BART Warm Springs bridge project wins award

Written by David C. Lester, Editor-in-Chief
image description
Warm Springs bridge under construction.
BART

The Warm Springs/South Fremont Station West Access Bridge and Plaza Project has been selected to receive the 2022 Outstanding Transportation Project award from the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) – San Francisco Section.

A station access bridge is not normally something we would cover at RT&S, but given the prestigious award it received, we thought our readers would be interested.

The award recognizes innovative projects with a principal focus on transportation design and construction. The project was recognized at the annual ASCE San Francisco Section Meeting on Sept. 28 in the Historic Green Room at the San Francisco War Memorial and Performing Arts Center.

The West Access Bridge crosses over five sets of Union Pacific railroad tracks to connect the Warm Springs/South Fremont BART Station to the growing Fremont Innovation District. It is composed of a truss span and a cable stay span for a total length of 150 ft. Truss components were fabricated off-site and delivered to the project site where they were welded together and ultimately hoisted into place and connected to the BART station. The cable stay bridge includes a 120-ft-tall pylon that is the signature architecture element of the bridge. From there, the bridge ties into the Warm Springs Plaza via a staircase, escalators, and an elevator tower. These elements are integral to the signature architecture.

“What an accomplishment,” said Mayor Lily Mei. “The 2022 Outstanding Transportation Project Award is a wonderful recognition of how the West Access Bridge connects people to transit in both a smart and beautiful way. This showcases how the city of Fremont and BART continue to build better communities.”

The city’s design team included Biggs Cardosa & Associates, HNTB, and Gates & Associates, with Shimmick Construction Co. as the contractor. The total project cost was $41 million. Preconstruction, planning, design, and utility relocation work was funded by the city of Fremont ($11 million). The construction cost of $30 million was funded by the Alameda County Transportation Commission. By agreement, BART funded its own project support and oversight costs of $1.5 million from Measure RR separately.

The Warm Springs/South Fremont Station opened for service in 2017 and boasts eye-catching art installations, solar panels, and EV charging stations as well as other environmentally sustainable features.

Read more about bridges.

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