High-Speed Rail Completes First Structure in Kings County
The California High-Speed Rail Authority, in collaboration with Dragados-Flatiron Joint Venture, this month announced the opening of the Jackson Avenue Grade Separation, the first completed high-speed rail structure in Kings County. The new overcrossing is located between State Route 43 and Seventh Avenue, south of the city of Hanford. It is 212 feet long, 35 feet wide and takes traffic over the future high-speed rail tracks. This is one of several structures in the Central Valley to be completed this year.”The larger mile-long Hanford Viaduct that will span Highway 198 is also making progress, says Augie G. Blancas, Information Officer. In this case, the tracks will pass over busy streets below.
Crews are currently installing pre-cast concrete girders for the superstructure at the Hanford Viaduct. More than 900 girders will be needed to be installed at this elevated structure all of which are being manufactured at the Authority’s Pre-Cast Girder Facility just yards away.Work to install the girders is underway now.
There are an average of 60 workers in the field working on theHanford Viaduct and another 60 working at the Pre-Cast Girder Facility.
When will the structure span over 198? The timeline of work on construction over State Route 198 is being worked out with the contractor and “we should have a better timeline in the coming months pending a transportation study /maintenance of traffic information for a detour for construction.”The portion of the Hanford Viaduct that spans over SR 198 will not have arches, says Blancas. It will be continuous parapet walls with a similar pattern seen on the San Joaquin River Viaduct and the Cedar Viaduct.
The Hanford Viaduct will also be the home of the planned elevated HSR Kings/Tulare station east of Hanford.
The new Seventh Ave structure is the latest sign of progress throughout the Central Valley, following the recent completion of the Avenue 15 ½ Grade Separation in Madera County and the South Avenue Grade Separation in Fresno County. In addition, the Authority recently awarded contracts to advance design along the Merced to Madera and Fresno to Bakersfield project sections, expanding the 119-mile segment to 171 miles of electrified high-speed rail under development and construction.
caption: Workers attach girders on elevated Hanford Viaduct that will be home to the the local HSR train station