North Shore Connector said to be on schedule and under budget
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The North Shore Connector tunnel, seen in the PG video at left
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As if the challenge of urban subway construction weren't enough, there are a few urban myths for the Port Authority to deal with as North Shore Connector construction advances to the home stretch.
No, the Allegheny River is not leaking uncontrollably into the subway tunnels.
No, the grades at both ends of the tunnels aren't too steep to allow for removal of a disabled train.
No, the authority won't be too broke to operate service to the North Shore when the project is completed in March 2012.
The project is alive and well and 83 percent complete, said Winston Simmonds, the authority's rail operations/engineering officer, during a walking tour of the 1.2-mile, $528.8 million extension of the Light Rail Transit system this week.
"Still on schedule and under budget," Mr. Simmonds said, making his way through tunnels where there were a few construction-related damp spots but no gushing leaks and, sadly, no sign of that truckload of cash that a political TV commercial showed being dumped into the project.
A city that prides itself on its vistas will be getting a new one with completion of the new Gateway Center station -- the Downtown skyline seen from underground.
The shell of the station is nearly complete and finishing work has begun. From the completed platform riders will be able to gaze through a glass atrium and see Gateway Center skyscrapers and PPG Place.
Five huge concrete columns to support the station roof rise at alternating angles from the platform, one leaning left, the next leaning right, and so on. They are the Leaning Towers of Pittsburgh, deliberately engineered to provide escalator clearance.
The old Gateway loop is being repurposed to provide space for electrical, signal, ventilation, communications and fiber optics equipment -- more than a dozen separate control rooms.
At the spot where inbound trains formerly entered the loop to turn around, they will instead make a right turn into the new station.
The authority at one time had planned to keep the old station open while the new one was built. It changed that plan to save money (an estimated $4 million to $5 million) when the project was in financial danger.
"It was the right decision. I don't know how we would have done it," Mr. Simmonds said, observing the construction debris and general disarray around the old platform. "We know it's an impact on our customers, but in terms of time and costs, it was the right thing to do."
First Published November 26, 2010 12:00 am
