Wilson Red/Purple Line Station Rebuild

[BusHunter]

11 hours ago, andrethebusman said:

What's new at Wilson? No reports in a lonh time!

Well I have been shooting pics, I just haven't uploaded them due to my crazy schedule and lack of time. I have a few minutes now let me see what I can put up. They basically have been demolishing with no new construction, things seemed to have slowed down there.

[BusHunter]

Ok here's some pics of Wilson from 11/29/16

This is a shot of the gerber building which is being gutted except for the facade, which I believe is a historic landmark. Don't know what they intend to do with it unless it's to be connected to north exit off the soon to be constructed nb platform.

Some pics of Wilson, here they seem to be extending the track 3 construction nb they have put down new ties where the others were already constructed and have tracks laid upon them.

If you look at the far southern end of the structure they have put in new steel for track 3 and will be in the process of concreting it (weather permitting)

Here's a zoom up of the north end of the structure basically in a demolish phase, it's probably too cold now for concrete laying as I believe they can't lay concrete when it's below freezing. Maybe they have laid down some caissons and foundations, so they can at least begin the steel erection. That will take a few months at least. I believe track 3 was supposed to open by March with a new east side platform, so they'll have to get started soon if they plan to finish by then.

[Busjack]

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

This is a shot of the gerber building which is being gutted except for the facade, which I believe is a historic landmark. Don't know what they intend to do with it unless it's to be connected to north exit off the soon to be constructed nb platform.

There were stories that the Uptown community wanted it converted into a French Market or something like that (DNAInfo). But no development until the station construction is over.

1 hour ago, BusHunter said:

I believe they can't lay concrete when it's below freezing.

Curing concrete generates its own heat.

[Pace831]

26 minutes ago, Busjack said:

Curing concrete generates its own heat.

That's true, but the concrete needs to be covered while curing to trap the heat during cold weather. It's still a bad idea to begin pouring concrete if the temperature is below freezing.

[BusHunter]

The platform itself will have precast concrete, so that could be set off site in warmer conditions. Mostly they need to only be concerned with the structure.

[BusHunter]

Looks like the weather isn't bothering them they are currently setting up rebar at the south end of the new structure on the track 3. They have also put in new steel supports over Wilson and various places along track 3. I took some some more shots hopefully I can upload those later.

[BusHunter]

5 hours ago, BusHunter said:

Looks like the weather isn't bothering them they are currently setting up rebar at the south end of the new structure on the track 3. They have also put in new steel supports over Wilson and various places along track 3. I took some some more shots hopefully I can upload those later.

Here are the shots of this; now that I look at this more closely this steel is what is going to support the nb platform not track 3

 

[Busjack]

18 minutes ago, BusHunter said:

Here are the shots of this; now that I look at this more closely this steel is what is going to support the nb platform not track 3

Problem is the perspective from the platform in the first picture, in that the near track of track 2 isn't visible, and there are the half ties for track 3. But is the third rail under the gray strip? On magnification, it looks like it, but how does the trolley shoe make contact with it?

[Pace831]

27 minutes ago, Busjack said:

Problem is the perspective from the platform in the first picture, in that the near track of track 2 isn't visible, and there are the half ties for track 3. But is the third rail under the gray strip? On magnification, it looks like it, but how does the trolley shoe make contact with it?

After looking at it closely, I concluded the gray strip is a flat walkway that is actually behind the third rail. Zoom in and look at how the sign post is attached to it, as well as the black railing all the way at the right side of the photo.

[BusHunter]

A trip back to Wilson today answered one of our questions. Yes, concrete can be poured below freezing because it was being done today as I was photographing it. (temps were in the teens today, a thermometer in the sun was 26 degrees)

They were also working on the track 3 metal structure over Wilson. They were cutting wood and shoring up the structure to help hold the concrete in place when it will be poured.

 

[BusHunter]

Went over by Wilson to see what's up yesterday, they have concreted the whole track 3 structure now and look like they are waiting for it to dry. (It probably takes days because of the cold) The steel is going up for the platform's foundation. Looks like the next 3 months will be primarily focused on station construction. 

Here are some pics starting from the north end. 

 

[BusHunter]

Here's a few shots of wilson from yesterday. First shot shows them putting in the steel for the new nb side platform. Looking up at canopy steel the way its cut off looks like it will be attached to the other side with most likely a skylight or open air structure with ribs. 

 

Other shot shows cta personnel on the tracks along with flagman protection. Can't see what for unless they plan on putting more steel later that day.

The track 2 structure is done and they are setting up the track bed mostly at the south end. They have also put the ties in place for the south connection. I shot a flyby video of the south connection. ok here's the video of the south connection.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8XJ1FVy_kY

 

 

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, BusHunter said:

The track 2 structure is done and they are setting up the track bed mostly at the south end.

