STG has Constructed 2,708 Overhead Guideway Segments to Complete the 5.2-Mile Section from Aloha Stadium to Middle Street
KAPOLEI, HI – The Honolulu Authority for Rapid Transportation (HART) announced today that its contractor building the Airport Guideway and Stations (AGS) section of the Honolulu Rail Transit Project, Shimmick/Traylor/Granite Joint Venture (STG), has reached a significant milestone with construction of the final precast segment to complete the overhead guideway bridge between Aloha Stadium and Middle Street.
The last of the 2,708 guideway segments built by STG will be installed over Ualena Street near Lagoon Drive in the airport industrial area sometime in spring 2021. Approximately two-thirds of the overhead guideway system for the 5.2-mile AGS section of rail has already been installed.
“The work to construct the entire AGS section is now more than 75 percent complete,” said HART Executive Director and CEO Andrew Robbins. “This includes installing the foundations, columns, overhead guideway segments and construction of the four stations that riders will use to board and disembark from the light rail trains.”
“Our crews at the precast yard have done a tremendous job safely casting these high-quality segments, which are a key component for the successful construction of the guideway on the AGS segment,” said Dan Howell, STG’s Project Director.“
Approximately 150 union craft workers have built the 2,708 segments at STG’s precast yard since 2018. The precast yard will remain in use until each guideway segment is delivered and installed.
HART’s guideway installation work is currently underway within the footprint of the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport near Paiea Street and also in the Nimitz Viaduct area.
Between 10 and 15 guideway segments are hauled by heavy trucks at night from the precast yard in Kapolei and installed using one of STG’s three gantries. These machines are some of the largest articulating gantry cranes in the world.
The steel-reinforced guideway segments vary in weight from 40 to 65 tons and, on average, are 30.5 feet wide, 10.75 feet long, and either 8.5 or 4.5 feet tall. A typical segment takes approximately 18 cubic yards of concrete to construct. Each segment is similar to the others but has its unique characteristics that determine where it will be placed in the guideway.
The final AGS overhead guideway segment constructed reflects the precise engineering required to build these huge components and have them connect to form a continuous bridge that will carry the light rail trains. The 2,078th casted segment is shorter depth than many of the others at approximately 4.5 feet tall due to overhead clearance requirements on Ualena, Lagoon Drive and Waiwai Loop, and flight path restriction dictated by the FAA due to the proximity of this section of the guideway to HIA.
“Building this rail system is a very complex process that is epitomized by the challenges of the AGS section, with the various heights and turns that are necessary to navigate through the airport and around the multitude of businesses nearby,” said HART’s Robbins. “It’s gratifying to know we are in the home stretch of this section of the overall project, and we are that much closer to offering improved access to the airport, Pearl Harbor, and nearby neighborhoods.”
HART is on track for safety certification of the Airport Segment of the project in 2023, which will allow for expansion of passenger service between Kapolei and Middle Street, covering more than 15 of the planned 20 miles of the elevated rail system.
For the latest information on lane closures along the project’s corridor, please visit the project website at www.HonoluluTransit.org or contact HART’s 24-Hour Project hotline at (808) 566- 2299.