Integration of Light Rail on the I-90 Floating Bridge across Lake Washington

2017 ◽  
Vol 2607 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Harrison ◽  
Thomas R. Cooper ◽  
Lina Lawrence ◽  
Bryan Williams ◽  
Charity Duran Ketchum ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Puget Sound ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Light Rail ◽  
Rail Transit ◽  
Technical Solution ◽  
Light Rail Transit ◽  
Expansion Joints ◽  
Lake Washington ◽  
Floating Bridge ◽  
Track Bridge

Installing light rail transit across a floating roadway bridge presents many unique challenges, foremost of which is how to design the multidimensional moving joints at both ends of transition spans between the fixed and floating structures. A technical solution to this technical challenge has been proposed, analyzed, modeled, designed, and prototype tested in the context of the East Link Extension, a light rail transit project being carried out by Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit). Described are the planning, execution, and results of a full-scale prototype testing program of the proposed Curved Element Supported Rail (CESuRa) Track Bridge System, based on the relationship of curved rail supports in two independent planes that adjust in response to the movements of the Interstate 90 (I-90) Bridge. The prototype CESuRa track bridges performed as expected; the information gathered and lessons learned will greatly benefit the final design, the production track-bridge fabrication, and the installation process. Also discussed is the anticipated performance of these track bridges on the I-90 structure in conjunction with the proposed direct fixation track system, fixed rail anchors, and sliding rail expansion joints to be strategically located across the 1.1-mi I-90 Bridge. Built in 1989, the I-90 Bridge is the fifth-longest floating bridge in the world and carries three westbound and two reversible lanes of traffic between Seattle and Mercer Island, Washington. The bridge will be reconfigured to carry four westbound lanes, and the reversible lanes will be converted to light rail transit.

Modular Bridge Expansion Joints for Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge

1997 ◽  
Vol 1594 (1) ◽  
pp. 163-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
John A. Van Lund ◽  
Mark R. Kaczinski ◽  
Robert J. Dexter
Keyword(s):  
Fatigue Strength ◽  
Fatigue Cracking ◽  
Field Measurements ◽  
The United States ◽  
Limit States ◽  
Expansion Joints ◽  
Lake Washington ◽  
Floating Bridge ◽  
Modular Bridge Expansion Joints ◽  
Washington State Department

The Lacey V. Murrow Bridge (LVM Bridge) is a 2013-m-long floating bridge on Interstate 90 across Lake Washington in Seattle, Washington. Single-support-bar, swivel-joist modular bridge expansion joint systems are located at each end of the bridge between the shore approach spans and the floating pontoons. These joints were designed for 960 mm of longitudinal movement as well as horizontal and vertical rotations caused by wind, wave, temperature, and changes in lake level elevation. A similar joint in an adjacent floating bridge had experienced premature fatigue cracking at welded attachment details because of low fatigue strength. For the LVM Bridge the joint components were fatigue tested and designed by using fatigue limit-states loads, resulting in welded attachment details with improved fatigue strength. In addition, a stiffer center beam and reduced center-beam span lengths produced lower fatigue stress ranges. Joint movements and rotations, fatigue design methodology, results of dynamic analyses, field measurements of the dynamic response, and construction details are described. The total cost of the LVM joints was 1 percent of the final bridge cost. The Washington State Department of Transportation required a 5-year guarantee for the LVM joints. These are the largest modular bridge expansion joints in the United States to be tested and designed for fatigue.

scholarly journals From “Big Small Town” to “Small Big City”: Resident Experiences of Gentrification along Waterloo Region’s LRT Corridor

2021 ◽  
pp. 0739456X2199391
Author(s):  
Margaret Ellis-Young ◽  
Brian Doucet
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Light Rail ◽  
Rail Transit ◽  
Light Rail Transit ◽  
Big City ◽  
Waterloo Region

Most studies of transit-induced gentrification rely on statistical analysis that measures the extent to which gentrification is occurring. To extend and enhance our knowledge of its impact, we conducted sixty-five interviews with residents living along the light rail transit (LRT) corridor in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, shortly before the system opened. There was already strong evidence of gentrification, with more than $3 billion (Canadian dollars) worth of investment, largely in condominiums, before a single passenger was carried. In line with contemporary critical conceptualizations of gentrification, our interviews identified new and complex psychological, phenomenological, and experiential aspects of gentrification, in addition to economic- or class-based changes.

A simplified iterative approach for testing the pulse derailment of light rail vehicles across a viaduct to near-fault earthquake scenarios

2021 ◽  
pp. 095440972098741
Author(s):  
Ling-Kun Chen ◽  
Peng Liu ◽  
Li-Ming Zhu ◽  
Jing-Bo Ding ◽  
Yu-Lin Feng ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ground Motions ◽  
Simulation Software ◽  
Light Rail ◽  
Rail Transit ◽  
Light Rail Transit ◽  
Seismic Responses ◽  
Near Fault ◽  
Rail Vehicle ◽  
Pulse Type ◽  
The Impact

Near-fault (NF) earthquakes cause severe bridge damage, particularly urban bridges subjected to light rail transit (LRT), which could affect the safety of the light rail transit vehicle (“light rail vehicle” or “LRV” for short). Now when a variety of studies on the fault fracture effect on the working protection of LRVs are available for the study of cars subjected to far-reaching soil motion (FFGMs), further examination is appropriate. For the first time, this paper introduced the LRV derailment mechanism caused by pulse-type near-fault ground motions (NFGMs), suggesting the concept of pulse derailment. The effects of near-fault ground motions (NFGMs) are included in an available numerical process developed for the LRV analysis of the VBI system. A simplified iterative algorithm is proposed to assess the stability and nonlinear seismic response of an LRV-reinforced concrete (RC) viaduct (LRVBRCV) system to a long-period NFGMs using the dynamic substructure method (DSM). Furthermore, a computer simulation software was developed to compute the nonlinear seismic responses of the VBI system to pulse-type NFGMs, non-pulse-type NFGMs, and FFGMs named Dynamic Interaction Analysis for Light-Rail-Vehicle Bridge System (DIALRVBS). The nonlinear bridge seismic reaction determines the impact of pulses on lateral peak earth acceleration (Ap) and lateral peak land (Vp) ratios. The analysis results quantify the effects of pulse-type NFGMs seismic responses on the LRV operations' safety. In contrast with the pulse-type non-pulse NFGMs and FFGMs, this article's research shows that pulse-type NFGM derail trains primarily via the transverse velocity pulse effect. Hence, this study's results and the proposed method can improve the LRT bridges' seismic designs.

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