SEPTA’s Crum Creek Viaduct Returns to Service
September 2, 2016
SEPTA Media Relations
Published on September 2, 2016
Regional Rail service will return along SEPTA’s Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line following replacement of the Crum Creek viaduct structure.
The Crum Creek Viaduct which dates back to 1895 will reopen on Monday, September 5 as work is completed after an 11-week critical phase of the replacement project that closed the viaduct located between Wallingford and Swarthmore Stations in Delaware County. During the project, shuttle buses replaced train service between Swarthmore and Elwyn Stations. The Crum Creek Viaduct Replacement Project was made possible by state Act 89, Pennsylvania’s transportation funding bill.
Act 89 was passed in November 2013 to provide a stable source of funding for transportation improvements statewide, such as infrastructure repairs and replacement of aging vehicles. With Act 89 in place, SEPTA has launched dozens of long-needed capital improvement projects throughout the transit system and across all modes of travel. These improvements made to enhance service for customers along the Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line represent many under SEPTA’s Rebuilding the System Program.
“The completion of the Crum Creek Viaduct Replacement Project is an important milestone for SEPTA,” Board Chairman Pasquale T. Deon said. “Thanks to dedicated state funding from Act 89,we were able to address a critical need and continue to advance improvements for our customers.”
The viaduct’s closure allowed SEPTA and third-party forces to complete construction on the new structure in which track, girders, deck and catenary towers were replaced. Crews were also able toperform other necessary improvements along the Media/Elwyn Regional Rail Line such as improvements to the Ridley Creek Viaduct that included structural steel repairs, catenary structure painting, concrete fascia repair, installation of a new head wall with drainage system and repairs to the existing bridge seat. In addition, SEPTA along with third-party forces were able to perform slope stabilization construction that included rock scaling, chipping, shotcrete and installation of shoulder pile retaining walls to secure the railroad embankment at Media Station. Brush cutting, improvements to the catenary system along the Media/Elwyn Line and upgrades to the Lenni Substation were also completed.
“Less than three years ago, SEPTA was faced with the possibility of truncating Media/Elwyn Lineservice due to a lack of capital funding to address this critical infrastructure need.” SEPTA GeneralManager, Jeffrey Knueppel said. “The completion of the project allows us to continue the safeoperation of our trains along the Media/Elwyn Line.”
The $56 million design-build contract was awarded to Walsh Construction in December 2014. “We approached this project with an aggressive schedule in order to minimize the inconvenience to our passengers,” Knueppel said. “Walsh Construction and SEPTA in-house forces worked diligently to get this project completed on-time and on-budget.”
The new Crum Creek Viaduct is a 735-foot-long steel and concrete structure comprised of five long spans, four piers and two abutments that replaced 17 simply supported steel spans. New bridge abutments were constructed in front of existing abutments and the new superstructure was slid into alignment halfway through the 11-week replacement project. The new bridge is designed for a 100 year lifespan.
Thomas E. Babcock, Vice Chairman and one of two Delaware County representatives on the SEPTA Board said, “Public transportation is important to the prosperity and economic growth of Delaware County. Completion of the Crum Creek Viaduct Replacement project is a result of our combined efforts to secure dedicated transportation funding.”
For more information about the Crum Creek Viaduct Replacement, visit http://www.septa.org/rebuilding/bridge-rehab/crum-creek.html