Do you mean track 3? I assume the current NB is on track 2.

[BusHunter]

14 hours ago, Busjack said:

Do you mean track 3? I assume the current NB is on track 2.

Yes your right on that. 

[BusHunter]

Here's a look at the entire track 3 reconstruction as of yesterday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KijApCXe1qY&feature=youtu.be

[BusHunter]

Here is another flyby of the Wilson Red line construction. In this flyby we see progress has been made on the south connection of track 3. The concrete structure is now connected to the new steel structure. We also see that the tracks have been laid and set and in other areas is a wip. Kind of cool we get to see this in progress as it's being constructed. Be sure to check out the mini work backhoe laying the fresh sets of ties. Also we get a good view of the gerber building facade from the inside and related construction. Also we see more progress has been made on the Wilson platform. We now see the start of the vertical canopy steel supports going in. Overall I like this video as it's a time capsule of the reconstruction.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2F1wp7qL60

[BusHunter]

Here is another flyby video I shot at Wilson. They now have the precast concrete platform in place at least in that one short section. They have cut a hole for the elevator and are still working on the tracks.

https://youtu.be/rby0TypC2sQ

[BusHunter]

It's been two weeks since I updated this so here's another flyby video. This was shot on the 15th of feb.

wilson 2-15-17.wmv

As you can see for the most part the tracks are done except for the connections to the main and the 3rd rail on the north end. The north ends connection will probably be done over the last weekend. They should be done by March but that don't give them much time to complete the platform so its a question of how will the nb berth the station but maybe the hand will be quicker than the eye with this station construction.

Here's a few shots of the platform

 

[jajuan]

9 hours ago, BusHunter said:

It's been two weeks since I updated this so here's another flyby video. This was shot on the 15th of feb.

wilson 2-15-17.wmv

As you can see for the most part the tracks are done except for the connections to the main and the 3rd rail on the north end. The north ends connection will probably be done over the last weekend. They should be done by March but that don't give them much time to complete the platform so its a question of how will the nb berth the station but maybe the hand will be quicker than the eye with this station construction.

Here's a few shots of the platform

 

Yeah it does say that the NB platform is supposed to be done during this stage. But it's a good chance that they may not put that platform into use yet as the new track 3 is very likely going to get used for NB Purple Line Express while the old track 4 is demolished and rebuilt during Phase 4. Maybe part of the plan is to put forth whatever final touches are needed to make that platform suitable for passenger use during the first part of Phase 4 construction. They gave themselves some leeway in that regard by stating that some parts of construction may cross over to other project phases as needed. They should be alright as long as they get done by mid or late fall of this year from looking at the mention of the final tidying up phase slated for a two month duration and depending on what exact start date they mean by "Spring 2017" for Phase 4.

[BusHunter]

Yeah that may be what they are up to.

[BusHunter]

Now things are getting interesting at Wilson. They have started to put up the canopy on the new nb platform. Strange why they would do this and not yet work on the rest of the platform but the devil must be in the details. (construction question perhaps)

Here's some shots,  including a flyby, they now have removed the construction fence all the way from Wilson south. Some guys were painting the structure gray while I shot this. This was all shot yesterday 2-22-17.

Flyby on Youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaA7my9nHsg

[BusHunter]

Some more canopy steel shots are on cta facebook

https://www.facebook.com/thecta/posts/1315054698584150

Hmm... I can't find anything on 95th/Red line.

[renardo870]

Assuming Track 4 will be OOS April 2 or 3, will the NB Purple Line be rerouted onto tracks 3 and 2, making a NB stop in the AM or PM, and then switch back to Track 4 before Lawrence, or just use the new Track 3, bypassing the NB platform slowly since its not completed and get back on Track 4 by Lawrence?

[jajuan]

On 3/1/2017 at 2:18 PM, renardo870 said:

Assuming Track 4 will be OOS April 2 or 3, will the NB Purple Line be rerouted onto tracks 3 and 2, making a NB stop in the AM or PM, and then switch back to Track 4 before Lawrence, or just use the new Track 3, bypassing the NB platform slowly since its not completed and get back on Track 4 by Lawrence?

It's probably more likely they will be on Track 3 only with NB Red continuing on Track 2 and both SB Red and SB Purple continuing to share Track 1 as they currently are now. There's reason for NB Purple to be on both Tracks 2 and 3.

[BusHunter]

Here's a flyby video I shot last week on 2/28 of the wilson construction. The south end is done minus the south connection as most of the work now has focused on the northern part of track 3 north of wilson and south of broadway. They have built the wooden catwalks this week and are in the process of painting the concrete structure gray. You might see it in the video if you look really hard at it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIYghOlsQFA