Phase 2 of the 11.4-mile extension of the Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority’s Silver Line will add new stations from Reston through the Washington Dulles International Airport, to Ashburn in Loudoun County. Photo courtesy of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project
New metrorail stations are slowly rising up in Reston and Herndon.
An update on work for the region’s newest metrorail line was provided during the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Board of Director meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 18.
The Phase 2 extension of the Metropolitan Washington Area Transit Authority’s system will extend the Silver Line from Reston through the Washington Dulles International Airport, to Ashburn in Loudoun County.
Since work on Phase 2 began in 2014, employees have put in more than 3.2 million man-hours, as of Dec. 23, 2016, according to Keith Couch, spokesperson for Capital Rail Constructors, which has been contracted for most of the work.
While the six new stations are not anticipated to be operational until 2020, work on the Reston Town Center station in Reston, and the Herndon and Innovation Center stations in Herndon are well underway.
“We continue the station work on the east of Reston, Herndon and Innovation [stations],” Charles Stark, executive director of the Dulles Corridor Metrorail Project, said during the meeting.
Work is on track, even though workers encountered a problem at the Herndon station earlier this fall.
“We found some hard rock in conflict with the Herndon station foundations, which required extra drilling,” Stark said.
The hard rock cost the project $12,026 in contingency funds by the time it was resolved, but workers are now beginning the installation of electrical and mechanical equipment. Stark also told the board that Herndon station’s concrete structures are still being precast.
Just behind the Herndon station, structures for the Reston Town Center station began being precast this month and will be completed in March, according to Couch.
At the Innovation Center station in Herndon, which is the farthest along, workers are now starting the installation of the steel roof and finishing electrical and plumbing, as well as construction of the columns for the pedestrian bridges.