The Virginia Passenger Rail Authority’s plans to expand the state’s rail infrastructure are moving forward, as the agency recently selected joint venture contractor Long Bridge Rail Partners to serve as the designer of the southern package of its Long Bridge project in 2.3 billion dollars. With the contract, VPRA officials say they have the entire project team in place.
The joint venture includes Pittsburgh-based Trumbull Corp.; Fay, Pittsburgh-based S&B USA Construction; and Wagman Heavy Civil Inc. York, Pennsylvania-based STV is the lead designer.
“The selection of Long Bridge Rail Partners completes the team that will build the largest of our Transforming Rail projects in Virginia, which will significantly change the way Virginians travel,” VPRA Executive Director DJ Stadtler said in a statement.
VPRA plans to build a two-track railroad bridge spanning the Potomac River between Arlington, Virginia, and Washington, DC next to another two-track bridge owned by CSX Transportation that is more than 100 years old. The plan also calls for the construction of a separate pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the Potomac, four other rail bridges and another pedestrian bridge, plus related infrastructure along a 1.8-mile corridor .
The South Package includes the new rail and pedestrian bridges that cross the Potomac, plus additional infrastructure between the Rosslyn Interlocking in Arlington and the north abutment of the new bridge, including construction of retaining walls and a defense system to the river
The project is needed to ease congestion on the current bridge, which rail authority officials say has become a bottleneck for CSX, Amtrak and Virginia Railway Express trains. The bridge was operating at 98% capacity during peak hours, with nearly 80 trains crossing it each day. The increased capacity will allow for more frequent passenger train service, according to VPRA.
“The Long Bridge project will unblock the bottleneck on this congested corridor and provide improved service to CSX customers as well as VRE and Amtrak passengers,” said Randy Marcus, director of state relations for Virginia, West Virginia and DC to CSX, in a statement.
VPRA previously awarded a progressive design-build contract to a joint venture of Skanska and Flatiron for the North Package, which covers the remainder of the Long Bridge project on the DC side of the river. The scope of this contract includes the construction of a new railway bridge and the replacement of three other two-track railway bridges with four-track bridges, in addition to the replacement of a pedestrian bridge.
The work is being funded in part by a $729 million grant from the Federal Railroad Administration’s Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail program.
VPRA aims to complete construction by 2030.
