| Pictured are
cutting heads of tunnel boring machines. The tunnel boring machine
will be used to cut through rock and soil underneath the Allegheny
River to create the LRT tunnels, the machine will push the excavated
earth through to the machine's complex conveyor belt system for disposal.
|
Port Authority Board Awards North Shore Connector Contract
The Port Authority Board of Directors advanced the North Shore Connector project on July 13, 2006, by awarding a contract for the construction of light rail transit tunnels under the Allegheny River connecting Downtown Pittsburgh to the rapidly developing North Shore.
The $156.5 million contract with North Shore Constructors, a joint venture between West Mifflin-based Trumbull Corporation and Obayashi Corporation of San Francisco, is the first of 16 contracts to be awarded for the $435 million project. In addition to the twin bored tunnels, the contract includes construction of 1,200 feet of right-of-way on the North Shore and the shell for the North Side Station, to be built under the Sports and Exhibition Authority’s new parking garage near the intersection of Tony Dorsett Drive and General Robinson Street.
Construction is expected to begin in early fall. A 60-day Congressional review of the project ends September 6 and is expected to be followed by the signing of a Full Funding Grant Agreement with the Federal Transit Administration, which is funding 80 percent of the project. The North Shore Connector is scheduled for completion in 2011.
|
