[OhioGuy]

Metro aims for September Silver Line opening despite construction issues

WTOP | Max Smith | November 21, 2019, 8:46 PM

Metro is preparing to launch Silver Line service to Dulles International Airport and Loudoun County in Virginia around September 2020, but the agency is still considering forcing major changes to construction plans that could push back that timeline.

Metro’s Office of Inspector General and a construction expert the office hired, warned Thursday that faulty concrete panels that frame most of the new stations may need inspection every three months after Metro takes ownership of the line if the panels are not fully replaced.

Such inspections could require regular single-tracking or other service disruptions on brand-new stretches of track.

“That impacts service on an ongoing basis. That impacts, obviously revenue, and it impacts costs. And we don’t know yet what that means because that’s 1,500 panels that we’ve got to come up with how would we even do this,” Metro General Manager Paul Wiedefeld said.

Construction standards called for the panels to last 100 years.

When asked whether Metro should insist on having all panels removed so new ones can be made and installed, Wiedefeld said Metro should take nothing off the table since the agreed upon design is not what ended up being built in this case.

A demand of that scale would push back the opening date significantly, but it could help avoid potential long-term maintenance issues.

The concrete panel issues are among four Metro considers as outstanding, since construction is essentially complete and the focus moves into testing and commissioning.

The Airports Authority and the contractors building the line are working to address the other three issues, which are: problems at some spots where rails are connected to concrete rail ties, issues with some locations where trains cross from one track to another not being level, and problems with the rock ballast that supports the tracks in the rail yard.

On Wednesday, Airports Authority leaders said there are plans to address all the issues, and the goal is to have the project substantially complete and turned over to Metro in April.

If that goal is met and the issues are addressed, Metro could open the line for service sometime between early July and late September.