Denver Union Station Update #46

I have updates on several fronts today.

Kiewit has started the process of laying tracks at the light rail station.  Recently, hundreds of railroad ties were delivered over the past few days and are staged on site. This morning, rails have been moved from the staging area. Using a specialized machine, the ties will be set six at a time. I’ll show off my new vocabulary: Once the ties are in place, crews will begin “stringing the track” and will use “E-clips” to fasten the tracks to the ties. After the tracks are strung, a “tamper” will shake the track and ties to hasten their settlement into the “ballast” (big rocks) which has been spread over the top of the “sub-ballast” (small rocks). Keep tuned in to DenverInfill for the first photos of the new tracks. In the meantime, here’s a shot of the staged ties and the groomed ballast.

As Chachafish pointed out in their comment on Update #45, the fabric was installed late last week over the light rail canopy frame. It looks pretty sharp. Here is a photo of the finished product.

If you have spent some time lurking under the Millennium Bridge, you probably noticed that a transformer blocks the right of way between the current light rail tracks and the new station. That transformer, which powers the light rail, will be moved three months prior to the cutover to the new light rail station so the tracks can continue on their way under the bridge.

Tracks at the temporary Amtrak station will be laid in January shortly before the station becomes operational on February 1. The certificate of occupancy for the station was issued on Monday.

As you can see in the photo below, construction of the bus terminal roof has resumed. More beams are being installed and preparation is also underway to pour concrete over the first portion of the roof. Pouring concrete on a roof is especially tricky this time of year. Workers will probably have to heat it from below so it dries properly. As Bostonians know from a Big Dig failure, it’s not a good idea to have faulty concrete on a roof.

The dewatering system is being downsized now that the bus terminal floor is completed, the walls are nearly done, and the water table is seasonally low. Before digging starts on the second half of the terminal, new wells will be drilled along its eventual perimeter between Wewatta Street and Union Station, and the dewatering system will be reinstalled to keep the new digging location dry. You can see before and after photos of the dewatering system at Jobsite Visitor.com. Go to the “Plan View” tab, find the appropriate camera angle, and click through various weeks to see changes. By the way, you can use that section of the website to see weekly changes of the project from the nine camera locations that are shown along the freight tracks.

A few days ago, backfilling along the 18th Street side of the bus terminal began. Here’s a photo of the progress.

We should start saying our good-byes to the Union Station tunnel. It will be gone in late-winter or early spring. To me, the loss of the tunnel is the only real downside of this fabulous project. I use it as an oasis from the cold in the winter and from the sun in the summer. I soak up its history several times a week. My dad walked through that tunnel during an overnight stop in Denver in 1946 on his way home from the Pacific Theater to Western New York after his 4-year stint in the Marine Corps. For six decades, I listened to his fond stories of his short stay in Denver. There wasn’t much to say, but it was important enough for him to say it many times. He died last year at 92. Thousands of others made the walk through that tunnel. For many, it was one-way.

I have posted 13 new photos, including the ones in this blog, on our Denver Union Station page at JobSiteVistor.com.