Marty Gordon, NRVsports@ourvalley.org
Officials from the Virginia Passenger Rail Authority (VPRA) were back on site this past week in Christiansburg as they reviewed progress in the future Amtrak passenger service and station.
According to VPRA, they examined a wide range of ongoing construction activities, including the completed retaining wall surrounding the future passenger parking lot, continued platform construction, and the in-progress retaining wall along Depot Street.
At Cambria, contractors have completed the retaining wall sections of what will become the parking lot. The retaining wall, or Gravix Wall, is a heavy-duty concrete wall used to hold back the earth.
Cellular concrete, lightweight concrete filled with tiny air bubbles, has been poured into the empty spaces between the “T-Stems” which make up the structure of the walled-in sections. Next, crews will focus on developing the asphalt parking lot, sidewalks, and overhead lighting systems.
Crews have completed the foundational structure of the nearly 1,000-foot platform and canopy. Starting on the western end, the structure began as a skeleton of vertical walls, columns, and beam forms that are filled with concrete to form the different layers of the platform.
Epoxy-coated reinforced rebar gives added strength to the concrete. The epoxy coating provides protection against corrosion and provides longevity to the structure.
Once the concrete cures, the forms are removed and then reused to build the eastern side of the platform.
This structure will have room for hundreds of feet of electrical and communications conduits which sit under the platform’s walking surface and overhead canopy.
Along Depot Street, the crews are installing a soldier pile lagging wall, which consists of vertical steel beams that are drilled into the ground at regular intervals.
The spaces in between are temporarily filled with timber lagging, or horizontal wooden planks, and eventually will be covered by concrete panels that will prevent the above roadway from collapsing onto the station’s parking lot.
The soldier pile lagging wall separates Depot Street above from the drive aisle and bus loading zone by the station building. The panels to be installed will be pre-cast from concrete and finished to look like the wall around the parking lot.
At Radford, crews have started spreading ballast between the tracks at what will become the layover facility.
Railroad ballast is a layer of crushed stone placed beneath and around railroad tracks to provide stability, support, drainage, and load distribution.
The tracks and surrounding area within the facility will eventually be paved to the top of the rail with asphalt, creating a smooth, level surface for Amtrak maintenance teams to easily drive across the tracks and service the trains.
The electrical pad and connections are complete, which will accommodate the future Amtrak Airo trains.
Preparations for the modular building, which will house Amtrak office and maintenance facilities, are underway for installation by the fall.
The overall project is on track to be completed in 2027 with the first passenger train rolling a short time later.
