23 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Progressive Railroading, 11/7/14:

LACMTA set to break ground for Purple Line subway extension

This morning, Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) officials will host local, state and federal officials for the groundbreaking of the $2.8 billion Purple Line subway extension project.

Story

[KevinKorell]

A lot of information and links to more good stuff on L.A. Metro Source site, 11/7/14:

Long wait is over: groundbreaking ceremony today for subway extension under Wilshire Boulevard

The groundbreaking is for the 3.9-mile first phase of the project between the Purple Line’s current terminus at Wilshire/Western and Wilshire/La Cienega in Beverly Hills with new stations at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. Metro forecasts the first phase will open in 2023.

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[KevinKorell]

Progressive Railroading, 11/10/14:

Skanska joint venture awarded design-build contract for L.A.'s Purple Line extension

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) awarded a $1.6 billion design-build contract to a Skanska joint venture with Traylor Brothers Inc. and J.F. Shea Construction to extend the Purple Line.

Full story

[KevinKorell]

L.A. Metro The Source, 10/16/18:

 

 

After decades of talk, talk and more talk, subway tunneling began Monday for Purple Line subway extension

 

 

After several decades of talk and plans that never came to fruition, subway tunneling began Monday afternoon under Wilshire Boulevard for the Purple Line Extension project. The above video shows the scene 60 feet below Wilshire and La Brea shortly after noon Monday.

 

 

Update

[KevinKorell]

In a major milestone for construction of the first section of the Metro Purple Line Extension Project, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) began tunneling work underneath Wilshire Boulevard and La Brea Avenue. 

Twin tunnel boring machines (TBMs), named Elsie and Soyeon, will begin by tunneling parallel underground sections between the future Wilshire/La Brea Station and the current Wilshire/Western Purple Line terminus. The TBMs each weigh 1,200 tons, are 450 feet long, have a diameter of 21.8 feet, and will simultaneously be excavating approximately 60 feet per day in the twin tunnels over the next two years.

The TBMs will work in tandem, with Elsie expected to trail her sister by about 150 feet. The two machines will be separated by about 16 feet of soil as their giant cutter heads spin to grind away the soil in their path. Meanwhile, hydraulic arms at the rear of the machines are inserting concrete segments into the newly mined tunnels, which also help propel the machines further forward.

Metro broke ground on the 3.92-mile first section of the project in November 2014 that will begin at the existing Wilshire/Western Station and continue to new stations that are being excavated at Wilshire/La Brea, Wilshire/Fairfax, and Wilshire/La Cienega. The $2.82-billion project section is funded by Measure R and federal funds. Stantec will lead management of the construction of this section.

The first section of the Purple Line Extension Project is scheduled to be operational in 2023 with the second section to Century City in 2025, and the third and final section to the Westwood/VA Hospital in 2026. When complete, the Purple Line will speed transit riders between downtown L.A. and Westwood in 25 minutes, with other stations at Wilshire/Rodeo in Beverly Hills, Century City/Constellation in Century City, and Westwood/UCLA and the Westwood/VA Hospital in Westwood. The subway extension is projected to serve 59,000 riders daily — including 17,000 new riders.

“The Purple Line Extension Project is an important part of Metro’s ambitious plan to improve and expand mobility throughout Los Angeles County and will serve our region’s second-largest job center,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington. “This is one of the most significant transit projects we plan to deliver to the public before the Summer Olympic and Paralympic games arrive in Los Angeles in 2028.”

Keywords

L.A. Metro   light rail extension   passenger rail   Phillip A. Washington   Purple Line Extension   Tunnel Boring Machine   

 

Follow @lctmag on Twitter

View the full article

[KevinKorell]

Curbed Los Angeles, 6/3/19:

 

Metro halfway done building subway to Beverly Hills

 

 

 

The first phase of LA’s subway to the Westside is now halfway finished.

 

Once complete, the first phase of the $3.1 billion project will bring the Purple Line from Koreatown’s Wilshire/Western Station to the intersection of Wilshire and La Cienega boulevards on the eastern edge of Beverly Hills.

 

Update

[CNJRoss]

Progressive Railroading, 6/14/19:
 

LA Metro tunnel boring machine breaks through to Wilshire/Western Terminus

 

 

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) earlier this week announced that its first tunnel boring machine has broken through from the Wilshire/La Brea Station site to the Wilshire/Western Terminus in Los Angeles. 

 

The boring machine is one of two being used to mine parallel subway tunnels to extend LA Metro’s Purple Line from the current Wilshire/Western Terminus to the Wilshire/La Brea Station site.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

LACMTA news release:
 

L.A. Metro’s First Tunnel Boring Machine Breaks Through to Wilshire/Western Purple Line Station in Koreatown

 

Wednesday June 12, 2019

 

Marking a new construction milestone for the Metro Purple Line Extension project, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Metro) announced that its first Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) has officially broken through to connect with the Wilshire/Western subway station in Koreatown.

