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“We’ve got to talk about the people that we took onto that job site. We had those same people in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for three years. They’ve got world-class talent. And they applied that talent on this project.”

Peter Pearce
B.C. Projects Manager
PNR

“PNR was extremely significant to the Millennium Line project and was a large part of why the project was a success. What Pete (Pearce, PNR project manager) was able to do with his crews. Instead of just laying rail to the alignment line that he had, he varied, using his tolerances to compensate for errors in the guideway construction. And that wasn’t a contractual obligation; it was Pete wanting to make things work. That’s were PNR gets an awful lot of work, because they have that attitude.

“ PNR laid the rail in Phases I, II and III in the Millennium Line. They know what they’re doing.”

Meiric Preece
Manager of Engineering for the Millennium Line

The Millennium Line SkyTrain Extension

Completed in 2002, the Millennium Line is a 20km expansion to Vancouver's SkyTrain. PNR completed 40,000 linear meters of track, LIM and power rail installation.

Customer
Rapid Transit Project 2000, Ltd.

Location
Vancouver, British Columbia

RailWorks Company Involved
PNR (Pacific Northern Rail Contractors, Inc.)

Project Manager
Peter Pearce

Project Scope
PNR is notable among builders of the 20-kilometer (12.4 miles) expansion to Vancouver’s SkyTrain rapid transit system, the Millennium Line. The Millennium Line begins in New Westminster and extends west to near Vancouver Community College. Like SkyTrain’s original Expo Line, the Millennium Line eases traffic congestion in the Lower Mainland, where the population is expected to double in the next decade, and continues Greater Vancouver’s commitment to reducing air and noise pollution.

PNR crews began their work in April 2000 and finished in February 2002 — months ahead of schedule. Up to 350 people were working during peak phases. They:

Expanded the existing maintenance and service facility tracks, which included installing about 1,600 linear meters of new concrete tie track and 10 switches.
Installed the trackwork (40,000 linear meters), as well as 40 pieces of special trackwork including No. 8 lateral turnouts and expansion joints.
Installed the LIM reaction rail.
Put in the power rail.

Project Challenges and RailWorks Solutions

Elevated Guideway Calls for Careful Planning
Because much of the Millennium Line is on an elevated guideway, workers and equipment were virtually always 25 feet above the ground. Says Pearce, “When you add to that the fact that your work area was only eight and a half feet wide and that it was down in the middle of major arterial roads, the access was a challenge. And in that space, there’s not much opportunity to switch the position of equipment. Servicing our equipment was a challenge, too. Organization and planning were the key.”

A Linear Operation Means No Room for Delay
In a project of this nature, many operations are dependent upon the ones before them. If one process takes too long, it delays the entire project. Instead, utilizing an experienced worker pool and innovative solutions, PNR was able to work well ahead of schedule.

PNR’s workers were typically innovative on this project. They designed and built a complete flash butt welding system to operate in the narrow guideway. To speed the drilling processes for the LIM and power rail system, they developed specialty coring equipment and environmentally sound means of dealing with the coring sediment.

Team of 10 Leads Quality Process
The Millennium Line was built to ISO-9000 standards. Out of 40 PNR staff, 10 were responsible for quality control. So wherever the specification gave a tolerance, it was checked and logged. Pearce called the quality records “massive.”
“ Quality is an investment, but it’s an important one,” he says. “The work was performed with unparalleled quality, yet within budget and ahead of schedule.”

PNR
PNR (Pacific Northern Rail Contractors Inc.), a subsidiary of RailWorks Corporation, is Canada’s largest railroad contractor. PNR provides complete construction services, material supplies and specialized railway equipment to Class 1 and short line railroads, transit authorities and industrial facilities worldwide. Projects range from industrial spurs to transit rail and freight lines.