Brayman Construction Completes Foundation Work on Dulles Corrider Metrorail Project

Brayman recently completed the Dulles Corridor Metrorail project, located in Fairfax County, VA. This 23-mile extension of the existing Metrorail system from East Falls Church to the Washington International Airport consisted of the installation of 724-drilled shafts, which will support the elevated guide ways and stations for the line extension.

Work began in June 2009, with the operation of one rig and within six (6) months increased to eight (8) drill and installation crews working at eight (8) separate locations. Manpower ranged from 10 people a week, at the start of the project, to a total of 80 people a week during peak performance periods.

In addition to the mobilization and demobilization of eight (8) different drills over the course of the project, the team successfully completed over separate site moves, some requiring transfers to be made at night to minimize traffic impacts. These site relocations included the complete demobilization of all equipment, including draining and cleaning of the slurry containment tanks from each work site.

Additional challenges encountered throughout the course of the project included changing conditions due to variations in soil and rock conditions. These changes required the revision of design information, which in turn had to be approved by the client before Brayman could proceed with drilling. Other issues that required a revised design or installation method included working in contaminated soil conditions, overhead height restrictions which required splicing of rebar cages and working in close proximity to active rails of the currently operating metro rail system.

Drilling methods included both conventional temporary casing and drilling under slurry to depths ranging from 16 to 90 feet in length. The project, with an original 30-month schedule, was completed with the last drilled pier being installed in April and full demobilization from the site a few weeks later. Brayman completed this project in 24 months, 6 months ahead of schedule; working 120,000 man-hours with no recordable incidents.