CSX TRANSPORTATION'S VIRGINIA AVENUE TUNNEL RECONSTRUCTION PROJECT

摘要

CSX Transportation's "Virginia Avenue Tunnel Reconstruction Project" (VAT), located in Washington, D.C., is a unique and extraordinary railroad engineering project. The project entails the replacement of a 3,800-foot long, single-track, stone and masonry, cut-and-cover tunnel dating back to the 1870s with an entirely new, state-of-the-art double-track and double-stack clear tunnel. The project is located in a dense urban environment near Capitol Hill in a fast-changing and growing mostly residential area of Southeast Washington. Constructing this tunnel is one of the largest and most complex Class I freight railroad projects undertaken in the eastern United States for many years. Given the project's very sensitive location, CSX and its project team have employed innovative engineering design and construction methodologies, and developed and implemented a robust, award-winning community relations program to respond to community concerns and maintain CSX's and its partners' image as good corporate neighbors while successfully completing a major Class I railroad infrastructure project, on schedule. After a lengthy federal approval process, the $320 million, 42-month construction project will be completed in 2018. This paper will describe the team's approach to delivering a major railroad infrastructure project located in a sensitive, politically engaged area, and the engineering required to first secure the extensive government approvals and then expeditiously complete the final design and construction of this challenging project. The construction methodologies and sequencing, executed while maintaining uninterrupted rail operations on a busy freight rail corridor, make the Virginia Avenue Tunnel project unique and extraordinary in the railroad industry.