Tasman East Light Rail Bridge

I drew annotations onto an aerial photo to show the area where the Tasman East Light Rail Project elevated guideway will be. I'll simplify the term "elevated guideway" to a "bridge", though it's a specialized form of a bridge which will only carry the light rail. The purpose of this 1-1/4 mile bridge is to separate the trolley line from two freight railroads and Montague Expressway, which is between them. It will have two elevated stations on it.

It's a big bridge and it has become a subject of continuing conversation on the new sbay.transportation newsgroup. Personally, I've been paying attention to the construction because the new rail line will be a nearly direct shot between home and work for me.

(355K PNG Image)

Project highlights:

• Construction began mid-September 2000.
• Pile-driving began late November 2000.
• Pile-driving is scheduled to continue through December 2001.

(1488x992 479K) (500x334 22K)	"Bicycles Use Sidewalk" is what the signs say along Great Mall Parkway. Fortunately it's only temporary while they're building the light rail bridge in the median of the road. We're supposed to get the bike lanes back after the construction. This photo shows the concrete forms for the first quarter of the bridge deck are taking shape.
(1488x992 516K) (500x334 26K)	Now looking eastbound along Great Mall Parkway, the railroad crossing here shows what the light rail had to go over. There's also another railroad crossing about 3/4 mile further up the road. The railroads are the reason the light rail needs a bridge in this section. These columns will support the Great Mall/Main Street light rail station on the bridge in 2004.
(1488x992 410K) (500x334 22K)	Now looking westbound along Great Mall Parkway from Abel Street, the bridge will come down to ground level between Abel and I-880.