Lomas Santa Fe

This $17.7 million rail grade separation project, performed by Kiewit Pacific Co., a subsidiary of Kiewit Corporation, involved construction of a 1.5-mile-long trench 28 feet below street level to improve safety and traffic flow for Solana Beach pedestrians and motorists. The scope of work involved 350,000 cubic yards of excavation, 40,000 cubic yards of embankment, 50,000 square feet of soil-nail shoring and a permanent retaining wall, as well as utility relocation, track installation and structures erection.

The massive trench was 6,000 feet long with ¾:1 slopes and a bottom width of 60 feet. Approximately 1,000 feet of slope in the middle of the trench had to be covered with a decorative shotcrete wall designed to resemble native rock.

Mainline construction involved new concrete ties, 136-pound ribbon rail and #24 turnouts. Additional measures involved surfacing, distressing, installing insulated joints and welding rail lengths. The north end cutover involved 600 feet of skeleton tie track, while the south end cutover detailed 800 feet of the shoofly into Mainline 1 alignment. Platforms, bridges, retaining walls and associated structures required 3,000 cubic yards of concrete and more than 72,000 square feet of formwork. Station platforms are 1,000 feet long and required 19,000 square feet of formwork and 1,000 cubic yards of concrete.