 

 

The 1,000 ton, 400-feet long TBM named “Soyeon” burrowed through the last remaining cluster of soil 50 to 70 feet below busy Wilshire Boulevard Tuesday afternoon, June 11. The TBM is one of two TBMs to mine approximately two miles of parallel subway tunnels between the future Wilshire/La Brea Station and the existing Wilshire/Western Station.

 

The breakthrough marks an early triumph in the decades-long effort to extend L.A.’s subway farther west underneath Wilshire Boulevard, one of the busiest and most congested urban thoroughfares in the United States.

 

“Our last TBMs at Wilshire/Western were powered down over 23 years ago, so we are definitely going ‘back to the future’ in our modern-day mission to extend this subway,” said L.A. County Supervisor and Metro Board Chair Sheila Kuehl. “I’m glad that this enormously complex operation has gone off without a hitch. It’s a testament to the ways in which Metro and its contractors meticulously plan and execute their tunneling work.”

 

Soyeon was originally lowered into the ground at Metro’s Wilshire/La Brea station site in the Miracle Mile area of Wilshire last October. While advancing, the TBM burrowed about 60 feet per day. It worked five days per week, 20 hours a day. The digging has taken eight months to reach the bulkhead — the retaining wall at the face of the Wilshire/Western subway terminus. Metro anticipated future westward subway expansion and built the bulkhead wall as part of station construction. The station originally opened in 1996.

 

A second TBM named “Elsie” that launched six weeks after Soyeon is also expected to break through to Wilshire/Western later in June.  When done tunneling this project section, both TBMs will have mined nearly half a million cubic yards of earth — the equivalent of filling 2.3 million bathtubs with dirt.

 

“Our tunneling achievements to date prove that we can successfully mine through some of the most challenging conditions that any subway project anywhere in the world is likely to face,” said Metro CEO Phillip A. Washington.  “We are fortunate to have an international, industry-leading team of tunneling experts who know how to tunnel safely. We also have a project team with a laser-like focus on reducing construction impacts to local communities.”

 

After tunneling this first leg, both TBMs will be partially disassembled. Some pieces will be trucked back to their Wilshire/La Brea insertion point while most of the TBMs will be pulled back through the new tunnels. The TBMs will then be reassembled and will then tunnel west to future station sites at Wilshire/Fairfax and Wilshire/La Cienega. The TBMs are expected to reach the end of the four-mile subway section in Beverly Hills by mid-2020.

 

Following the tunneling operation, Metro will focus on completing construction of its first three subway stations over the next three years. This first section of the Purple Line extension is scheduled to open in 2023.

 

The name Soyeon is Korean for “bright” and “beautiful” and was named after female astronaut and mechanical engineer Yi Soyeon. The name Elsie is a tribute to Elsie Eaves, the first female to be elected as a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Metro held a contest for local students to name the TBMs in 2018. The winning names were chosen by Marianne Gutierrez, a local Fairfax High School student. 

 

The TBMs were manufactured in Germany by Herrenknecht AG. Metro has contracted with Skanska Traylor Shea (STS), a joint venture to design and build the first section of the project.

 

“We’re pleased to celebrate this major project milestone,” said Mike Aparicio, Executive Vice President of Skanska USA, lead partner of the Skanska Traylor Shea (STS) design-build joint venture team. “The project will deliver immediate benefit to the community and long-term benefit from its award-winning, environmentally sustainable construction.”

 

The $9.8-billion Metro Purple Line Extension is a nine-mile underground subway project that will extend the Metro Purple Line from its current terminus in Koreatown to Westwood/VA Hospital in West Los Angeles. Section One is expected to be completed in 2023, Section Two in 2025, and Section Three in 2027. The project budget includes financing costs.

 

To track the TBM’s progress, follow Metro on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/purplelineext. For more information on the Purple Line Extension Project, go to http://metro.net/purplelineext.

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: Metro Media Relations has B-Roll video footage and photos of the official Wilshire/Western TBM breakthrough.  Please visit the following link to obtain these media resources.   https://www.dropbox....38lcB8DW3a?dl=0

 

 

[KevinKorell]

California Globe, 6/24/19:

 

 LA’s Purple Line Subway Expansion: Under a Public School, Through Methane Zone and Abandoned Oil Wells 

 

 

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is expanding a line of the Los Angeles subway system directly beneath the historic Beverly Hills High School, through ground littered with more than 80 abandoned oil wells and saturated with methane gas and oil.

 

Read

[KevinKorell]

Of course now, it's officially the D Line, but it takes folks a while to catch up.... From Progressive Railroading, 4/6/20:

 

   LA Metro advances Purple Line subway extension   

 

 

The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) last week announced construction milestones on the Purple Line subway extension project to connect riders between downtown Los Angeles, Beverly Hills and Westwood, California.

 

 

Update