BergerWorld: 3rd Quarter 2008

The Port of Vancouver in Washington State is currently served by a single-rail, at-grade link from the Burlington North/Santa Fe Railway (BNSF) north-south mainline. However, congestion at this interchange is increasing as a result of rising freight and passenger traffic from Chicago to the West Coast, Canada and Mexico. Moreover, the number of rail cars traveling into the port is expected to triple by 2025, further increasing congestion and constraining future industrial and maritime growth. In response, the Port of Vancouver is planning the new 450-acre Columbia Gateway. An important component of the development is alleviating congestion at the BNSF and port mainline interchange with the construction of a grade-separated crossing that allows uninterrupted access to the port and its industrial sites. B/A, in association with Jones & Stokes, was retained by the Port of Vancouver to assist with the permitting and design of the access to the port.

The proposed one-mile-long link parallels the north shoreline of the Columbia River. Because the tracks will run adjacent to a constricted area between the river and existing BNSF lines and pass beneath an existing rail bridge, B/A developed a unique concept to address these challenges. An open, water-tight, depressed track slab will be located adjacent to the Columbia River with top-of-rail elevations below ordinary river levels. The track slab would be constructed beneath the rail bridge and enclose 1,400 feet of the new link. The alignment of the structure along the north shore of the Columbia River would be within 200 feet of the ordinary high-water mark in the shoreline zone and would place the proposed rail alignment low enough for trains to clear the existing bridge. The final design consists of a concrete slab with vertical sidewalls supported by steel H-piles to carry the tracks under the bridge. The piles will provide support for the structure and anchorage against buoyant uplift forces resulting from potential flood conditions. The new access will allow rail traffic to move freely through a constricted area to the Columbia Gateway development. B/A also assisted in completing the complex federal, state and local permitting required to address potential impacts under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to the shoreline, wetlands, fish, wildlife, vegetation and views.

B/A was also selected by BNSF to provide designs for the $50 million rehabilitation of the North Seattle International Gateway Yard in Washington. The facility uses electric-powered, rail-mounted gantry (RMG) cranes to eliminate CO2 emissions and reduce noise. The state-of-the-art cranes also reduce the facility's electrical requirements by regenerating power when lowering the containers. The RMGs span 123 feet, transferring containers between rail cars and trucks that move freight to and from the Port of Seattle.

B/A's duties included the civil, structural and electrical engineering associated with the crane foundations and operations; terminal entrance, including adequate provisions for truck queuing; storm drainage and operations building designs; and construction management. In preparing the designs, B/A encountered several project-related challenges. Storm drainage design proved difficult because the site is located in two drainage basins, requiring separate systems with different water quality and detention requirements. The crane foundations required supporting heavy loads on a poor subgrade while meeting extremely tight crane rail construction and operational tolerances. Construction support services involved extensive coordination with ongoing rail operations and six independent construction contracts.

The installation of the RMG cranes will nearly double the capacity of the BNSF facility while reducing impacts on the environment and supporting the growth of international commerce at the Port of Seattle.