Dulles Rail aerial guideway complete

Written by Jenifer Nunez, assistant editor
image description
Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

The Bechtel Corporation-led team building Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor extension project completed construction of the aerial guideway that will carry Washington Metropolitan Area Transportation Authority trains and passengers over major highways and through

Tysons Corner, one of Virginia’s busiest retail and business districts.

The aerial guideway makes up three miles of the 11.7-mile alignment in Phase 1. It was constructed by connecting more than 2,700 reinforced precast concrete segments, each weighing between 25 to 40 tons. The segments were engineered for their specific location on the guideway to ensure a custom fit. The segments were installed by the bright blue and yellow trusses. The giant 365-ton, 360-foot-long trusses were used because of their ‘top-down’ construction method, which has little impact on the traveling public and is ideal in an urban area like Tysons Corner. The last of the three trusses will be demobilized over a period of five to eight weeks.

Completion of the guideway marks a milestone in the project. Work will now focus on the completion of the stations and their associated pedestrian bridges and pavilions, as well as on the process of connecting the Dulles extension to the existing WMATA system.

Phase 1 of the Dulles Corridor extension project began in 2009 and is managed by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. The project is currently on schedule for completion in late 2013.

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