Alameda Corridor South

Overview

The South-End Project Area stretches approximately seven miles from the ports to the SR-91 freeway crossing in Compton, where the Alameda Corridor descends into the 10-mile-long mid-corridor trench.  The south end area is characterized by mix use industries, including port-related industrial businesses such as petroleum refineries, trucking companies, cargo storage yards, and various types of recyclers, a pleasure craft marina, multiple navigable and storm drain channels, residential neighborhoods and heavily traveled roadway intersections with personal vehicles and heavy-truck traffic.

The Alameda Corridor project improved rail and truck access to and from the ports by upgrading rail bridges over water channels and roadways to reduce bottlenecks and completely separate rail traffic from street traffic. The grade separations eliminate all vehicle conflicts reducing traffic congestion, delays and emissions. Street widening and improvement projects were also accomplished at Alameda Street, Anaheim Road, Pacific Coast Highway and Henry Ford Avenue, while improving numerous intersections.

Project descriptions can be found below.  A map depicting the various South End projects can also be viewed here.

Historical Notes

The South-End resides in the historic Rancho Dominguez land grant property. This was the first Spanish Land Grant in Southern California bestowed in 1784 by King Carlos III to Juan Jose Dominguez, a retired Spanish soldier. Dominguez was a participant of the Portola Expedition with father Junipero Serra. The original grant covered 75,000 acres and included the entire Los Angeles Harbor and South Bay Cities. The current day ancestors of the Dominguez family continue the family legacy through the Watson, Del Amo and Carson families.

The Pacific Electric Railway:

When Phineas Banning opened the San Pedro to Los Angeles (SP&LA) Railroad, it was done with the assistance of the Dominguez family. The most efficient route from the port in San Pedro to the Pueblo Los Angeles was to pass through Rancho Dominguez. The Dominguez granted Banning’s railroad 77 acres of track right-of-way with the agreement to a Dominguez Junction at Alameda Street. The Corridor still travels over some of the same area granted to the SP&LA Railroad.

1910 Air Meet:

Behind the current day Claretian Seminary, stands Dominguez Hill. This is the location where the first International Air Meet in the United States was held in 1910. An estimated more than half-million passengers traveled by train to view the 10 daylong event. Glen Curtiss broke the air speed record during this event, flying 62 MPH above a six-hundred- foot- long grand stand. The flat plateau was provided free of charge by the Dominguez family.

The Claretians:

The Dominguez family were devout Catholics. In 1922, the last two remaining Dominguez daughters deeded 17 acres of land adjacent to the Dominguez family home to the Claretian Missionaries. By 1924, the Claretians were using their new facility as a graduate school and later as a seminary. The building still stands and can be visited by the public.

Native Americans:

During the construction of the Alameda Corridor, Native Americans were unearthed. It had been expected because records showed that Native Americans lived adjacent to the train tracks after 1869 to take advantage of tourists riding trains, farming cattle and the availability of water. Understanding the historical significance of these finds, ACTA engaged the services of the San Gabriel and Tongva Indian Nation as well as archeologists to assist with recovery of remains and properly reinterring the Native Americans to the land. The Native Americans were reinterred during a tribal ceremony along the Alameda Corridor. A large granite rock with a plaque commemorates their place of rest.

Projects

Compton Creek Bridge

Compton Creek Bridge

Previously, a single-track, open-deck, through-girder bridge crossed Compton Creek just south of the 91 Freeway. However, the Alameda Corridor required a three-track bridge to replace it. The track alignment and operations demanded that the new bridge be built in two phases, so the existing bridge could remain in-service while construction advanced.

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Pile foundations were drilled, two of the four girders and floor beams were set, and the first track was built and put in-service for the new bridge, while the existing bridge remained open. The existing bridge was then demolished and the remainder of the new bridge to support the other two new tracks was constructed.

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Benefits

  • Widened bridge from one track to three tracks
  • Reduced bottle necks and waiting times for trains and goods to and from the Ports
  • Reduced emission from waiting train locomotives
  • Provided seamless transition from the Corridor to the Ports.

Construction Period

March 1999 to November 2000

Cost

$8,500,605

Project Team

Designers:  Lim and Nascimento Engineering/STV JV
Contractor:  Brutoco Engineering
CM:  Berg & Associates

Dominguez Seminary Sound Wall

Dominguez Seminary Sound Wall

Dominguez Seminary lies about a mile south of the 91 Freeway on the west side of Alameda Street. On the east side of the street, there are three ACTA mainline tracks and a UPRR lead track. An 1,600 foot-long, 16-foot-tall concrete block sound wall was installed by ACTA to reduce the noise impact on the seminary.

