Business View Civil Municipal - July 2023

13 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 4, ISSUE 7 per crossing, but include new crossing gates, signal systems, pedestrian gates, pavement markings and roadway profiles. Where trains will operate above 79 mph, crossings have quad gates or medians to prevent motorists from driving around lowered crossing gates. Brightline is working closely with community partners, government agencies and news media to spread the word and highlight rail safety via multiple channels including on social media and through public service announcements. Completion of engineering achievements include • Over two million spikes and bolts • 2.3 million tons of granite and limestone transported by 20,000 railcars • 225 million pounds of 100 percent recycled American steel • 6 million cubic yards of rail embankment fill • 450,000 concrete ties made in Fort Pierce, Fla. Innovative Engineering Box-Jacked Tunnels Brightline used a box-jacking method for the first time outside the northeast to build two train underpasses in a fraction of the time it would take using conventional methods. Precast concrete boxes under two Central Florida roadways took just weeks to complete, compared to traditional underpass methods that would have shut down local roadways for nearly a year. Hydraulic jacks were used to move the concrete boxes, each weighing more than 3,000 tons, the equivalent of 15 Boeing 757’s, standing three stories high and holding three semi-trucks end-to-end. The installation moved at approximately 3 feet per hour, running 24/7. The St. Lucie River Bridge, Martin County Among the work on 56 bridges connecting Central to South Florida on the Brightline route was the rehabilitation of the 100-year- old St. Lucie River railroad bridge in Stuart, Fla. Brightline crews worked 24/7 in May 2023 to complete the infrastructure work that included the replacement of the mechanical, electrical and control components of the bridge. Boaters will now see several benefits, including dependability of bridge openings and closings, which will reduce the risk of extended unplanned closures. The Loxahatchee River Bridge, Jupiter, Palm Beach County The second movable bridge on the project, the 583-foot long Loxahatchee River railroad bridge in Jupiter, Fla. was built in 1926, and was replaced with a brand-new structure bringing improved reliability and efficiency to the bridge OPENING LINES