CSX Railroad National Gateway Project: University of Akron Overhead Walkway & Thornton Street Bridge

On February 22, 2012, Independence Excavating mobilized to begin construction on two sections of the CSX Railroad National Gateway Project. The purpose of the project is to lower sections of railroad tracks beneath existing vehicle and pedestrian bridges to allow CSX to ship double stack shipping containers that cannot clear the current height of the bridges.

Our section of the project is located right in downtown Akron at two locations. The first location is described as the Overhead Walkway (OVW) site and is at the University of Akron behind the Inventors Hall of Fame. The second location is further south and takes place below the Thornton Street Bridge.

The project presented many challenges. The most daunting of them was performing the work on and between two active railroad tracks, which can include as many as 30 trains per day. Rail operations required us to give way or clear the work area each time we were notified of an approaching train. Of the two work areas, the OVW scope of work was more extensive and complicated. To prepare for the track lowering, we first had to demolish the 1,500 linear feet by 20 feet wide existing Amtrak train station platform and canopy that was located between the tracks. Then sewers had to be installed between the tracks to provide for drainage. The most complex element to this site was the construction of four reinforced concrete crash walls to protect the overhead walkway support piers. Two walls were constructed outside of the tracks and two were constructed in between the tracks. The walls were approximately 42 feet long and 2 feet, 6 inches wide with a 2 foot thick foundation that had a bottom elevation of 8 feet below the railroad tie elevations. To construct the walls, our chief engineer, Mike Orlando, designed a unique soldier beam and lagging shoring system that had to be strong enough to support the massive live loads of locomotives and loaded rail cars traveling only a few feet from the edge of our excavation. The unique features of the shoring system were the use of two layers of internal pipe and beam spreaders to brace the system and installing 2 foot by 12 foot lagging laid flat, instead of the more typical upright configuration, in order to comply with the 3/8 inch maximum allowable deflection by design. The concrete crews formed the walls and placed the concrete using a large concrete pump that extended the boom across the tracks and under the bridge. After the walls were completed, we had to coordinate with CSX for the actual removal and lowering of 1,100 linear feet of track 1, which had to be performed during a 36 ‐ hour, round ‐ the ‐ clock operation to meet the railroads restrictions for the track to be out of service. CSX and RJ Corman Company performed removal and reinstallation of the track with specialized equipment. Independence Excavating was responsible for excavating to lower the elevation, installing new railroad ballast stone and grading.

The Thornton Street scope of work included installation of 2,550 linear feet of underdrain pipe along the exterior of both tracks that are to be lowered. In this location, both track 1 and track 2 had to be lowered by a distance of 1,300 linear feet each. To accomplish this, CSX employed the use of a specialized track undercutter machine in lieu of removal and replacement as was performed on the OVW site. For this operation, Independence Excavating provided labor and equipment to support the undercutter and removed the spoils generated from undercutting the track. Track 1 was undercut and lowered during the same 36 ‐ hour track closure as the OVW lowering, and track 2 will be performed at a later date.

We thank the CSX team, as well as construction manager, Hill International, for the opportunity to contribute to this critical CSX program. We also wish to thank all our personnel for their skills and working safely under very unique working conditions and exposures.