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Sound walls have been constructed at four other sensitive locations along the Corridor as part of the Mid-Corridor Project – three at schools and one in a residential area.

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Benefits

  • Reduce environmental impact to seminary.
  • Provided pleasing aesthetics to the seminary and the traveling public

Construction Period

January 2002 to April 2002

Cost

$956,482

Project Team

Designers:  W. Koo & Associates
Contractor:  Los Angeles Engineering
CM:  Berg & Associates

Dominguez Channel Bridge

Dominguez Channel Bridge-Carson

This project, which includes Segment 2 civil improvements, extends about 3 miles from the MTA Blue Line structure (located about a mile south of the SR-91 Freeway) to Sepulveda Boulevard. The Alameda Corridor right-of-way had to be improved to accommodate the three proposed ACTA mainlines, a new UPRR Drill Track, and two ACTA storage tracks between Laurel Park Road and Carson Street.

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This Dominguez Channel bridge is in the City of Carson west of Alameda Street between Sepulveda Boulevard. to the south and 223 Street to the north. The project includes the construction of the new four-track precast box beam rail bridge carrying Alameda Corridor mainlines over Dominguez Channel.

Segment 2 civil work includes the construction of two retaining walls on the west property line with a combined length of 3,500 feet. Work also includes a new track drainage system and modifications to the existing County drainage facilities along the right-of-way. Railroad drill track and mainline operations had to be maintained during construction, so the work had to progress in phases. As certain improvements were completed, the new drill track was built. When service was cut-over to the new track, the existing track was removed and the subgrade beneath it was prepared for the remaining tracks.

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Benefits

  • Improved train movements and capacity
  • Reduced noise and emissions for the surrounding area
  • Increase performance and efficiency for railroad traffic in and out of the Ports.

Construction Period

June 1999 to May 2001

Cost

$23,334,654

Project Team

Designers:  Lim and Nascimento Engineering & ACET
Contractor:  Modern Continental/Roadway, JV
CM:  Berg & Associates

PCH Grade Separation

Pacific Coast Highway Grade Separation

A half-mile-long bridge that carries Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) traffic over the Alameda Corridor mainlines, a branch rail line and Alameda Street in the Los Angeles community of Wilmington. The $107 million project was funded by Caltrans ($79 million), ACTA ($14 million) and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority ($14 million). The project was completed $20 million under-budget in March 2004.

Benefits

  • Improve traffic flow and ease congestion.
  • Reduce emissions from idling trucks and cars.
  • Enhance safety by eliminating conflicts between trains, vehicles and pedestrians.
  • Improve emergency vehicle access.

Construction Period

March 2003 to August 2004

Cost

$107,000,000

Project Team

Designer: HDR
Contractor: Yeager Skanska Inc.
CM: Lim and Nascimento Engineering

West Thenard Track Connection

West Thenard Track Connection

Located in the community of Wilmington near the intersection of Alameda Street and Pacific Coast Highway, the project provides a direct track connection from the BNSF Railway’s Watson Yard to the former Southern Pacific Railroad’s San Pedro Branch.  The track connection includes; site civil, utility relocations and protection to existing trackage at the K-Pac warehouse facility.

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The reconstruction of the West Thenard Track includes rebuilding the wye tracks of the former Southern Pacific San Pedro and Long Beach Branch lines and the at-grade track crossing of Alameda Street, site civil work, utility relocation and protection of a rail signal control point, all designed to increase rail capacity and efficiency on the Alameda Corridor.

A second phase to this project is located on the Long Beach Lead west of Dominguez Channel and would enable trains to/from Terminal Island to access the Phase 1 Connection to serve as an alternative train route. Phase 2 of the project has been deferred indefinitely with challenges to property acquisition and cost, as well as timing of demand.

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Benefits

  • Improved train movements and reduced risk at the intersection
  • Reduced waiting times for trains coming and going to the Ports
  • Increased efficiency for the BNSF Rairoad to connect to the Alameda Corridor.
  • Provide better on-time performance to Terminal operators at the Ports.

