be ready to pull Link light rail trains through the hill to test the trains on 10 miles of the finished tracks just south of the east portal as we prepare for the first passengers in 2009. This is a major milestone for the thousands of men and women who have been a part of light rail construction from downtown to the Airport.” Construction of Central Link began in late 2003 and is currently more than 85 percent complete and on schedule to begin service between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac International Airport in 2009. Light rail trains are currently making test runs between Sound Transit’s Operations and Maintenance Facility in SODO and the Downtown Seattle Transit Tunnel. Light rail trains are scheduled to make test runs from the Mt. Baker Station just east of the Beacon Hill tunnel through the Rainier Valley to Tukwila Station by the end of this summer. Obayashi launched the TBM on its second trip through Beacon Hill in July 2007 and excavated more than 50,000 cubic yards of soil as it made its way through Beacon Hill. In its path, the 100-yard-long www.rtands.com Railway Track & Structures April 2008 9 http://www.rtands.com

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Railway Track & Structures - April 2008 Contents On Track Industry Today Supplier News AREMA News NRC News TTCI R&D Railroads Seeking More Advanced Systems to Handle Materials SKOL Bounces Back From Summer Flood Landmark Railroad Bridges Need Inspection, Too Products and Literature People Calendar Sales Representatives Advertisers Index Website Directory Professional Directory Classified Advertising Chicago Perspective

Railway Track & Structures - April 2008

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