September 2018
Walsh Construction Completes San Gabriel Railway Trench
SAN GABRIEL, CA - Improved safety, eliminated crossing delays for motorists, reduced pollution from idling vehicles and improved rail reliability are all benefits of the newly completed San Gabriel Trench design-build project.
Built by Walsh Construction, the $293 million project lowered 1.4 miles of at-grade railroad track into a new 2.2-mile long trench. Walsh also constructed four new roadway bridges that span the 65-foot-wide trench, excavated more than 500,000 cubic yards of soil and used more than 33,000 dump trucks and 6,500 concrete trucks to complete the project.
The delivery of the San Gabriel Trench comes at a critical time in Los Angeles County. Freight rail traffic along the corridor is expected to increase from 18 to 61 daily trains by 2025. The new grade-separated streets will save drivers an estimated 1,744 vehicle-hours of delays.
"The trench eliminates crossing delays for nearly 90,000 motorists every day, improves safety for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians, eliminates locomotive horns and crossing bells and allows our emergency responders to respond more quickly to calls on both sides of the tracks," said San Gabriel Councilwoman Juli Costanzo, chair of the Capital Projects and Construction Committee of the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments.