Update (December 3, 2009) on the CSX RF&P third-track extension

Here's a brief photo review of progress at Franconia Hill (CSX RF&P Subdivision, CFP99). On this visit to view trackwork either side of Franconia Road in Alexandria, Virginia, I noticed the contractor's name on the side of a truck: Polivka International, whose specialty (from their Web site) is railroad jobs. A list of current projects proclaimed contracts with all the Class Is. Home office is Charlotte, N.C.

In the two weeks since my last update on this location (November 17), progress was not easily apparent. For one, the south end of the new Track 1 at the Franconia signal bridge had yet to be joined to the north end of the new track only a few hundred yards to the south. Emphasis apparently has been on preparing the track bed, which was still ongoing.

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Looking north from the Franconia Road highway overpass. Sorry about that bare tree in the middle; it was that or fall off the cliff!
Track bed preparation continues with roller packing at the skilled hands of a woman operator:

Looking south from the highway overpass via long lens revealed new Track 1 still has a gap here as well as north of the overpass:

Here's why any railroad places train-control employees at construction sites. Wouldn't want to encounter that beam at 60 mph or that operator wouldn't stop spinning until next Thursday:

The overall scene looking south from the highway overpass. At this time I was expecting P094 so I pulled out my scanner to check his progress.

And here he comes, right on schedule, rolling by the worksite at reduced speed as construction crews stand by. Minutes later I was visited by three (3) Fairfax police officers. Someone had spotted my scanner antenna and, of course, the camera. As usual they were polite as could be, and frankly, I don't blame the citizenry for calling me in. We currently (December 11) have five young men from Alexandria arrested in Pakistan for possible terrorism preparations.

That "suspicious-looking" scanner also alerted me to the approach of Q173, shown below easing past the worksite on the north side of the overpass, up the RF&P's ruling grade :

I then returned to the south side of the overpass to catch VRE301, the midday southbound, the cab of which can barely be seen behind the crest of Franconia Hill. The track gang backs away for the commuter to pass:

Update (December 2, 2009): CSX RF&P girder bridge replacement over NS in Alexandria

That huge Manitowoc crane has now been fully assembled and is being put to work moving big stuff around the work site here in Alexandria, Virginia, where the CSX RF&P (near the Cameron Run signals, CFP102) crosses above Norfolk Southern (CR Tower). Today I spoke with Pete, a member of the contractor's team supervising the project. The contractor, Skanska, one of the world's largest, is headquartered in Stockholm. Pete invited me into their portable office and stepped me through a set of plans.

They're replacing the old two-track girder bridge with one that's wider, giving CSX trains more clearance between Tracks 2 and 3. They're also going to make it and the single-track bridge on the opposite side, which carries Track 1, a little higher to give NS more clearance. (One wonders for what: Stack trains?) Finally, they're shoring up each end of the CSX railroad's high earthen fill with steel piles because the new bridge will be longer and heavier.

The shoring-up has begun. You can see it in one or more of the pictures below. To replace the bridge, they're going to erect a kind of heavy-duty "scaffold" framework parallel to the old two-track bridge, the one next to the crane. Once the scaffold is completed, they will begin assembling the new bridge on top of that scaffold. To move the finished bridge, bogeys will be slipped under it so it can be rolled sideways along the steel framework, which will be grooved to provide a guideway. Portable, gas-powered (I think) hydraulic machines rigged with cables will be used to tow the new bridge over.

On D-Day ("T-Day"?), scheduled to take place next April, both CSX and NS will shut down their affected tracks above and below for four days, leaving one track per railroad in service. The monster red crane will lift the old two-track bridge out of its supports and place it aside. Then the new bridge will be rolled into its new spot. Once there it can be jacked up, bogeys removed, and jacks eased off so the bridge can settle into place.

Finally, the old single-track bridge will be jacked up to a new altitude, but I don't recall what will be done next. Something will have to be inserted under it to keep it in its higher location.

After work site clean-up, Pete said, "We can all go home."

After my meeting with Pete in the construction office, I came outside to discover a couple of CSX "suits" (black suits, to be exact--probably accounting types) had shown up for a tour:

Shoring up the north end of the bridge approaches in preparation for the new, longer one:

The scene at CR Tower has lost a bit of its allure with the arrival of contractors and their "necessities":