Port of Vancouver, WA – West Vancouver Freight Access Trench Project
(Room Sagamore 2)
19 Sep 17
8:30 AM
-
9:00 AM
Tracks:
AREMA Committee Meeting, AREMA Technical Sessions- Structures
The rail trench project is the most complex and important project the Port has ever undertaken. To relieve rail congestion at the Port of Vancouver, the Port selected the HDR and BergerABAM team to plan and design a grade-separated railroad trench on a narrow strip of land adjacent to the Columbia River. This grade-separated trench serves as the new rail entrance to the Port, allowing trains to travel under the historic BNSF Railroad Bridge, connect to the Port’s enhanced rail system, and bypass the mainline wye. HDR and BergerABAM used out-of-the box thinking to develop the partially elevated trench, a new way to separate railroad grades in an urban waterfront setting. Passing the rail underneath a BNSF bridge with a trench rather than over it saved the Port millions of dollars in property acquisition and structure costs. The 1,350-ft-long, partially elevated U-shaped structure is composed of a thick, reinforced concrete slab with two reinforced concrete walls to protect the railroad track from flooding. The majority of the structure (1,100 feet) is supported by a series of closely spaced four-pile bents. The pile-supported portion ends where full-width ground support is available and where buoyancy uplift forces can be resisted by dead load alone. Through careful design and a combination of innovative methods and technologies, this one-of-a-kind railroad trench structure was constructed with low life-cycle cost. The trench project was completed $8 million under budget and nearly two years ahead of schedule.