|
 NEWSWIRE
COLLISYS
IS ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR FOR
HIAWATHA LIGHT RAIL TRANSIT PROJECT
As part of the Minnesota
Transit Constructors (MNTC) team, ColliSys is a major electrical
contractor for the $675 million Hiawatha Avenue Light Rail Line,
one of the largest commercial construction projects ever undertaken
in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. The 11.6 mile Hiawatha
Line will move travelers to four of Minnesota's most popular
destinations: downtown Minneapolis, the Metrodome, the Minneapolis/St.
Paul Airport and the Mall of America. Service will begin April
2004 between downtown Minneapolis and Fort Snelling and will
be extended through the airport and to the Mall of America in
late 2004.
- ColliSys
began working on the project in June of 2000; electrical construction
began in March 2001; completion of the final station is expected
by fall of 2004.
- ColliSys
is furnishing, installing, and commissioning 16 electrical substations
ranging from 1500 to 2500 kw. These substations will convert
13,800 volts ac to 750 volts dc, which is the operating voltage
for the trains.
- ColliSys
is installing 11 miles of duct banks, consisting of over 1 million
feet of conduit. The purpose of the duct bank is for power, communications
and to control the light rail transit system.
- We
are also handling installation or modification of 34 traffic
signal systems for automobiles. The traffic signals are interfaced
with the train signaling system to provide continuous operation
of the trains.
- ColliSys
is relocating all public electric utilities throughout the light
rail corridor.
- ColliSys
completed the electrical construction of the 150,000 square foot
maintenance facility consisting of offices, maintenance area
and train storage. Housed in this facility is the rail command
center, controlling the operation of the entire light rail system.
Hiawatha Light Rail General
Facts
- About 22 to 26
light rail vehicles (LRVs) will operate 20 hours per day on the
Hiawatha Line. Trains will run every 7 1/2 minutes during rush
hours with connecting bus service and timed transfers.
- Home base for the
LRVs is the maintenance facility built on a former rail yard
in the Minneapolis neighborhood. The maintenance shop includes
a giant car wash where the vehicles will be cleaned each day.
Ten sets of track (six maintenance bays and four storage bays)
will carry the LRVs in and out of the Maintenance Facility every
day.
- The Hiawatha LRT
Line is the first leg of what planners hope will be a rail and
bus system with transit links as far as St. Cloud to the north
and Hastings to the south, west to Eden Prairie and east to White
Bear Lake.
- Less than two years
after ground was broken on January 17, 2001, the Hiawatha Light
Rail project is 55 percent complete as of November, 2002.
- A 500-ton, two
story high boring machine is being used to build two tunnels
at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport that will carry
northbound and southbound trains. Each tunnel is 1.4 miles long.
- MAC is constructing
2 stations at the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport.
One is located above ground at the Humphrey terminal. The other
station at the Lindbergh terminal is 7 stories beneath the surface,
and more than 500 feet long.
- To reduce noise,
rails are being welded together into segments of more than a
quarter-mile long. Workers with grinders smooth the welded joints.
The rails are secured to concrete ties weighing 634 pounds each.
They are expected to last 75 years - double the life of timber.
|
|
|