Construction Period

January 2001 to March 2002

Cost

$5,689,520 (Phase 1)

Project Team

Designers:  ACET
Contractor:  Modern Continental
CM:  Berg and Associates

Long Beach RR Bridge

Long Beach Lead Bridge

About a mile south of the Pacific Coast Highway Crossing, the Corridor diverges east to the Port of Long Beach and south to Terminal Island. The branch to the east is the Long Beach Lead, which crosses Dominguez Channel. The crossing was previously a single-track steel bridge, but ACTA replaced that by a two-track bridge to meet traffic demand. Like other channel crossings by the Alameda Corridor, the new bridge had to be built in two phases to accommodate on-going rail operations during construction. Unlike the channel crossings to the north that used CIDH piles or precast driven piles, this bridge required Cast-in-Steel-Shell (CISS) piles due to soil conditions. Piles were installed, the cap beams were placed and the bridge set in-place with pre-fabricated steel stringer beam panels installed and then welded together. Once the first half of the bridge was put in-service, the old bridge was demolished and the second half built.

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The contract also included Segment 3 civil work with retaining wall construction and grade preparation for new track tie-ins to the bridge, as well as grade preparation for the tracks leading south to Anaheim Street. Construction of adjacent industry oil spurs was also part of this work and required considerable coordination effort.

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Benefits

  • Improved train movements and capacity to and from the Port of Long Beach
  • Increased capacity by replacing the one-track bridge to a two-track bridge
  • Improved train movements to the surrounding businesses that require bulk deliveries
  • Provided improved access to the Alameda Corridor
  • Faster and more efficient connection to the Port and reduced travel time in and out of Corridor for train traffic.

Construction Period

September 2000 to January 2002

Cost

$9,009,070

Project Team

Designers:  W. Koo & Associates
Contractor:  Shimmick/Obayashi, JV
CM:  Berg & Associates

Henry Ford Viaduct

Henry Ford Viaduct

The Henry Ford Project is second to the Mid-Corridor Trench in terms of construction value. This mile long two-track elevated structure carries rail traffic to and from Terminal Island at the south end of the Alameda Corridor. Its purpose is to reduce delays at multiple existing roadway grade crossings in the area.

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The structure itself utilizes a combination of precast concrete, long-span steel deck girders, and through trusses. Equally impressive as the two 215 feet long Redondo Junction truss spans are the two 290 feet long Henry Ford Avenue truss spans, creating a landmark visible from miles around. One truss spans Dominguez Channel, while the other spans the roadway from Henry Ford Avenue to the Hanjin Terminal and the access ramps to the Terminal Island (SR‑47) Freeway.

Also included in the project is a new six-lane Henry Ford Avenue Bridge over Dominguez Channel and an at-grade railroad connector bridge over Dominguez Channel (separate from the Viaduct), as well as two new at-grade tracks flanking the Viaduct structure for its entire length.

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Benefits

  • Reduces delays at multiple roadway grade crossings.
  • Widens Henry Ford Avenue vehicle bridge from four lanes to six
  • Widens Henry Ford Avenue on-ramps and off-ramps from two lanes to three

Construction Period

September 1999 to July 2002

Cost

$88,106,126

Project Team

Designers:  HNTB
Contractor:  Shimmick/Obayashi, JV
CM:  Parsons Brinckerhoff Construction Services

Additional Railroad Control Points

The Additional Control Points Project included the installation and modification of railroad signal and highway grade crossing systems to support the extension of Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) on Pacific Harbor Lines’ (PHL) Long Beach Subdivision track between Control Point Gaspur to a new Control Point near Ocean Boulevard; extension of CTC was also accomplished on the San Pedro Subdivision from the existing Control Points at Dominguez and Anaheim to the Transfer Junction switch.

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The scope of work included:

  • Providing insulated rail joints in existing track for CTC operations.
  • Converting existing hand-throw switches to power operated dual control switches.
  • Constructing new intermediate signal points and signal towers.
  • Modifying existing highway grade crossing circuits and equipment.
  • Constructing new Control Points within the new CTC boundaries.
  • Modifying circuits and equipment at existing Control Points.
  • Installing new ATCS radios, antennas, tilt structures, foundations, and associated apparatus.
  • Excavating and disposing of contaminated soils.
  • Modifying trackwork required to support new signals and grade crossing systems.
  • Calibrating, inspecting, testing, and placing new systems into operation.

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Benefits

  • Overall improvements to signal, communications and track controls
  • Improved dispatching of trains and reduced waiting times for trains
  • Improved Centralized Traffic Control (CTC) on Pacific Harbor Lines (PHL), Long Beach Subdivision and the San Pedro Subdivision
  • Allows for the periodic upgrade of modern technology as Signals Systems advance in technology.

Construction Period

October 2005 to March 2006

Cost

$2,367,580

Project Team

Designers:  Pacific Railway Enterprises (PRE)
Contractor:  Mass Electric Construction Company
CM:  Berg and Associates