Millennium Line - Evergreen Extension | Completed

[dpogue]

Better video from this morning showing the two new segments of the outbound guideway.

[queetz@home]

Originally Posted by dpogue

Better video from this morning showing the two new segments of the outbound guideway.

Nice! Thanks dpogue!

It looks like they are concrete girders, so I was right on this part that they will be consistent with what is already in Lougheed Station, as oppose to steel. What will happen afterwards...we shall see.

Edit: After looking at the end of the concrete girder on the outbound platform carefully, the gap seems to indicate that something very large will be placed just after it. From that part onward, it will likely not be the boxy concrete girder but looks like a large preformed curved girder will be placed there (think those curvy girders near Braid). Not sure whether it will be concrete or steel...we shall see.



I guess the next big thing would be seeing how the beam would look like for those two columns immediately after the existing Lougheed station guideways to take the differences in grade changes.

Is it me or is the column directly beside Whitespot has a really large circumference? I'm not sure about the one beside North Road, maybe that too has a large circumference?

[officedweller]

Those columns could be large circumference if they are "T" or "Y" columns to support two separate single guideways at the different heights.

Think of the "Iris" column proposed for the defunct Seattle monorail extension:


http://www.monorails.org/tmspages/IrisEd.html

which I think are better than the Bangkok version (loaded single side):


http://www.bangkoksite.com/Transportation/SkyTrain.htm

[officedweller]

That box to be pushed under Barnet Highway on Remembrance Day weekend now looks like a box:

October 30, 2013:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/projects/R1_Transit

November 2, 2013:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/projects/R1_Transit

November 4, 2013:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/projects/R1_Transit

[queetz@home]

^^ Interesting...I guess they are going to punch a hole underneath that roadway and push the box on it? Over the course of a weekend or two?

Originally Posted by officedweller

http://www.bangkoksite.com/Transportation/SkyTrain.htm

While the Lougheed station area guideways won't look exactly like this, I guess this pic gives us an idea on what to expect to see with the difference in grade between the outbound and inbound guideways.

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

^^ Interesting...I guess they are going to punch a hole underneath that roadway and push the box on it? Over the course of a weekend or two?

Either a hole or a trench. I think I read that the road surface will be removed.

The Bangkok columns are like the original model with the guideway basketweave:


http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=5478369&highlight=lougheed+guideway#post5478369

[cairnstone]

Originally Posted by officedweller

That box to be pushed under Barnet Highway on Remembrance Day weekend now looks like a box:

October 30, 2013:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/projects/R1_Transit

November 2, 2013:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/projects/R1_Transit

November 4, 2013:

http://wcs.pbaeng.com/projects/R1_Transit

Wow cant wait to see a video of the slip. I would assume they would hydrovac and slip at the same time and remove the spoil at the rear between the rams

[red-paladin]

Inlet Centre is going to be an amazing station when complete.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by queetz@home

Edit: After looking at the end of the concrete girder on the outbound platform carefully, the gap seems to indicate that something very large will be placed just after it. From that part onward, it will likely not be the boxy concrete girder but looks like a large preformed curved girder will be placed there (think those curvy girders near Braid). Not sure whether it will be concrete or steel...we shall see.

[image snipped]

I guess the next big thing would be seeing how the beam would look like for those two columns immediately after the existing Lougheed station guideways to take the differences in grade changes.

Is it me or is the column directly beside Whitespot has a really large circumference? I'm not sure about the one beside North Road, maybe that too has a large circumference?

It looks like two small columns in the space formerly used for the Lougheed Bus Loop, and then 3 thicker columns heading up North Road, starting at the White Spot. You can't see in the video, but the wire mesh for the column in the White Spot parking lot definitely has a bigger circumference.
Aside from the first column being split into two smaller ones, it seems in line with the model of the basketweave.

It would not surprise me if they switched to steel for the curving section. I recall in a documentary video about the Expo line they mentioned using steel for the curve over the Grandview cut entering Broadway because it was lighter than concrete.

At present, it's looking like the columns will be set up like this (indicated in teal, map image from Bing Maps):


It's really great to see progress on other parts of the line too!

[queetz@home]

That's a cool diagram and gives you a much better perspective. I found it hard to visualize base on the videos and ground photos. But the placement makes sense. I guess those guideways will have fairly long curved segments, eh?

[Prometheus]

From what I understand from the discussion so far, is that east of Lougheed Station one Evergreen guideway will elevate higher than the other and cross over the lower one. Do I understand that correctly? And if so, why on earth is that the case?

