Digging It
Railway Trench to Improve Traffic in Downtown Reno
By Tony Illia

A depressed rail trench similar to the Alameda Corridor is under construction in downtown Reno. The $264.8 million, 2.25-mile-long project, called ReTRAC (Reno Transportation Rail Access Corridor), is expected to greatly relieve traffic congestion.

The 50-month undertaking will create a 33-ft.-deep, 54-ft.-wide rail trench between West Second and Sutro streets, with 11 at-grade bridge crossings. Granite Construction Co. Inc., Watsonville, Calif, is the design-build general contractor with Parsons Transportation Group, Pasadena, Calif., as its engineer. Construction costs are $171 million. Pasadena, Calif.-based Jacobs Engineering Group Inc. is reTRAC's project manager, a contract worth $8.8 million. After design and right-of-way, major construction began on January 4, 2004.

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"This is going help tremendously in keeping traffic moving through the downtown area," says Daviera Powell, city spokesperson. "[Union Pacific] is talking about having 24 trains a day run through downtown by next year up to 36 trains daily by 2030."

The project is a critical component to the Port of Oakland's $1.2-billion expansion and upgrade. Although only 10 percent of Oakland's port cargo, or 98,900 containers, now travel by train that number is expected to grow by 30 percent or 574,590 more containers by 2010. Reno's train traffic, which runs through downtown, will consequently double by 2005. Union Pacific agreed to turn over their 54-ft.-wide easement rights and contribute $60 million to the project.

The remaining amount will be paid through a $115 million bond sale, issued by New York-based Goldman, Sachs & Co., with the debt being retired over 40 years through a combination of a sales, room and property taxes. Other contributing funds include a $50.5 million Federal Highway Administration loan, plus Nevada Dept. of Transportation funds.

Originally approved in 1938, the project was to have been started in January 1942, but was interrupted by World War II. Later, the trench was shelved due to funding costs. As the city's largest and most complex project, ReTRAC will require 661,000-cu. yds.
worth of excavation and 250,000-sq. ft. of soil nail wall shoring to complete.

A temporary or "shoo-fly" track will be built to reroute train traffic as excavation beings.
By using a combination of conventional layback, temporary shoring and tieback methods, Granite will excavate to just above the water table before installing a waterproof cutoff wall that will require approximately 3,000 2-ft.-dia. drilled piles. After 150,000-cu. yds. of wet excavation, Granite will then place 38,000-cu. yds. of tremied concrete inside the trench to create a waterproof seal across the bottom. One million gallons of water will then be pumped-out, after which 141,000-cu. yds. of concrete will be placed. It will form a U-shaped, 3-ft. thick concrete channel that serves as the permanent trench structure. The feat will require 14,100-truck loads worth of concrete and 100,000 cu. yds. of backfill to complete.

"The thickness of the channel was needed since the trench is below the water table," says Al Lord, Granite's trench superintendent.

Two mainline rail tracks will run inside the trench corridor, achieving speeds of up to 60-m.p.h. Meanwhile, vehicle traffic will pass overheard on 11 concrete pre-cast bridge structures measuring 4-ft.-wide by 54-ft.-long.

Nolte Associates Inc., Walnut Creek, Calif., who performed the $6.2 million environmental impact statement and preliminary engineering, has been hired by Parsons to design the bridge and trench structures.

City officials placed stringent traffic restrictions upon Granite when working in downtown Reno. For example, no two adjacent streets can be closed in the project area. In addition, one-lane of traffic must remain open on Third Street, and two-lanes must always stay accessible on Plaza Street.

Although Granite has a lump sum fixed-price contract, it still faces five milestone completion dates with liquidated damages of up to $10,000-a-day. An estimated 250 workers will be onsite during the height of construction activity. The ReTRAC is expected to become operational by late 2005 with final project completion by September 2006.