RAILWORKS FAMILY OF COMPANIES:
Project Highlights
- Planned, supplied, constructed, and tested all hardware and trackwork for the Edmonton Valley Line LRT’s new Operations and Maintenance Facility
- PNR RailWorks was awarded additional work including 3.6 kilometers of embedded trackwork installation and 1,350 thermite welds
Customer
City of Edmonton
Location
Edmonton, Alberta
Category
Provided By
The Edmonton Valley Line LRT Southeast is a 13-kilometer (about 8-mile) urban light rail line connecting downtown Edmonton and the southeastern suburbs of the city. PNR RailWorks worked on the line from July 2018 to Feb. 2021.
The project’s key features include constructing the Gerry Wright Operations and Maintenance Facility (OMF), Tawatina River Bridge crossing, tunnel, and 11 at-grade neighbourhood Stops.
PNR RailWorks was initially involved in the planning, supply, constructing, and testing of OMF trackwork and associated hardware. After a successful completion of all OMF work, PNR RailWorks was awarded additional mainline work including 3.6 kilometers of embedded trackwork installation and 1,350 thermite welds.
Work on the OMF yard included:
- Installing 16 each European # 4 power switches c/w switch machines and switch heaters;
- Supplying and constructing CWR 490 track meters of elastometric grout (Icosit) embedded yard/shop track;
- Supplying and constructing CWR 2,541 track meters of direct fixation shop/yard track (which was further broken down into pit tracks, storage tracks, and pedestal tracks);
- Supplying, constructing, and surfacing 1,088 track meters of concrete tie and timber tie ballasted track (averaging a 37°-degree curve on a 62’ chord);
- Supplying and constructing at-grade concrete crossing panels, pre-curved on a 37°-degree curve;
- Installing track arrestors in the shop tracks.
Mainline work included:
- Constructing CWR 3,550 track meters of elastometric grout (Icosit) embedded mainline track including 8 at-grade crossings;
- Completing 1,350 mainline thermite welds to build CWR strings and tied in strings to features such as turnouts, crossings, and at-grade stops.
PNR RailWorks completed the project work in 36,000 manhours without a recordable incident.
Unique Features
The City of Edmonton LRT standards are known to be less tolerant on gauge, elevation, and alignment deviations than most rail lines. The designs are also synonymous with their notoriously tight curves (37° on a 62’ chord). The scope of work also included the use of Icosit elastomeric grout for embedded tracks — the first time the City accepted the use of this product on its railroad.