Ames-McCrossan to build 3 miles of line, Siemens to build 41 LRVs

Visioning Sessions The Metropolitan Council in the Twin Cities awarded the second heavy construction contract for the Central Corridor light rail transit Project to Ames Construction/C.S.McCrossan and gave Siemens Transportation Systems Inc. the contract to build 41 light-rail vehicles.

Ames/McCrossan’s $113.8-million
bid to build the three-mile Minneapolis segment of the line includes betterment
work valued at nearly $1 million that was requested by and will be paid for by
the city of Minneapolis, Hennepin County and the University of Minnesota. The
cost to construct the westernmost three miles is $4.2 million below budget.

Thirty-one of the
low-floor LRVs are required for the Central Corridor project to provide for
two-car operations when revenue service begins in 2014. The cost for the Central
Corridor cars is $120.2 million compared with $119.1 million budgeted. The
remaining 10 cars are needed to accommodate plans for the Hiawatha Line’s
three-car-train program. Total cost of Siemens’ proposed base contract is not
to exceed $153 million, including the cars for Hiawatha, contingent on
satisfactory results from the Pre-Award Buy America Audit.

The
bulk of the construction on the Minneapolis segment will start in spring 2011.
Prep work is expected to begin this fall to retrofit the Washington Avenue Bridge
to accommodate LRT trains by strengthening the bridge piers. In December, crews
will begin the process to tie in the Central Corridor line with the Hiawatha
Line just west of the Cedar-Riverside Station to west of the future West Bank
Station.

The proposed LRV contract
also includes an option to purchase up to 58 additional vehicles for future
fleet expansion for Central Corridor, Hiawatha and Southwest lines should the
need and funding be identified. The vehicles would be built at the Siemens
plant in Sacramento, Calif. The proposed contract includes LRV production along
with spare parts to support testing and initial operations. Engineering and
testing of the LRVs requires two years prior to the arrival of the first
vehicle, which is expected at the end of 2012. After that, delivery is expected
at a rate of two to four cars per month.

Walsh Construction
earlier this summer won the contract to build the seven-mile St. Paul segment
and will begin construction after Labor Day east of the state Capitol on Robert
and 12th streets. Walsh will work on University Avenue between Emerald Street
and Hamline Avenue in 2011, between Hamline and Robert in 2012 and in downtown
St. Paul in 2011-2012.

The project began
improvements in May on streets around the East Bank campus of the University of
Minnesota and utility relocation work last year on Fourth Street in St. Paul.
The Federal Transit Administration has agreed to reimburse the project partners
for the 50-percent federal share of advanced work once it awards a Full Funding
Grant Agreement late this year.

Work on the three-mile
Minneapolis segment includes:

• Building four stations
from West Bank to 29th Avenue.

• Relocating utilities
necessary for the LRT trackway.

• Constructing three
miles of double track.

• Fully reconstructing
streets where track is being installed.

• Strengthening the
Washington Avenue Bridge by adding four trusses and replacing about 90,000
square feet of concrete deck.

 •Work necessary for systems testing by
late 2013 to maintain the revenue service date in 2014.