[officedweller]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

From what I understand from the discussion so far, is that east of Lougheed Station one Evergreen guideway will elevate higher than the other and cross over the lower one. Do I understand that correctly? And if so, why on earth is that the case?

See this post for the published train movements through Lougheed Station.
Evergreen trains bound for Vnacouver will stop at the middle platform as shown on the diagram at this post:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6131812&postcount=4207

This provides a cross-platfdorm transfer for M-Line passngers from New Westminster transferrig to Vancouver (and allows M-Line trains to through route to Vnacouver if ever desired (not curremtly planned) - while avoiding the "Lower Bay" problem of two platforms with a common destination.

In order for the trains to get to that platform, the original 1999 plan was for a basket weave. Due to cost savings, there will instead be a level track switch near Burquitlam Station, as shown on the diagram.

(and yes, it looks like a switchng nightmare)

[Prometheus]

Originally Posted by officedweller

See this post for the published train movements through Lougheed Station.
Evergreen trains bound for Vnacouver will stop at the middle platform as shown on the diagram at this post:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=6131812&postcount=4207

This provides a cross-platfdorm transfer for M-Line passngers from New Westminster transferrig to Vancouver (and allows M-Line trains to through route to Vnacouver if ever desired (not curremtly planned) - while avoiding the "Lower Bay" problem of two platforms with a common destination.

In order for the trains to get to that platform, the original 1999 plan was for a basket weave. Due to cost savings, there will instead be a level track switch near Burquitlam Station, as shown on the diagram.

(and yes, it looks like a switchng nightmare)

Thank you for your response.

That makes no sense to me. I don't understand why Evergreen trains bound for Douglas College Station don't simply depart from the existing "Lougheed outbound platform" and cross the westbound Millennium track immediately after departing Lougheed Station, with no need for a new "Lougheed side platform." One platform with all trains entering and exiting on the proper sides. Clean and simple.

Why would they build a completely new north platform and necessitate such a mess?

[MIPS]

That looks like it will be so fun to ride when it's done. Lets just hope they've gotten the hang of high-speed switches or it will be a lot of crawling in and out of the stations.

Also yes, they used steel beams over the Grandview cut because it was cheaper than using concrete.

[nname]

Originally Posted by Prometheus

Thank you for your response.

That makes no sense to me. I don't understand why Evergreen trains bound for Douglas College Station don't simply depart from the existing "Lougheed outbound platform" and cross the westbound Millennium track immediately after departing Lougheed Station, with no need for a new "Lougheed side platform." One platform with all trains entering and exiting on the proper sides. Clean and simple.

Why would they build a completely new north platform and necessitate such a mess?

You need the new platform for the terminating Millennium Line train at Lougheed.

[SFUVancouver]

The two smaller columns will likely support a 'bent' across the road lane, which is essentially a lentil spanning two columns. (example: http://goo.gl/maps/TV0dJ)

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by MIPS

That looks like it will be so fun to ride when it's done. Lets just hope they've gotten the hang of high-speed switches or it will be a lot of crawling in and out of the stations.

There are plenty of switches on the existing lines that the trains take at high speed. The storage track between Nanaimo and Broadway stations is one example.

Speed restrictions at switches are usually due to noise issues or because of the sharp turn a train has to make when taking the diverging track.

[DKaz]

That platform was already built structurally, might as well use it. Would allow for full line segregation if one of the lines went down.

Too bad Columbia doesn't have that third platform.

[dpogue]

Originally Posted by aberdeen5698

There are plenty of switches on the existing lines that the trains take at high speed. The storage track between Nanaimo and Broadway stations is one example.

Speed restrictions at switches are usually due to noise issues or because of the sharp turn a train has to make when taking the diverging track.

In this case it's not the fact that there are switches, it's the fact that they will be switching frequently because the inbound/outbound cross over each other in two places (before Lougheed and before Burquitlam). There will likely be delays as trains have to wait for the switches to move.
There's also a segment at Lougheed that is shared between the M-Line inbound and EG-Line inbound, but with the M-Line switching a few meters later. I guess if it becomes a problem, TransLink could use the TCH pocket and run single-track between there and Lougheed on the current outbound guideway.

(Aside: Do we have a single-letter designation for Evergreen Line? EG-Line? G-Line? E-Line2?)

[aberdeen5698]

Originally Posted by dpogue

In this case it's not the fact that there are switches, it's the fact that they will be switching frequently because the inbound/outbound cross over each other in two places (before Lougheed and before Burquitlam). There will likely be delays as trains have to wait for the switches to move.

The switches actually change fairly quickly. I think the reason it "takes a long time" is because the train control system won't permit the switch to change if it's in an occupancy block that's assigned to a train. That's not something that's going to change.